Brigid of Ireland

Saint Brigid of Ireland (Bridget, Bridgit, Brigit, Bride) (451- 525) was born at Faughart near Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. Legend holds that her parents were Dubhthach, pagan king of Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pictish slave who had been baptized by Saint Patrick.

Related Topics:
451 - 525 - Faughart - County Louth - Ireland - Pagan - Leinster - Pict - Saint Patrick

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to this legend, which suffers inconsistencies common to such legends, Brigid was named after one of the most powerful goddesses of the Pagan religion that Dubhthach practiced. Brigid was the goddess of fire, whose manifestations were song and poetry, which the Irish considered the flame of knowledge. Brigid supposedly became a virgin in service to the Goddess Brigid and eventually ascended to high priestess at the Kil Dara (the temple of the oak), a pagan sanctuary built from the wood of a tree sacred to the Druids. In 468, she followed St. Mel of Armagh to Meath and converted to Christianity.

Related Topics:
Brigid - Irish - Druid - Christianity

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another version of her life states that upon reaching maturity, she vexed her father by being overly generous to the poor and needy with his milk, butter, and flour. Finally, she gave away his jewel-encrusted sword to a leper. At this point, it was decided that her disposition was best suited for a nun and she was sent to a convent. The legend does not preserve when or how her hitherto pagan father became amenable to such acts. Other tales likewise exist, and the only agreement between the various stories is that a girl was born to an Irish king named Dubhtach and that her name was Brigid.

Related Topics:
Leper - Nun - Convent

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Around 470 she founded a Christian double monastery (nuns and monks) at Kildare (Cill-Dara) by either converting the pagan sanctuary or by building on unused ground there, depending upon the particular story consulted. She went on to found a school of art at the monastery where the Book of Kildare, a famous illuminated manuscript, was created. She died at Kildare on February 1 and is buried at Downpatrick with St. Columcille and St. Patrick, with whom she is co-patron of Ireland.

Related Topics:
470 - Monastery - Monk - Kildare - Book of Kildare - St. Columcille - St. Patrick

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Similar to the association between St. Patrick and the shamrock, a tiny cross made of rushes was linked with St. Brigid. Legend has it she made the cross from rushes she found on the ground beside a dying man in order to convert him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Legend has it that, when she was consecrated to the rank of Abbess, St. Mel was elderly and inadvertently read the consecration for a Bishop and that this could not be rescinded, under any circumstances. Of course, such an error could have easily been remedied had it actually occurred, as the ordination would have been considered illegitimate from the start. What is more likely is that a unique administrative status was conferred upon the Abbess of Kildare, since, while there is no record of St. Brigid acting in the Liturgical capacity of a Bishop, she and her successor Abbesses at Kildare had administrative authority equal to that of a Bishop until the Synod of Kells in 1152.

Related Topics:
Abbess - Bishop - Synod of Kells - 1152

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

St. Brigid's feast day is February 1. Many Irish schools, including the High School in Armagh, are called after St. Brigid.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~