Brigid

Goddess, Druidess and Saint

Brian Wright

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780752448657
• eBook ISBN: 9780752472027
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Brigid of Kildare, Ireland, is uniquely venerated as both a goddess and a saint throughout Ireland, Europe and the USA. Often referred to as Mary of the Gael and considered the second most important saint in Ireland after St Patrick, her widespread popularity has led to the creation of more traditional activities than any other saint; some of which survive to this day. As a result of original historical and archaeological research Brian Wright provides a fascinating insight into this unique and mysterious figure. This book uncovers for the first time when and by whom the goddess was 'conceived' and evidence that St Brigid was a real person. It also explains how she 'became' a saint, her historical links with the unification of Ireland under a High King in the first century and discusses in depth her first documented visit to England in AD 488. Today, Brigid remains strongly connected with the fertility of crops, animals and humans and is celebrated throughout the world via the continuation of customs, ceremonies and relics with origins dating back to pre-Christian times. Using a combination of early Celtic history, archaeology, tradition and folklore from Ireland, Britain and other countries, this comprehensive study unravels the mystery of a goddess and saint previously complicated by the passage of time.

Seven

Celebrating the Goddess-Saint in Ireland

Throughout Ireland, Britain and Europe, many customs and traditions associated with St Brigid continued to be practised until quite recently. A few clearly had their origins in pre-Christian times when the Goddess Brighid was commemorated with activities related to her aspects as a fire and fertility deity. In Ireland, Scotland and a few other countries some of these customs still continue, mostly to honour the saint, but a few still commemorate the goddess, while some of the Christian celebrations have a distinctly pagan aspect to them.

One of the four main pagan festivals celebrated by the Druids, who divided the year into four quarters, was Imbolc, which means ‘in the belly’, i.e. when sheep are pregnant and begin lactating. The start of this period, 1 February, was regarded as marking the beginning of first day of spring. Another name for Imbolc was Óimelc meaning ‘ewe milk’, a term also used in ancient Ireland as in his ninth-century Sanas Cormac (Cormac’s Glossary), Cormac mac Cuilleanáin defines Óimelc: is aimsir anisn tic as cairach. melg…i. as arinni mblegar (‘it is the time the sheep’s milk comes. Milk. i.e. Milk that is milked’). In Welsh this day was called Gwyl Fair.

As the pagan Celtic day ran from sunset on one day to sunset on the next, Imbolc was celebrated from the evening of 31 January to the evening of 1 February (sunset being approximately 4.45 pm on that day). This ancient method was noted by Julius Caesar in his De Bello Gallica, VI, 18 (written in 53 bc):

…they count periods of time not by the number of days but by the number of nights; and in reckoning birthdays and the new moon and new year their unit of reckoning is the night followed by the day.

However, the Christian church calculated days as running from midnight to midnight, so when celebrating St Brigid, her Eve (Oíche Fhéile Bhríde in Irish) started from midnight on 30 January, i.e. 31 January, while St Brigid’s Day (Fhéile Bhríde) was celebrated from midnight on 31 January, i.e. 1 February.

In ancient Ireland imbolc was a day special to the Goddess Brighid, and associated with the lighting of bonfires in honour of this deity who is connected with fire. It was one of the most important of the Celtic fire festivals. It also marked the beginning of spring and the fact that from this time onwards the days can be seen to be becoming noticeably longer. Although in practice this has been happening since the winter solstice around 21 December, it does not become obvious until some time after this date.

When the church wanted to celebrate the life of St Brigid, it was decided that her principal Feast Day should be the same as that on which the goddess was celebrated, 1 February. Most church authorities agreed that the saint was both born and died on this day. Other special days as far as St Brigid was concerned were 24 March, which commemorated the discovery by Bishop Malachy in 1185 of the bodies of saints Patrick, Columba and Brigid at Downpatrick and 9 June when the translation, that is the re-internment of her body, along with those of the other two saints, took place (see page 221). Although some authorities said this should be celebrated on 10 June.

On 6 August 1854 Pope Pius IX granted an Indult, that is a licence authorising an Act that the common law of the church does not sanction, which said that 1 February was ‘To be observed, as a double of the second class, thoughout all Ireland.’ In the united dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin the Feast of St Brigid was observed as ‘A double of the first class, with an octave, commencing on 1 February, and terminating on the eighth day of the month.’ This means that in the saint’s ‘own’ diocese the services and celebration of St Brigid were to last for a period of eight days. All authorities note 1 February as St Brigid’s principal Feast Day with the exception of the Annals of Roscrea, as in this it states that she was born on a Wednesday ‘on the eighth moon of February’, in 449 AD, which suggests her Feast Day should be held on 8 February. However, this is so out of line with all other sources it is unlikely that any church actually accepted this.

