Saint Brigid

{{bronze}}[[File:Stbrigid.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Brigid with a crozier and lamp, two of her traditional attributes, from the centre of Celtic Christianity that is Macon, [[Fun:Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].]]{{Christianity}}
'''Saint Brigid of Kildare''', or of '''Ireland''', or '''St Bridget''', or '''St Bride''', is one of the most important [[saint]]s of [[Ireland]]. She is traditionally dated to around 451-525 CE, while the main source of her life was an account by Broccán Clóen probably written in the first half of the 7th century. She shares her name with an [[Saint_Brigid#The_goddess|Irish goddess]], which suggests at minimum that some people would have been confused, or her stories may be a {{wpl|Syncretism|retelling}} of [[neopaganism|Celtic myth]]. And in fact there's no clear evidence that she existed at all.<ref name=oxford>David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Fifth Edition Revised. Oxford University Press; Revised edition, 4 June 2011. {{isbn|0199596603}}</ref><ref name=wp>{{wpa|Brigid_of_Kildare}}</ref> She is a patron saint of Ireland, dairymaids, cattle, midwives, Irish nuns, and newborn babies,<ref name=co/> and unofficially the patron saint of Irish abortionists.

She shouldn't be confused with {{wpl|Bridget of Sweden|St Brigid/Bridget of Sweden|,}} a 14th century mystic and nun, who is more likely to have been real.

==Her story==
The earliest version of her Brigid's story was written by {{wpl|Broccán Clóen}} (who? yes, exactly). Even if we accept the best case for Brigid's historical existence, his ''Life'' was almost certainly written well after her death, and he probably never met her, being born after her death (assuming she existed, he existed, etc). Most sources don't get more precise than dating him to the 6th or probably the 7th century. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives his date of death as 17 September 650<ref name=cathenc/> but that's suspiciously precise. There's minimal historical information about Broccán; there appear to have been several people of the same name.

Her life story was retold by many people, who differed considerably in the facts, but most people seem to agree they were well-written; to summarise, her biographers include:<ref name=cathenc/>

* St Broccán Clóen, repudedly a monk from Kildare who traditionally died in 650 CE
* Cogitosus, a monk from Kildare, whose account was in [[Latin]] verse
* St. Ultan
* St. Aileran
* Coelan, an 8th century monk, who wrote a life with a foreword by St. Donatus (later Bishop of Fiesole in Tuscany, [[Italy]])

==The legend==
A lot of sources seem pretty certain about this. Obviously, they're regurgitating Broccán's account and assuming he wouldn't tell a lie. So she was born in Dundalk, Co. Louth, in 451 or 452 to a princely family. Some sources say her mother was a slave and her father was Dubhthach, a chieftain. Although she was apparently inundated with marriage proposals, she preferred to become a nun, setting up the Convent of Cill-Dara (or as it's now spelt Kildare, in Co. Kildare); the cathedral of Kildare traces its origins from there. She was reportedly friends with [[Saint Patrick]] and various other notables of the [[Celtic Church]]. She founded a school of arts, from manuscript illumination to metalwork, which produced a really really beautiful edition of the [[Bible]], unfortunately now lost.<ref name=cathenc/>

Tradition says she died at Kildare on 1 February 525. Her [[relic]]s were taken to Downpatrick around 878, lost, and rediscovered in 1185. Most of her was reburied the following year, but her right hand which was encased in metal after her death is in Lumiar, [[Portugal]], and there's a bit in Cologne, [[Germany]].<ref name=cathenc>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02784b.htm St Brigid of Ireland], Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910</ref> Her head is also reputed to have been widely travelled.<ref name=wp/>
==Sillier stuff==
[[File:Saint_Brigid's_cross.jpg|thumb|left|150px|A {{wpl|Brigid's cross}}, one of the symbols of Ireland, said to have been invented by her.]]
There are various entertaining stories about Brigid and the miracles she worked. In the days before television, Catholicism was the principal entertainment of the masses.

In contradiction with [[Roman Catholic]] dogma is the account of an apparent [[abortion]]: according to Cogitosus, when a nun became pregnant in mysterious circumstances, Brigid made the baby disappear without pain or childbirth.<ref name=wp/> This has led to her being celebrated by pro-choice Irishpeople as "Ireland's first abortionist".<ref>[http://choiceireland.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/happy-st-brigids-day-irelands-first.html Happy St Brigid's Day – Ireland's first abortionist], Choice Ireland, 1 Feb 2008</ref>

As mentioned she was always being pursued by eager suitors, but one Dubthach maccu Lugair was luckier than most: Brigid told him to go for a walk in the woods where he'd find a more suitable sweetheart, which he did, and lo he was married!<ref name=wp/>

Also related to her attractiveness, she prayed to God that he'd make her ugly, and she was rendered unattractive until she took her final vows and became a proper nun.<ref name=co>[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=453 St Brigid of Ireland], catholic.org</ref>

Another well-known tale is that of how she got the land at Kildare: she was arguing with the local landowner, trying to get some space to put a convent up, and eventually she made him agree that she could have as much land as her cloak covered. And wouldn't you know it? Her cloak magically grew to cover several acres. She is also sometimes depicted as having hung her cloak on a sunbeam.<ref name=wp/>

Really interfering with the established chronology, one tradition has her actually attending [[Jesus Christ]]'s [[Nativity]], which cannot be conclusively dated but is generally assumed to have happened well before 451 CE.<ref name=ngs/> However, this is probably a poetic retelling of St Brigid of Sweden's vision of the Nativity, and not Brigid of Ireland at all.

