St Brigid - Mary of the Gael - is second only to St Patrick in the esteem of the Irish people.
She is, of course, specially associated with Kildare and the whole area of Magh Life (The Liffey Plain).
It would appear that the veneration of St Brigid incorporates elements of a much older tradition.
When
the Celts came to Ireland, maybe around 500 B.C., they brought with
them their Druidic religion. They had many gods, who interacted with the
people, sometimes for good, and sometimes for evil.
Many of the gods and goddesses were associated with cult sites at particular places.
The
pagan religious framework of the Celts is not well documented, and
what details we have, are mainly of the religious practices of the
continental Celts as described by Roman writers, who most likely never
visited Ireland.
So
their accounts would not relate directly to the practices in Ireland,
though there must have been broad similarities. The pagan religious
practices of the Irish Celts were not encouraged by the Christians, and
when they did record them, they would not have wished to present a
balanced picture, even if they fully understood the rituals.
So we actually have very little knowledge of the religious practices and rituals of the Druidic religion.
On
the other hand, the early Christian Church in Ireland did not seem to
associate the Druidic religion with cruel and barbarous practices,
which would have to be eliminated entirely.
The
names, and many of the attributes, of the Celtic Irish gods were
preserved in an oral tradition though the Gods themselves were reduced
to the ranks of fairies; they were not gods, but they were greater than
human, they were the Sidh or the Tuath de Danann.
The
Christian traditions treated the Tuath de Danann with a certain
sympathy and they are frequently shown as coming forth from their pagan
world, being embraced in the Christian fold, and entering into
heavenly bliss e.g. the stories of the Children of Lir, Oisin, and the
tale of Eithne.
It
was not so easy to get the ordinary people to completely forget the
pagan Celtic gods and elements of paganism survived for hundreds of
years after Christianity became firmly established.
Indeed
there is evidence to suggest that some of the more popular deities
were absorbed into the Christian tradition as local saints, and the
rituals associated with their worship survived as folk customs right up
to very recent times. This would appear to have happened, at least to
some extent, in the case of St Brigid.
The
head God of the Irish Celts was The Dagda. The Dagda Mor was the
father and chief of the people of Dana (the Tuath de Danann). He was a
master of music, as well as other magical endowments, and owned a harp
that came flying through the air at his call.
Dana
was the greatest of the de Danann goddesses; she was the mother of the
Irish gods. Daughter of the Dagda, and like him associated with the
ideas of fertility and blessing, Dana was also known as Brid "the
poetess".
Brid
is identified with the goddess Brigantia, territorial deity of the
Brigantes, a powerful Celtic tribe of North Britain. Brigantia was
associated with water and gives her name to rivers; the Brighid in
Ireland; the Braint in Wales; and the Brent in England.
Place name evidence would also suggest that the goddess Brid was known in Celtic Europe.
The
name Brid was originally an epithet meaning "the exalted one". She is
sometimes mentioned as a triple goddess i.e. three sister goddesses
named Brid; one goddess associated with poetry and traditional learning
in general; one associated with the smith's art; and the third
associated with healing.
However
over time the separate attributes of the three goddesses became merged
in the one figure. The Irish goddess Brid was specially concerned with
the arts and with poetry.
As
such she was venerated by the filidh who were poets and prophets, and
who had perhaps a rather academic interest in her. The Christian
approach to the filidh seems to have been to allow them to maintain
their literary, historical and legal responsibilities while suppressing
their ritualistic role.
However,
it is mainly as a goddess of the ordinary people, concerned with
healing, with flocks and stock and the yield of the earth, that she has
survived to become a Christian saint.
So
what of the Christian St Brigid? Brigid's father was Dubtach
descendant of Con of the Hundred Battles, her mother Brotseach of the
house of O'Connor. Her mother was said to have been a slave of Dubtach
and she was sold, shortly before Brigid was born, to a Druid who lived
at Faughart, a few miles from Dundalk.