In Ireland the church services included the reading of nine lessons, and church services in other countries took a similar form. In Britain the Breviarium Chlorisopotensis records that the service also had nine lessons, while in Cologne, Germany, the church dedicated to her marked her Feast as a ‘double’. In other German churches dedicated to her in Utrecht, Treves, Mentz, Herbipolis, Constance, Strasburg and many other places she was celebrated by a straightforward service of thanksgiving. She was also celebrated in France and an office of St Brigid had been published in Paris as early as 1622. Divine services to St Brigid were once also common in England, Scotland, Germany and other countries where Irish monks and priests had influence. In Irish Gaelic the festival of St Brigid gave its name to the month of February (Mi na Fhéile Bhríde) but most of the associated customs were performed on St Brigid’s Eve and St Brigid’s Day, as was the case in Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Outside the confines of the church St Brigid was commemorated with a great variety of customs, not all involving religious aspects and special meals were prepared and consumed to honour her. The most numerous examples of customs and beliefs associated with St Brigid come from Ireland. In January 1942 the Irish Folklore Commission issued a questionnaire about ‘The Feast of Saint Brigid’ which asked what people did on the eve and day of the saint. The results of this questionnaire, covering these traditions in most of Ireland, filled 2,435 pages of manuscript! The range and number of customs and beliefs concerning St Brigid is almost certainly greater than those attached to any other saint.

Brigid’s crosses (Crois Bhríde)

The making of specially woven rush or straw crosses, the Crois Bhríde (Brigid’s cross) or bogha Bhríde (Brigid’s Bow), is an Irish custom that formed an important part of the St Brigid’s Eve (Oíche Fhéile Bhríde) celebrations, and the crosses were put up in the house and also sometimes in outbuildings on St Brigid’s Day (Fhéile Bhríde). In a few places, such as Portglenone, Co Antrim, it was traditional to make them on the night of 1 February and put them up on the next day, Candlemas. The making of crosses was once very widespread in Ireland and although much less common, it is still carried out, often in schools and pubs, in some places today, while knowledge of the custom, even if not practised, is still known to many people.

Brigid’s crosses, in various materials, can be bought in Irish craft centres, ‘tourist’ shops, at attractions and even at Irish Airports. They are also available from some ‘New Age’ shops in England but it is a distinctively Irish custom. There are a great many patterns of cross, ranging from simple four-armed examples to those of very elaborate construction and including a design of a three-armed ‘triskele’ type. In 1942 the Irish Folklore Commission received several hundred examples of Brigid’s crosses from correspondents all over the country in conjunction with the questionnaire they sent out regarding the customs surrounding St Brigid’s Day. It seems, however, that no one particular type of cross was held in greater veneration than any other. Many of these are now among the collection of Brigid’s crosses held by the National Museum of Ireland, and housed at Castlebar Museum, Co Mayo.

There are many elaborations on the basic design, but whether these were of symbolic significance or due to the artistic flair and inspiration of the maker is hard to say. It was a matter of pride to be able to make very elaborate crosses. Among the museum’s collection is one that incorporates a total of fourteen diamond crosses. In this case it should be borne in mind that there was an old tradition that the more frequent the repetition, then the greater and more certain would be the blessing that follows, which may account for the existence of multiple-diamond crosses.

The most common design (crosóg) more resembles a swastika than the simple Latin cross that is generally associated with Christian practices, despite the fact that the latter is a lot easier to make. The swastika, its name derived from the Sanskrit word Svastika, which means ‘well being’ or ‘being fortunate’, is a symbol connected with auspicious things in India. While the Brigid’s crosses of this type do not have the right angled bends at the ends of the arms of a true swastika, it has been suggested that this is what they are derived from, although the swastika was designed independently in many different cultures. It is found on a Palaeolithic carving on mammoth ivory from the Ukraine, dating to about 10000 bc., but occurs in ancient Greece, southern Europe, China and Japan. It also appears on the oldest coins of India, Persia and Asia Minor, as well as those of Troy of about 1000 bc.

Most scholars agree that it represents the sun and/or fire, the two often being interchangeable symbolically. Its shape also indicates movement, i.e. turning; while Christians referred to it as the Crux dissimulata – ‘disguised cross.’ There is an inscribed stone of the early Christian period located near St Brigid’s Well at Cliffoney in Co Sligo which bears a Latin cross, but the upper arm incorporates a swastika symbol, perhaps suggesting an association of this with the saint in this instance, although this is the only example known.

As there is a close tie symbolically between fire and the sun, the practice of making sun symbols from rushes or straw at Imbolc in honour of the Goddess Brighid, one of whose associations was with fire, meant that such tokens would form a powerful talisman. Brighid was connected with fire as she was the patron goddess of smiths (see pages 29 and 31), and may also have been associated with the domestic fire if this characteristic was ‘transferred’ to St Brigid as suggested by Scottish and Irish hearth customs (see pages 79–81), and she may have had an indirect sun association (see page 30).