And she did all the usual food multiplication.

==The goddess==
[[File:Brigid.jpeg|thumb|right|150px|A modern-day statuette of the goddess Brigid 
preparing a stew while also casting a fireball spell.
]]
Brigid or Bride shares her name with an Irish [[goddess]]. There are various theories about the link: either St. Brigid was merely a Christianization of a pagan figure into an acceptable object of veneration or she was a real person to whom pagan myths were re-attributed, including legends suggesting she was a priestess (druidess) of such goddess, who converted to Christianity and her temple became a Christian monastery with her people also converting in the process and getting after she died the attributes and associations of her former patroness.

As for the goddess herself, and as per many other Celtic deities given the lack of contemporary records, not much is known and "Brigid" (also spelled as "Brigit" or "Brighid" and meaning "exalted one") could have been just a title applied to different deities rather than the name of one, as later texts from the [[Middle Ages]] written down by Christian [[monks]] which are our earliest source of information about her, claim Brigid as a goddess of poetry, wisdom, and protecting care had two sisters: Brigid the healer (physician) and Brigid the smith, which would much later be considered as three aspects of the same goddess (ie, a {{wpl|triple deity}} in the style of Greek [[Hecate]] instead of three separate ones), even if some also claim her three aspects show the division of the proto-[[Indo-European]] society into castes: priests (inspiration and poetry), protector of warriors and kings, and goddess of techniques (artisans, shepherds, and farmers). Likewise a link to the goddess {{wpl|Brigantia||,}} even if the latter could be just the result of syncretism between Brigid and Roman [[Minerva]] and Brigid having been in origins a dawn goddess or at least being related to {{wpl|*H₂éwsōs|her}} have been proposed too by modern scholarship.<ref name=gbwp>{{wpa|Brigid}}</ref>

St Brigid's feast day is Feb 1, which coincides with the pagan feast of Imbolc, celebrating the coming of spring, where the goddess Brigid was celebrated. Goddess Brigid was associated with fertility, inspiration and wisdom, medicine and healing, smithcraft, fire, home and the hearth (thus being similar to Greco-Roman deities as {{wpl|Hestia}} or {{wpl|Vesta||,}} which could have been the result of Greco-Roman authors identifying them with Brigid instead of something present there from the start, same associations shared with Brigantia as wisdom and crafts), sacred wells, serpents, agriculture, cattle (milk as well as guarding domestic animals) and poetry,<ref>[http://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2015/02/01/happy-st-brigids-day-at-imbolc/ Happy St Brigid's Day at Imbolc], Abortion Rights Campaign (Ireland)</ref><ref name=gbwp/> and she's still held today in high regard in [[Neopaganism]] including to consider Brigid as a triple goddess (see above) like others from the Celtic mythos and being often worshipped alongside either {{wpl|Lugh}} or [[Cernunnos]] among others of such pantheon. Many attributes ascribed to the goddess also relate to the saint, being even difficult to disentangle both: from her association with healing to her connection with the arts and metalwork and the presence of an eternal flame maintained by nuns (presumably priestesses in the former), with the goddess also having legends, some of them quite likely modern, that include her having been born 
casting a flame strike spell
 with a flame over her head,<ref>[https://www.mimosaspirit.com/blogs/news/brigit-triple-goddess-of-the-flame-health-hearth-the-forge Brigid: Triple Goddess of the Flame (Health, Hearth, & Forge)]</ref> acquiring wisdom after having imbibed from [[Danu]]'s (often considered to be the same goddess) waters,<ref>[https://cannotbecontained.com/2017/11/13/brigid-the-goddess-of-wisdom-and-everything-else/ Brigid, the Goddess of Wisdom and Everything Else]</ref> or having invented {{wpl|keening}} after the death of her son in battle.<ref>[https://mythopedia.com/topics/brigid Brigid], Mythopedia.</ref>

==In art==
There's a nice painting by the Scottish pre-Raphaelite artist John Duncan of her being carried over the sea to Jerusalem by angels.<ref name=ngs>[https://art.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/17484 St Bride, John Duncan], National Galleries Scotland</ref> Which probably did not happen, but there's a very cute seal.

==See also==
* [[Saint Columba]], the other big Irish saint
* [[Danu]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2|90%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigid}}
[[Category:Deities]]
[[Category:Folklore]]
[[Category:Ireland]]
[[Category:Paganism]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Categories: Deities, Folklore, Ireland, Paganism, Saints