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| St. Brigid |
Saturday (1st February) was the Feast Day of St. Brigid. As one of the patron saints of Ireland, she has many supernatural events, and folk customs associated with her. Some believe St. Brigid (also known as Brigit, Bride, Brid), is an ancient mother goddess whom Christian monks ‘borrowed’ to become a saint. She shares her feast day with the pre-Christian ‘Imbolc’, a spring festival, midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox .
St Brigid’s life, is like the miraculous cloak she is said to have worn - shrouded in mystery. In fact, there have been controversial debates as to whether St Brigid existed at all. As a family historian and genealogist this wets my appetite. So, in-between searching for the ancestors of my clients, I decided to investigate her story further.
It is said that if you repeat St. Brigid’s genealogy you will be protected:
“ This is the genealogy of the holy maiden Bride,
Radiant flame of gold, noble foster mother of Christ,
Bride, daughter of Dugall the Brown,
Son of Aodh, son of Art, son of Conn,
Son of Crearer, Son of Cis, son of Carmac, son of Carruin,
Every day and every night
That I say the genealogy of Bride,
I shall not be killed, I shall not be harried,
I shall not be put in a cell, I shall not be wounded,
Neither shall Christ leave me in forgetfulness.
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me,
No lake, no water, nor sea shall drown me,
No arrow of fairy nor dart of fay shall wound me
And I under the protection of my Holy Mary
And my gentle foster-mother is my beloved Bride” .
Her father was possibly a pagan chieftain of Leinster, known as Dubthach Bryen an’ Brocca and her Portuguese mother, Brocessa, was a Christian bondswoman baptised by Saint Patrick. Brigid’s father named her after one of the most powerful goddesses of the pagan religion - the goddess of fire, whose manifestations were song, craftsmanship, and poetry, which the Irish considered the flame of knowledge.
She is said to have been born a slave and was inspired by St. Patrick’s preachings to become a Christian. As she grew up, she became renown for her healing and kindness. One account, describes how Brigid donated to the poor, her mother's entire store of butter, which was later replenished after she prayed.
Dubthach became tired of his daughters charitable deeds, and one day took her in a chariot to King Breasal Bealach of Leinster, in Dun Ailine, with the intention of selling her. Outside the castle, Brigid gave her father’s jewelled encrusted sword to a leper, so he could barter it for alms. When the King heard of this, he recognised her heart and convinced Dubthach to grant her freedom by saying, "Her merit before God is greater than ours.”
St. Brigid wanted to live a life of holy chastity in the service of God and to the poor. However, her father insisted that she marry the wealthy man he had promised her to. So, legend says that she prayed to God, that her beauty would be taken away from her, so no one would seek her hand in marriage; St. Brigid’s prayer was granted. Her father then succumbed.
She then travelled to Croghan Hill in Co. Meath and asked St. Maccaille, who was a bishop and had a church there, to admit her into religious life. At first, he was reluctant to grant St. Brigid’s request, but was eventually convinced of her sincerity. Some sources say she received the veil from St. Mel, one of St Patrick’s nephews.
Once Brigid began leading a life of prayer, her beauty is said to have returned.
Little is known about St. Brigid’s early church work, but, after a vision from God, she tried to convince the King of Leinster to give her land, to set up a convent. She explained to him that it was near to a wood and a lake, providing both fuel and water, as well as pasture to raise animals. However, the King laughed at her, and would not part with the land. At this, St. Brigid begged him to give her as much land as her cloak could cover and promised not to bother him again. The King, wanting to get rid of her, agreed, as he could easily afford to lose such a small area of land. St. Brigid then led the King to the place and removed her cloak. With God’s help, the cloak is said to have spread miraculously across acres of land!
According to the Liber Hymnorum, written in the 11th Century, the Curragh, a plain in what is now known as Kildare, was granted by the King of Leinster to St. Brigid. It’s location was situated where the Druids had venerated a sacred oak tree, and kept a perpetual fire burning in honour of the Celtic gods. St. Brigid and her seven nuns, tended the fire too, but they ‘baptised’ it, consecrating the eternal flame to Christ, the eternal light of the world. It became known as Cill-Dara (Kildare) or the Church of the Oak. Sadly, it was destroyed in the 12th Century. But, this marriage of the Celtic and Christian became the hallmark of St Brigid’s mission.
"Bride, excellent woman,
sudden flame,
may the fiery, bright sun
take us to the lasting kingdom."
Tradition puts the year of St. Brigid’s founding of the first Irish convent, as 480 AD. It soon flourished into a centre of pilgrimage for bishops, priests and chieftains and later became one of the three most important Christian sites in Ireland. Kings showered the site with rich gifts and royal favours. The poor and the infirm came in their multitudes. The community later became an abbey for monks and nuns, with the abbess ranking above the abbot.
St Brigid is said to have been given the last rites in Kildare on the 1st February 525 AD. She was buried at the right of the high alter of the church she had created, and soon her shrine became an object of pilgrimage, especially on her feast day. An elaborate tomb was then constructed, ‘adorned with gems and precious stones and crowns of gold and silver.’ Many miracles ‘were wrought there through her intercession.’
Sadly, down the centuries, St Brigid’s remains have not rested in peace. About 878 AD, because of Viking raids, her remains were exhumed and taken to Downpatrick and re-buried alongside St. Patrick and St. Columba. A stone in the grounds of Downs Cathedral, overlooking the meandering River Quoile, reputedly marks the place.
But, St. Brigid’s skull was then extracted and taken in about 1283 by three Irish knights travelling to the Aragonese Crusade. However, they perished near Lisbon and her skull was enshrined in a special chapel in the Church of St. John the Baptist at Lumier.
One of many popular and profound legends of St Brigid is the story of Dara, the blind nun. St. Brigid prayed for the restoration of Dara’s sight, but when the miracle was granted, Dara realised that the clarity of sight blurred God in the eye of the soul, whereupon she asked Brigid to return her to the beauty of darkness.
Another of the miracles attributed to St. Brigid, is her ability to change water into beer for a leper colony - and provide enough beer for 18 churches from a single barrel! She is sometimes known as the patron saint of beer.
But she might also be able to cure a hangover. On St. Brigid’s Eve if you place a ribbon on the window sill outside during the night. The ribbon is said to lengthen, and if preserved, is as a cure for headache!