The
date of Brigid's birth is disputed, but may be between 451 and 458;
commonly it is taken as 453. Memories of the saint still linger around
her birthplace. Her father's family were natives of the Province of
Leinster and Fr. Swayne, late Parish Priest of Kildare, claims that
they were from Umaras, between Monasterevin and Rathangan in Co.
Kildare. Another explanation of how she came to be born in Faughart was
that her mother was visiting some relatives at the time.
In
any case she was baptised in the Christian faith, receiving the name
Brid or Brigid. It is said that she was reared on the milk of a white
red-eared cow, the colour of the beasts of the Tuath de Danann.
From
earliest childhood the stories of her kindness and miracles associated
with her are told. While still a child she was put in charge of the
dairy by her mother. One day she had given away so much milk and butter
to poor people that none remained for the family. She feared her
mother's displeasure and so resorted to prayer. When her mother visited
the dairy she found such an abundance of milk and butter that she
praised the dairy maids for their industry. Brigid was also renowned
for her love of animals and many stories were told of her kindness to
stray and starving dogs.
The Tripartite Life of St Patrick
mentions her meeting with St Patrick. We are told that while still a
child she was brought to hear him preach, and that as she listened to
him she fell into an ecstasy.
When
Brigid came to marriageable age she decided to enter the religious
life. Accompanied, it is said, by seven other young girls she left her
home and travelled to Co. Meath where St Maccaille was Bishop. At first
St Maccaille hesitated to take them into the religious life as they
were very young, and he rather doubted their motives. However there was
a great congregation in the church when Brigid and her companions
entered to pray. They were all astonished when they saw a column of
fire that reached to the roof of the church resting on Brigid's head.
When the Saint heard of this miracle he hesitated no longer but gave
the veil to the eight young girls.
St
Maccaille's church was on Croghan Hill, in Co. Westmeath and it is
here that St Brigid founded the first convent in Ireland. A large
number of noble ladies entered the convent as postulants and here
Brigid and her companions completed their novitiate.
At
the end of the novitiate Brigid and her original seven companions,
journeyed to Ardagh where they made their final vows to St Mel, bishop
of Ardagh and nephew of St Patrick.
Here in Ardagh she founded another convent and remained for twelve years, during which time the convent flourished.
At the request of many bishops she sent sisters to various parts of Ireland to establish new foundations.
St
Brigid now went on a journey around Ireland. On her way she visited St
Patrick who was preaching at Taillte or Telltown in Co. Meath. Having
obtained St Patrick's blessing she continued on her journey. Many
stories are told of miracles and the foundation of convents in various
parts of the country during that journey.
The
Leinstermen were always conscious that Brigid was from their province,
and they constantly asked her to return and make her home amongst
them. She was offered any site in the province.
She
decided to make her foundation on Druim Criadh (the ridge of clay)
near the Liffey, in what is now the town of Kildare. On the ridge grew a
large oak tree and Brigid decided to build her oratory beneath its
branches.
The
new foundation prospered and developed rapidly. Soon, it is said, Drum
Criadh was covered with the cells of the community. From all parts of
Ireland and even from abroad girls came to join the community.
Bishops and priests went to Cill Dara (the Church of the Oak), as it was now named, seeking Brigid's advice and guidance.
The poor, the sorrowful, and the afflicted flocked there in search of help and consolation, which was never refused.
Kings
showered gifts on the convent, and the privilege of sanctuary was
conferred on the foundation, so that any who had offended against the
law were safe within the precincts.
A
most unusual community developed with both monks and nuns on the one
site. It became necessary to have a bishop appointed to the foundation,
as only a bishop could ordain priests.
However the story is also told that St Mel was old, and a bit doddery,
when he professed Brigid, and instead of professing her as a nun he
consecrated her as a Bishop. St Brigid for that reason had all the
privileges of a bishop.
In any case, St Brigid chose Conleth, a saintly hermit who lived at Old Connell (Connell of the Kings) near Newbridge.
