450 CE to 523 CE - Brigid of Kildare

by Dawn O'Laoghaire

St. Brigid is among the most popular of Irish saints, second only to St. Patrick. Known as "Mary of the Gaels," she has accrued many of the traditions which were earlier ascribed to Bride, Irish triune goddess of smithcraft and poetry, for whom she may have been named. Most notable among these is that St. Brigid's feast day is February 1st, the same day that the festival of Imbolg dedicated to the goddess Bride was celebrated. Numerous accounts of her life began to circulate after her death; the earliest of these is a fifth century account written in Irish, the Bethu Brigte. The seventh century Vita Brigante, which was written in Latin, is also frequently cited as a source on Brigid's life.

The knowable facts of Brigid's life are scarce: she lived in Kildare, founded a nunnery there, became an Abbess and died around 523 CE to 525 CE. The typical dates for her birth and death are generally given as 450 a.d. to 523 a.d.; although precise year dates are not verifiable most sources state place her life at the middle of the fifth century. The legends around her life are thick, however, and were used by the Christian Church to demonstrate the ascendancy of Christianity over the pagan faiths of Ireland. Brigid's father or foster-father was a Druid and her mother, a slave woman. Omens and miracles surrounded her birth, including numerous fire omens. A Christian holy man frequently saw Brigid's pregnant mother surrounded by fire. A king asked Brigid's foster father the most auspicious time for his queen to give birth. The Druid replied that if her child was born at sunrise the next morning, his child "would have no equal on earth." The queen delivered too soon, but Brigid's mother delivered her at sunrise as the Druid had indicated. After her birth, Brigid was surrounded by more fire omens. On one occasion a ribbon the child was wearing burst into flames which did not harm her. On another occasion the Druid returned home late at night to see a pillar of fire rising from the hut where Brigid and her mother lived; again Brigid was unharmed.

After taking the veil, Brigid is reported to have performed many miracles, including ending a fish-famine by turning rushes into fish and turning some bathwater into beer to satisfy the thirst of her guests. Her cows were said to give milk three times a day. After her death, her nunnery at Kildare became a sacred site; various commentators described a sacred glade where twenty nuns tended an ever burning fire dedicated to Brigid. One famous story states that Brigid was so full of Christian sanctity that she refused to eat food prepared in her foster-father's father household, because she fell ill whenever she ate of food contaminated by the hands of pagans. The Druid was moved by her purity and selected a special white cow, milked by a devout virgin named Christiana, to provide food for his foster-daughter. When asked about his action, the Druid expressed his belief that Brigid became ill when she ate of his food because, she was full of the Holy Spirit.

St. Brigit may have also been the only female to have every achieved the status of bishop. The Bethu Brigte states that the bishop who made Brigit an Abess was so impressed with the sanctity of Brigid that he consecrated her with the orders of a bishop. Because the office of bishop would have given Brigid increased independence from the authority of male leaders of the Irish church, but would not have given her the power to act as a priest, she is said to have sent for St. Conleth, a hermit and smith, who acted as her priest to consecrate churches and perform duties exclusively reserved to the priesthood. The Catholic Church currently denies, however, that Brigid was ever made a bishop, arguing that she merely chose the man, St. Conleth, who actually was the bishop and who served as the Bishop of Kildare. Even today, however, many popular icons of St. Brigid continue to depict her with a bishop's crozier.

In many accounts, Brigid is described as the foster mother or midwife of Jesus of Nazareth, although she clearly lived several centuries after the life of Jesus Christ. Numerous churches and sacred springs bear Brigid's name today. The most famous of these is St. Bride's Church is located in Fleet Street, London. Her known relics include her brass and silver shoe in the National Museum, Dublin and her tunic in the Church of St. Donations in Bruges.

Celebration of Brigid's feast day begin in many places on "Bride's Eve," January 31st. People in Barra in the Hebrides make "Bride's Bed" with straw. After making the bed, they then shout "Bride, come in, your bed is ready!" Bride then comes into the home and dwells among its inhabitants for the next year, bringing good luck and prosperity. In some communities, a doll dressed in white is carried from house to house by a party of young men or young women dressed in white. In some places, the young people give away Brigid's crosses made from straw which will be hung in homes to ensure Brigid's protection. Gifts of money or sweets are often given to the party that brings the Brigid doll. The weather on Imbolg was considered a particularly important omen for the coming months; if the weather was fair or if a person saw a hedgehog, good weather should follow for spring planting and fishing. If the weather was too fair, however, bad weather was sure to follow. On Bride's Eve, the household should be thoroughly cleaned to prepare for the important visitor and a feast should be prepared. In Irish households, apple-cake, dumplings, and colcannon were common and, in Galway, special cakes were prepared for Imbolg.

Because Brigid was a popular saint who brought fertility, ease in child birth, and numerous other gifts, many prayers were written for her. Alexander Carmichael collected several of these prayers in the Carmina Gadelica, a nineteenth century collection of Gaelic prayers which had been handed down orally. Brigid's role as protector and helper of the people are clearly seen in these prayers. One prayer asks Brigid, along with Mary and Jesus Christ, to protect the home:

I will smoor the hearth
As Mary would smoor;
The encompassment of Bride and Mary,
On the fire and on the floor,
And on the household all.

Who is on the lawn without?
Fairest Mary and her Son,
The mouth of God ordained, the angel of God spoke;
Angels of promise watching the hearth,
`Til white day comes to the fire.

Another prayer seeks Brigid's to bring fertility and health to the sheep:

Go shorn and come wooly,
Bear the Beltane female lamb,
Be the lovely Bride thee endowing,
And the fair Mary thee sustaining,
The fair Mary sustaining thee.

Michael the chief be shielding thee
From the evil dog and from the fox,
From the wolf and from the sly bear,
And from the taloned birds of destructive bills,
From the taloned birds of hooked bills.

Still another prayer directly seeks Brigid's assistance in child bearing:

There came to me assistance,
Mary fair and Bride,
As Anna bore Mary,
As Mary bore Christ,
As Eile bore John the Baptist
Without flaw in him,
Aid thou me in my unbearing,
Aid me, O Bride!

As Christ was conceived of Mary
Full perfect on every hand,
Assist thou me, foster mother,
The conception to bring from the bone;
And as thou didst aid the Virgin of joy,
Without gold, without corn, without kine,
Aid thou me, great is my sickness, Aid me, O Bride.

Endnotes:

There are variant spellings of the name Bride, including Brigid, Bridget, Brigit, and Brid. Bride or Brid are pronounced roughly like "breed." See Susan Wessells, "Ale for the King: Sovereignty Themes in the Lives of St. Brigit of Kildare," An Tribhis Mhor: the Imbas Journal, Samhain 1997/Iombolg 1998 double issue, p. 30-34.

Sources:

Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Peter Berresford Ellis, ABC-CLIO, Inc.: Santa Barbara, California, (c)1992, IBSN 0-87436-609-7

The World of the Druids, Miranda J. Green, Thames and Hudson: NewYork, (c)1997,IBSN 0-500-05083-X

Maypoles, Martyrs and Mayhem, Quentin Cooper and Paul Sullivan, Bloomsbury: Edinburgh, (c)1994,IBSN 0-7475-1807-6

The Sun Dances, Alexander Carmichael, Christian Community Press: London, (c)1954

prepared by Dawn O'Laoghaire

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