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Cross purposes
Malcolm rogers answers some of your queries about St. Brigid, one of Ireland’s three patron saints, and begetter of the famous St. Brigid’s cross.
So why are we talking about St. Brigid this week, then?
Quite simply, St. Brigid’s Day is February 1, the first day of spring.
The first day of spring? You must be joking! It’s still freezing outside.
That’s as maybe — but in the old Celtic calendar February 1 marked the first day of spring.
Yes, but that was the pagan Celts — what did they have to do with a Christian saint?
Ah well, a fairly common practice by the Christians when they were spreading the Gospel was to take a feast day which already existed and, whistling innocently to distract attention, insert their own feast day in its place.
So why Brigid on the so-called first day of spring?
Well, as it happens, there was a pre-Christian pagan goddess also called Brigid, whose name translates as ‘Fiery Arrow’. According to legend, she was the daughter of Daghda, a very big mover and shaker in the Celtic world indeed. He was, in fact, the head honcho of the Tuatha de Danann — and you don’t get much bigger than that.
So it won’t surprise you to hear that the goddess Brigid was associated with healing, fertility, poetry and learning. Multi-tasking, and then some.
When St. Brigid (the Christian one) moved into the slot, she took over some of her predecessor’s duties. In particular, she retained her springtime duties of bestowing her blessings on the crops and livestock of the people.
And the cross — what’s all that about?
This is the custom of making crosses out of rushes and placing them in homes on the feast day. The custom has its origins in the legend of Brigid’s conversion of a dying pagan. She fashioned a makeshift cross by plaiting rushes strewn on the hut floor.
Well at least the cross is one thing which the pagans can’t claim . . . . .
Not so fast there. Archaeologists claim that the origin of the cross is much older than St. Brigid’s era in the fifth century AD. They say that the ancient swastika — the one that the Nazis subsequently hijacked — is of the same stock. It apparently came from the Middle East as early as 400 BC, and was something of a fertility symbol. It might have reached Ireland in 200 BC. But then, as the man from the lonely hearts column said — “Archaeologists? They’ll date any old thing.”
Very droll, I’m sure. But we do seem to be dealing with something of great antiquity — so, have the St. Brigid’s crosses gone the same way as Easter eggs, Christmas cards, etc? Can I buy a huge illuminated, neon, plastic St. Brigid’s Cross to put outside my flat, for instance?
No, thankfully commercialism hasn’t set in yet. Throughout the country from Malin Head to Mizen Head, rushes are still blessed on the eve of the feast day and made into crosses, sometimes by the whole family — with very little commercial interference, so far. The finished articles are then taken to Mass to be blessed the next day, and then hung on the house where they provide protection for the rest of the year.
Now, the name Brigid — it’s not one you hear much of these days, is it? With the current vogue for Celtic names, why don’t we hear of more Brigids, along with the Siobhans and Fionas?
Good question, my friend. In days gone by just about every family in Ireland would have had a Brigid (along with a Patrick). But the name probably fell into disuse because of its corruption in the 19th century into the somewhat undignified Biddy, and its use thereafter in music hall anti-Irish jokes.
OK, what about a few details about the woman — I believe she’s the only female bishop there’s ever been?
So it would seem — but again, back in the fifth century that wouldn’t have been too big a problem for the early Irish. Remember, they were used to female deities, so a female bishop would have been no big deal.
So how did Brigid begin her ministry?
Facts about the lady are notoriously hard to come by, but it seems Brigid was born in Faughart, Co. Louth maybe around AD 453. She is said to have set up her first convent, according to legend, in Kildare.
Any trivia facts you could let us know about?
Well, you probably know she is one of Ireland’s three patron saints, along with St. Patrick and St. Colmcille. And she continues the strong Scottish presence in our patron saints — St. Patrick was probably born in Scotland, St. Colmcille lived and died on the island of Iona, and St. Brigid’s father was probably Scottish.
She is said to have been the daughter of Dubtach, pagan Scottish king of Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pictish slave who had been baptised by St. Patrick. So there’s the Christian connection as well.
Fascinating stuff — anything else?
Well there’s a persistent legend that she used to transform her bathwater into beer for visiting clerics — which presumably made her even more popular with the locals.
However, there is a suggestion that she couldn’t do this at all, and that it’s merely a resonance of the water into wine story from the Bible — a bid, perhaps, by the early Christians to make their religion look tempting.
Any suggestions if I wanted to visit somewhere with a St. Brigid connection?
Place-names in her honour are to be found all over the country, e.g. Kilbride, Brideswell, the Bridewell, Bride Bridge, Tubberbride, Templebride, etc. However the three principle places of interest are Faughart, near Dundalk in Co. Louth, Downpatrick in Co. Down, and Kildare.
What’s the story there, and should I bring my camera?
I’ll say. Faughart was at one time the site of a major monastery — now it’s the site of the Stations of the Cross, arranged round St. Brigid’s Well, situated in a tranquil beech grove.
The view from Faughart is superb — north to the Slieve Gullion Mountains of South Armagh, and to the south the plain of Murthiene and on to the Cooleys, the birthplace of Cú Chulainn.
The grotto itself is built round St. Brigid’s Pillar, which appears to be the base of a high cross — indeed the whole area is riddled with history. Nearby is the grave of Edward Bruce, brother of Robert, who was sent to Ireland to cause as much mayhem as possible, so creating a diversion away from the Anglo-Scottish struggle. A nearby stone, again, according to our old friend legend, was used to decapitate him.
And Kildare — much to see there?
Well, only really the whole town. Because it owes its very origins to St. Brigid. When Brigid first began her evangelising, she set up shop in Kildare, at the foot of Croghan Hill. (She was a great traveller, especially considering the conditions of the time, and this has led to her patronage of travellers and sailors.)
From there Brigid moved to Druin Criadh, where under a large oak tree she erected her famous Convent of Cill Dara, translated as, “the church of the oak”. Kildare cathedral now stands there.
And Downpatrick?
Brigid died in Kildare, but her body was exhumed and removed to Downpatrick for burial beside the remains of St. Patrick and St. Colmcille (aka Columba). A stone in the grounds of Down Cathedral, overlooking the meandering River Quoile, marks the spot.
Her head was removed and the remains now lie in the Jesuit Church, Lumiar near Lisbon, Portugal (since 1587), and another relic lies at St. Martin’s, Cologne.
Although no relics are reported in London, the Church of St. Bride’s in Fleet Street is named after her.
One last question — you often see the name Bridget. Is that the same woman?
Usually, yes — along with her other names: Brighid, Brigit, Bride, Bride of the Isles, Bridget of Ireland, Brigid of Kildare, Mary of the Gaels. But definitely not to be confused with Brigitte Bardot, or Bridget Jones.
Or indeed, for that matter, St. Bridget of Sweden, who died in 1373. Because our St. Brigid’s name was familiar only to those who spoke Irish — mainly because of the Penal times — the English-speaking world knew virtually nothing of our saint.
Accordingly, when there was any mention of St. Brigid amongst the non-Irish, it was common to confuse her with the Swedish lady. Indeed it often happened, for example, that people in Ireland seeking holy pictures of St. Brigid were supplied from Germany with images of the Scandinavian saint.
So you’ve been warned — if you’re buying a picture of our St. Brigid, make sure you’re not fobbed off with a Swedish imitation.
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