St
Conleth visited St Brigid in Kildare where they first met. He stayed
some days preaching to the congregation and made a good impression. When
the time came for him to return to Old Connell he mounted his chariot
and asked Brigid for her blessing.
He
journeyed home across the Curragh plains, and it was only when he got
home that he discovered that the wheel of his chariot had been loose
throughout his journey, and it was a miracle brought about by Brigid
that it had not fallen off and killed him.
About
the year 490 St Conleth was consecrated the first Bishop of Kildare.
He may also have been Abbot of the community of monks in the
foundation. Brigid and Conleth seemed to have worked well together
though they had a somewhat complex relationship.
A
story is told of Brigid having given away the vestments which Conleth
used for saying Mass, when she had nothing else to give the poor. These
were vestments he had got from Italy. It appears that he was none too
pleased. Brigid prayed to God with "great fervour". Vestments exactly
resembling those given away immediately appeared, and Conleth was
appeased.
Despite
her anxiety about Conleth's vestments, it appears however that St
Brigid continued to hold the reins firmly in her own hands and ruled
over both communities, monks and nuns.
Her authority is well illustrated by the story of how St Conleth met his end.
He
decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome without obtaining Brigid's
permission. He did not get very far as he was attacked and killed by a
wolf near Dunlavin in Co. Wicklow in 519 a.d..
There
is no exact date for St Brigid's death. It is said that she died at
the age of seventy, which would make the date of her death somewhere
between 521 and 528.
After
her death the monastery flourished. The first Life of St Brigid was
written not much later than 650, and perhaps even within a hundred
years of her death. The author was a monk of the foundation in Kildare
named Cogitosus.
The
"Life" was not really a biography as we would understand it, but
rather a compilation of stories of St Brigid. It gives us a fascinating
glimpse of life in Kildare some 1400 years ago.
He describes the great church of Kildare where the bodies of Sts Brigid and Conleth were:
"laid on the right and left of the ornate altar and rest in tombs adorned with a refined profusion of gold, silver, gems and precious stones, with gold and silver chandeliers hanging from above and different images presenting a variety of carvings and colours"
The Annals record that in the year 836 a Danish fleet of 30 ships arrived in the Liffey and another in the Boyne.
They plundered every church and abbey within the territories of Magh Liffe and Magh Breagh.
They destroyed the town of Kildare with fire and sword, and carried off the shrines of St Brigid and St Conleth.
It is said that in fact in the previous year, 835, the remains of St. Brigid were removed for safe keeping to Down.
However Down suffered too from the "Danes".
Accordingly
her body was removed from Down and buried in a place known only to a
few priests so that eventually all knowledge of her burial place was
lost.
In
1185 St. Malachy was bishop of Down, and wanting to discover the
burial place of St. Brigid who was supposed to have been buried with St
Patrick and St Columba, prayed hard to the Lord to reveal the burial
place.
A
beam of light settled over a spot on the floor of the church and sure
enough when St. Malachy dug at this spot he found the graves of Saints
Patrick, Brigid and Columcille.
Malachy petitioned Pope Urban 111 for permission to move the bodies to Down Cathedral.
The move took place on 9 Jun 1186, the Feast of St. Columcille.
At
the dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII, the sacred shrine was
despoiled and the relics of the Saints were scattered. Luckily some
were saved from destruction.
The head of St. Brigid now rests in Portugal, in a chapel devoted to
her in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Lumiar, near Lisbon, where
her feast is celebrated yearly.
The farmers in the locality are said to regard St Brigid as their special patroness.
Let's take a look at the similarities between the pagan Celtic Goddess Brid and the Christian Saint Brigid:
- St Brigid's Day
Celebrated on 1st February, the pagan feast of Imbolg, the festival of Spring, the coming of fertility to the land. Even today it is still the occasion of popular and patently un-Christian rituals such as the Bridoge and the Biddy doll.
