The story of the life of Saint Brigid recalls the beauty of Catholic faith in medieval Ireland.

By Fatima Gunning

Saint Brigid - The Woman whose love of God still echoes throughout Ireland and beyond

St. Brigid of Kildare is one of the most enigmatic figures from medieval Irish history and is venerated on her feast day, the first of February, by the making of the famous ‘St. Brigid’s Cross’ by many school children and Catholics in Ireland.

Through the long centuries of Ireland’s devotion to the Catholic faith the story of ‘Brigit’ - her birth name in Old Irish - has been passed down through generations as a reflection of the saint's deep love and devotion to God.

This medieval Irish woman is depicted in countless beautiful stained glass windows and works of Catholic art in many Irish churches, and her unique cross which is crafted out of wild rushes can be seen hanging over many mantle pieces.

This tradition comes from the belief that Saint Brigid used the rushes from a floor mat to teach a dying man about Christianity.

Cogitusos wrote a biography of the saint in Latin, a manuscript of which was printed in Milan around the year 1480 by Boninus Mombritius.

Some accounts recall St. Brigid calling down God’s grace onto some water and it being turned to beer after a leper, longing for a draft, had visited her.

Another recalls the saint finding a beehive under some floorboards just in time to give the honey to a beggar. Yet another recounts how she is believed to have milked the same cow three times in one day to provide mild for three bishops.

A well in Faughart, Co. Louth is believed to be the birthplace of St. Brigid in the mid fifth century and remains a site of pilgrimage.

The saint and abbess is believed to have been the founder of the first Irish nunnery in Kildare.

She also founded a ‘double monastery’ for monks and nuns.

A fragment of St. Brigid’s skull is kept in a Catholic church dedicated to the Irish patron saint in Killester, Dublin.

The remainder of her skull is kept in a small church in Lumiar, Lisbon and she is believed to have died in 524 or 528 A.D.
Her remains were originally buried in Kildare but she was later exhumed and reburied at Downpatrick alongside her fellow Irish Patron Saints. St. Patrick and St. Colmcille.

A hymn to St. Brigid called Brigit Bé Bithmaith (‘Brigit ever good woman’) is recorded in Liber Hymnorum - an 11th century book of hymns which is currently housed in the library of Trinity College Dublin.

Translated from Old Irish courtesy of Trinity College Dublin it reads:

Brigit bé bithmaith - Brigit ever good woman

breó orda óiblech - A sparkling golden flame

donfe don bithlaith - may she lead us to the eternal realm

in grian tind toidlech - the shining bright sun

Ronsoera Brigit - Save us Brigit

sech drungu demna - from hordes of demons

roroena reunn - may she win for us

cathu cach thedma - battles of every hardship

Dorobdo innunn - Destroy within us

ar colla císu - the sins of our flesh

in chroeb co mblathaib - the branch with flowers

in mathair Ísu. - The mother of Jesus

Saint Brigid - The woman whose love of God still echoes throughout Ireland and beyond

The story of the life of Saint Brigid recalls the beauty of Catholic faith in medieval Ireland.