SAINT BRIGID'S CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
Ottawa Ontario
St Brigid, Patroness of Ireland
by Siobhan Dunbar
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St. Brigid is well-known and loved as Ireland’s female patron saint. She is also the patroness of the poor, of infants, maids, midwives, blacksmiths, poets, nuns, students, and travelers. Her Feast Day is on February 1st, which is the first day of Spring in Ireland. Some stories about St. Brigid may have originated from Irish mythological legends about the pagan goddess, Brigid, whose Feast Day was also celebrated on February 1st. A few biographies with accounts of St. Brigid’s life do exist, with the earliest one thought to be written around 650. Ultimately, due to the lack of historical documents from her lifetime, it is very difficult to know where legend and history may have become intertwined over the centuries. Although many details surrounding St. Brigid’s life are uncertain, the stories of her exceptional kindness have lived on through the Irish oral tradition and the Catholic faith.
Brigid was born in approximately 450 in Faughart in County Louth. Her parents were Dubhtach, a pagan chieftain, and Broiseach, a Christian servant woman. At the insistence of his wife, Dubhtach sent Broiseach away before Brigid’s birth to work at the home of a Druid. Brigid was a remarkably compassionate and spiritual child, and she spent much of her childhood helping her mother with her servant duties, such as milking the cows and churning butter. It is even said that Brigid was able to churn such great quantities of butter that her mother was eventually freed by her Druid master in gratitude.
From the time she was a young girl, Brigid felt strongly compelled to give her possessions (and even those that did not necessarily belong to her!) to the less fortunate. Several stories recount her literally unstoppable generosity in giving away food and clothing to those in need. Fortunately for Brigid, however, through the power of her fervent prayers to God, she was able to miraculously reproduce many of the items that she gave away to others so that there was always enough for her and her family.
At the age of 10, Brigid returned to her father’s home and continued her charitable donations of her father’s dairy produce and even his jewel-encrusted sword, much to his dismay. Perhaps out of frustration, her father attempted to marry her to a poet. However, Brigid was strong-willed and, to demonstrate her resolve against marriage and her wish to be dedicated only to God, it is said that she disfigured her beautiful face. Her father then saw the strength of her spirituality, and granted her wish to become a nun. As the legend goes, from the moment Brigid said her vows, her beauty returned in an instant.
Not only was Brigid the first nun in Ireland, but it is also believed that she formed the first female religious community with seven other women. She founded Kildare Abbey, a double monastery for both monks and nuns, which flourished under her leadership as Abbess. She then traveled across the country to help establish other monasteries and convents, as well as a school of illumination and metallurgy. Brigid was beloved throughout the nation for her wisdom, gentleness, common sense, as well as her miraculous healing powers, so that she was soon given the name “The Mary of the Gaels.”
According to oral tradition, St. Brigid was said to have woven a small cross out of rushes to place by a dying man in a field, as a means of blessing him and converting him to Christianity in the final moments of his life. The St. Brigid’s Cross continues to be made in Ireland today in honour of St. Brigid. It is often seen hanging on the walls within Irish homes, and is sometimes placed within the ceiling or roof in the belief that her cross will protect the house from harm. Furthermore, St. Brigid’s Cross was chosen as the logo for RTÉ (Irish television) when it first came on the air in the 1960s and for the following three decades, perhaps as a symbol of the enduring place of Irish tradition even within a changing, modernized Irish society.