- St Brigid's Fire
Described by Giraldus Cambrensis in the 12th century, as having been tended by twenty "servants of the Lord", at the time of St Brigid; Brigid herself being the twentieth. When Brigid died the number stayed at nineteen. Each of the nineteen nuns took their turns at night and on the twentieth night the nineteenth nun puts the logs on the fire and St Brigid miraculously tends the fire, which never goes out. Although the fire had been burning for some 600 years, by the time of Giraldus, the ashes had never had to be cleaned out and had never increased. He goes on to describe the fire being surrounded by a hedge which no man may cross. One archer who was with Strongbow is said by Giraldus to have crossed the hedge, and he went mad. Another had put his leg over the hedge when he was restrained by his companions. However the leg he put across was maimed and he was crippled for the rest of his life. There is another legend associating Brigid with fire. When she was a child, her mother had gone out one day leaving the child asleep. The neighbours saw the house on fire but when they went to rescue the child there was no fire. The cult of fire is very ancient indeed, going back into pre-history. The fire continued to be tended for at least 1,000 years, with one interruption in the 1200s when Henry of London, Norman arch-bishop of Dublin, ordered it to be extinguished as he considered the tending of the fire to be a pagan practice. It was soon re-lit, by the locals, but was finally extinguished at the Reformation.
- The Oak Tree
As with many other peoples, certain trees and groves of trees were sacred to the Celts and treated with veneration. The Druids appear to have been specially concerned with the oak tree, and they are described by a Roman writer as being dressed in white while climbing the oak with golden sickles to cut mistletoe. They then sacrificed a white bull and held a feast. We may assume that a special tree was associated with many of the cult sites. The place-names and literature of the Celtic world contain much evidence about the use of single sacred trees and sacred groves as the focal points for ritual and tribal assembly. One such tree would appear to have been sacred on the hill of Kildare, and it was under this tree that Brigid built her cell. The stump of this tree is said to have still been there in the 10th century and it was held in great veneration as many miracles were wrought through it. No one dare cut it, but might break off a bit with the fingers.
- St Brigid's Crosses
These might actually be symbols of sun worship representing the sun in the centre with rays of light coming from it in the shape of the arms of the cross. A story of St Brigid miraculously hanging her wet clothes on a sunbeam to dry may also be associated with an older tradition of sun worship.
- St Brigid's Wells
We have numerous wells associated with the Saint, not alone in Ireland but in Britain also. Wells were also often the sites of veneration in the Druidic religion. Sometimes the wells had an associated sacred tree, and this is still to be seen in the association of particular trees with holy wells around the country. Votive offerings (still seen nowadays as the custom of hanging rags on trees at holy wells) have been recovered from some of these sacred Celtic wells which seemed to have a healing function, as they still have. St Brigid is associated with healing, her girdle being capable of curing all disease and illness. Many of the miracles attributed to her are to do with healing - the blind man seeing, the dumb girl speaking etc.
- Widespread Veneration
Finally it is worth noting that while St Brigid was not a missionary saint, nor widely travelled, yet in Ireland she is second only to St Patrick in popular favour, and dedications to her are found throughout Britain as well as Ireland. As far away as the Hebrides, she was popular in Catholic areas until recent times and was invoked as patron of childbirth by the women, and revered as the midwife of the Virgin Mary. It would appear that the cult of Brid was established in Celtic Britain before the coming of Christianity and to have made the transition from pagan goddess to Christian saint in the areas associated with her.
So, was the Christian Saint Brigid a real historical person, or the mythical Celtic pagan goddess in another form?
The truth is that we don't know.
Somebody established a Christian foundation on the hill of Kildare.
That foundation prospered and became the great and unique Celtic Christian monastery of monks and nuns.
There is, on the other hand, no doubt that the legends of the Christian saint contain elements of a far older tradition.
Does it really matter?
Perhaps what does matter is that the site of Kildare Cathedral has been the site of unbroken worship for over 1,500 years in the Christian faith and may very well have been a sacred site for many hundreds of years more.
It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, sites of continuous worship in Ireland.