Known as ‘Lá Fhéile Bríde’ in Gaelic, St. Bridid’s Day Ireland’s newest public holiday since 2023. It’s the first bank holiday named after a woman. St Brigid’s Day originates in the ancient pagan festival of Imbolc, one of the four festival seasons of the Celtic year. It is celebrated on February 1, about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and is a time of rebirth and hope after the long winter. It is one of the ‘quarter days’ which marks a transition from one season to the next, with Bealtaine (May 1), Lúnasa (Aug 1) the harvest season and Samhain (Nov 1) marking the beginning of Winter. With the arrival of Christianity into Ireland, the pagan festival of Imbolc became celebrated as St Brigid’s Day. Who is Brigid? Why do we celebrate her feast day?
St. Brigid
According to the ancient annals, Cormac’s glossary, Brigid was a triple goddess of fertility, poetry and smithcraft. According to early Christian literature, Brigid founded a monastery in Kildare in 470 AD. She is associated with fire and holy wells in keeping with pagan beliefs. People believed that she offered protection towards fertility for both humans and animals. She also protected against illness and disease. She is associated with birth and procreation. Imbolc is the season of procreation and new life. All the symbols related to her feast day are symbols of birth; Brigid represents the female.
St. Brigid's Eve
In olden times, St Brigid’s Eve was known as Oíche Fhéile Brígide and a great feast was held in her honour. The evening meal was mashed potatoes with oat bread. The mashed potatoes were called ‘poundies’ or ‘bruitins’, and sometimes the bread was used instead of a fork to eat them. They were mashed with milk, butter, and onion.
Following the meal, either the youngest child or the ‘fear an tígh would knock at the door with the rushes that had been collected and cry, ‘Go on your knees, open your eyes and let in Saint Brigid’. The family inside welcomed Brigid by saying ‘She’s welcome’ three times, and the person outside entered with the rushes used to make Brigid crosses, which were blessed and placed in rooms around the house and outhouses for protection against fire, lightning, and sickness. In many houses, they were stuck over the door under the thatch. The idea of protection from the crosses came from the time when St. Brigid lived in a convent during a time of plague. She put up crosses in the convent, which remained untouched by the plague. There were different types of crosses, the most well-known being the four-armed one, which has been used as the emblem of our national television broadcasting company since its foundation. The most common crosses, though, are diamond or lozenge-shaped. The lozenge shape symbolises the vulva, and these crosses would have been placed under the mattress of a newlywed couple to bring fertility. Many materials were used, including rushes, reeds, straw and sometimes goose quills, wire, wood, grass, hay, and fabric. Another type of cross was a crios bríde, sometimes called a girdle. This was a large circular triple-plaited straw belt with three crosses incorporated. Girls would put it over their heads and let it drop to the floor toreceive protection from illness for the year. The men passed through it sideways, starting with the arms and legs. One person from each townland would go from house to house with the girdle, enabling each person to go through it thrice. Whilst doing this, they repeated in Irish ‘ St Brigid of the crosses, the girdle by which Christ was conceived. Arise mistress of the house and get out three times.’ The girdle symbolises the womb and birthing.
The Biddy Boys
Boys and girls would dress up in disguise and go from house to house as ‘brídeógs’ or ‘biddy boys’. They wore straw hats with fantastic designs like those one would imagine in foreign lands. They had the lozenge shape interwoven. They would carry a doll or make one out of straw with a turnip for the head. They would dress up a stick to make an effigy of St Brigid, a bríde óg, which they would carry around the neighbourhood and play music when welcomed into a home. Sometimes they used a sod of turf for the body and sticks to make the hands and feet and put a little dress on it It wasIt was customary to gift money to the biddy boys. Sometimes, the brídeógs would receive eggs instead of money.
The Brat Bríde
Some people put out an unwashed piece of white cloth on Bridget’s Eve as it was believed that Brigid would touch it; therefore, it would have curative powers. A piece of it would be sewn into girls’ clothes to protect their virginity. It was said to ease pain throughout the year. It also protected against headaches for a year. Sometimes, people unlocked their houses so Brigid and her holy women could enter and warm themselves by the fire.
Holy Wells
Holy wells dedicated to St Brigid would have seen many people coming to do the rounds on her Feast Day, the first day of February. The blessed water from these wells was believed to cure infertility and eye problems. People would say the rosary before bathing their eyes in the well. If a person were cured, he would see a fish. It was customary to leave personal items such as rosary beads, medals, or ribbons at the well in honour of Brigid. It was said that water from these wells could not be boiled. One student recounts, ‘ She brought water from this well and put it in the pot, but if it were on the fire forever, it would not boil.’ Buses would travel from all parts of the country, bringing people to St Brigid’s Well in Faughart. It would be a family day out with a picnic, and they would bring bottled water from the well home with them.
Conclusion
Many of the old traditions continue to survive. St Brigid’s crosses are still made, although more so in the schools than at home. The old family ritual of the youngest child or the ‘fear an tígh’ knocking at the household’s front door to come in with the rushes is no longer practised. Crosses used to be slotted under the thatch, but that is a thing of the past with the modern slate roofs. On St Brigid’s Day, we celebrate the feminine, birth, renewal, and hope for the future. Brigid leads us from darkness into the light. From pagan times to the present, Brigid’s Feast is now celebrated worldwide through a broad programme of events.
We visit St. Brigid’s Holy Well on our Tour to the Cliffs of Moher from Killarney.