Since a very similar method of veneration continued after the Goddess Brighid’s temple was converted to a Christian establishment it seems that the making of these crosses may predate Brighid’s ‘conversion’. It would therefore be derived from a practice associated with the goddess, perhaps a representation of the sun emerging from the darkness of winter. It can also be seen as representing the continuing cycle of the year and the four seasons in the sunwise rotation of the offset arms of the cross (if made in the traditional way), which may also symbolise the movement of the sun with its life-giving energy.

In none of the many ancient stories about St Brigid and her miracles is there any direct connection with an incident that might account for the making of these crosses, and the stories that explain them all seem to be of a later date. The ordinary people would have continued to practice their customs at the relevant time, particularly those connected with the agricultural year. Many of these the Christian church found difficult to suppress, so often allowed people to continue their traditional activities but provided a Christian ‘reason’ for carrying them out.

Further evidence for the pre-Christian origin and significance of the crosses can be seen in the way they were used till recent times to ensure the fertility of crops, animals and even humans (fertility being an attribute of the Goddess Brighid that passed to the saint), and as a method of protecting from illness and curing ailments in both humans and animals (the goddess was also a healer). It was also believed that a cross fixed to the house would protect it from fire (an element that was closely associated with the goddess).

Today they are just said to be ‘lucky’, a great simplification of the complex multi-functionality of the crosses in the past. While we can only guess that the reason that the crosses were made in the time of the goddess was as a fertility and/or sun or fire emblem, we can see a definite fertility connection in the way they were used in Christian times. While the reason for making them in pagan times has been forgotten, there is a Christian explanation for their origin and, not unexpectedly, there is more than one story to account for their origin:

Saint Brigid and the chieftain

One day Saint Brigid was passing by a hut and heard a moaning sound coming from it. She entered it to find a dying man, a tribal chieftain, lying on a bed. Brigid realised he was a pagan and went over to him and began to explain about the Lord God and his Son, but he would not listen to her. Undaunted she continued to try and win him over to the Lord, but all her efforts were in vain as he refused to listen.

Finally, she went outside, pulled up some rushes and quickly wove them into a cross. She returned to the hut and held the cross up before him and explained to him what it represented and the sacrifice that Christ had made, whereupon the chieftain was moved to sorrow and embraced the Christian religion. He then made his confession and Saint Brigid administered the last rites and so his soul was received into heaven.

Saint Brigid and the sick friend

On a visit to a friend who was very sick with a deadly and contagious disease Saint Brigid, while ministering to him, reached down and picked up some straw from the floor. She was an expert weaver, and wove this into a braided cross and hung it on the rafters above his bed.

Soon after this her friend fully recovered, and it seems all the household was protected from the disease because of her blessing and their possession of this token. So today the crosses are made to commemorate this event, bring St Brigid’s blessing on the household, and to show it is a good Christian family.

Saint Brigid and her father’s conversion

Brigid had been a Christian for many years, but had never been able to convince her pagan father, Dubhthach to embrace this new religion. Eventually she had to nurse her father as he was on his deathbed, and sitting there with little to do she picked up some rushes from the floor and wove them into a cross. Her father asked what she was doing and Brigid explained the significance of the cross and took the opportunity to once again explain Christianity, and at last her father was convinced and became a Christian just before he died. So crosses are still made today to commemorate the work of Brigid in continuing Saint Patrick’s work of converting Ireland.

Saint Brigid and the sneezing death

From Co Waterford comes this curious story (recorded in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century) to explain the reason for the crosses:

A Druid lived in the hills of Comeragh a long time ago and he used to light a great fire on Saint Brigid’s Eve, but whoever saw this fire would sneeze till they died. Saint Brigid was going by and saw that the people were closing their doors, covering their windows and staying indoors although it was early in the afternoon.

She inquired the reason for this strange behaviour, and on learning its cause she told each person to each make a small cross of rushes or willows and to hold it up between them and the fire, and to say three times ‘God and Mary with us!’

If their sneezing persisted they then t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• One: Who was the Goddess Brigantia?
• Two: The Conception of the Goddess Brighid
• Three: The Goddess Brighid becomes a Saint
• Four: The Temple of the Goddess Brighid: the Church of Saint Brigid
• Five: Her name and the many Brigids
• Six: Goddess of fire and fertility, Saint of hearth and midwifery
• Seven: Celebrating the Goddess-Saint in Ireland
• Eight: Celebrating the Goddess-Saint in Scotland and the Hebrides
• Nine: Celebrating the Goddess-Saint elsewhere in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man
• Ten: Saint Brigid visits Glastonbury!
• Eleven: Saint Brigid’s Holy wells
• Twelve: Saint Brigid and the natural world
• Thirteen: The relics of Saint Brigid
• Fourteen: Stories of the Goddess-Saint
• Fifteen: Venerating the Goddess-Saint
• Further Reading