I spend a lot of time writing about Brigid, but looking back, I don’t think I’ve answered the fundamental question: who is Brigid?
Goddess, deity, saint, druid, nun, mother, wife, daughter, patron saint of Ireland… She permeates Irish zeitgeist and culture in ways very few other members of the Tuatha de Danann or other saints or indeed, other historical figures, do. A few minutes spent searching Dúchas, gives nearly 6,000 entries mentioning variants of her name. And, in recent years, she is definitely encountering a bit of a resurgence in popularity.
Who is St. Brigid?
Well, this one is relatively straightforward. I’ve mentioned St. Brigid a few times in this blog before now and we’ve dived into the depth in at least one dedicated course on the topic. So, this is not new information. But here’s the high level information.
St. Brigid was born in or around 450CE in Ireland. While Faughart, near Dundalk in Co. Louth, claims her as one of their own, it is more likely, according to academics that she was born of the Fothairt clan somewhere in the modern county of Kildare. She was born to a druid, or at least high-caste father, Dubhacht and a slave mother, Broicseach. Broicseach is mentioned as being baptised by St. Patrick in some sources.
And yes, that there is a wonderful relationship to be starting with, isn’t it? Because the hagiographies mention Dubhacht’s wife wasn’t overly keen on Brigid being around. You can understand it – blatant evidence of your husband’s infidelity. Marriage under Brehon law in Ireland was a bit different to the modern notion, but still…
There are numerous stories in the hagiographies about how generous and caring and lovely Brigid was. But she also had a temper, and was willing to stand up for herself as well. She pulled out her own eye instead of marrying the man her father and brothers wanted her to marry. She re-inflicted a man with leprosy when he wouldn’t touch his fellow-leper to heal him.
Brigid founded a religious institution at Kildare, and her successors held many of her privileges, including precedence over the local bishops, for 5 centuries. If you look at the mentions of St. Brigid in Irish lore -it goes beyond the hagiographies. Her stories, her prayers, her existence stayed and supported the Irish through Christianity,war, famine, colonisation, oppression. She is the only patron saint we have that was born here and died here. She left a lasting impression on the Irish psyche to the extent that “Bridget” and “biddy” are synonymous with Ireland. Our emigrants brought her cult to the rest of the world as they went and she is known everywhere they went. Which is most of the world to be honest!
The goddess
Brig appears four times in Irish lore. She’s the mother of Ruadhán in Caith Maigh Tuired. Has an entry (along with the saint) in Cormac’s glossary. She appears in a listing with her animals in Lebor Gabala Erenn. And finally, she appears in a gloss/ marginalia in Acallamh in dha Thurad (which I link to Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann, or the fate of the children of Tuireann.
As a deity, I link Brigid with fire and water (follow up post on that coming soon), as poet with law, social justice, arts and humanities, power of words, magic….
I think everyone know at this point, I link the Smith with STEM subjects, engineering in particular. As a healer – I link her with anything to do with healing: medicine, energy work, environmental work, veterinary work, care of animals and children…
While this might be veering into “what is Brigid” rather than “who is Brigid”, I think it’s important to consider where she lands in terms of areas of life. She covers a lot. And much of this is from Cormac’s Glossary. But we also know she is definitely the daughter of the Dagda, the good god of Irish lore. (Not morally good mind, just good at it. Whatever “it” is.) And I believe that the Dagda passed many elements of that “good god” legacy to his daughter. We have no idea who her mother is from the pagan perspective. Boann, Danú, the Morrigan are all considered, and frankly, it’s a grand discussion for a long winter’s night over a pint. If you’re that way inclined.
She’s told me often enough it’s none of my business. Which is fair enough.
As goddess, she is heavily linked to sorrow. The sons she is linked with all die. And in not-great ways. They are, at best, morally grey characters. The Children of Tuireann in particular have an uncomfortable story, possibly why it’s the least popular of the three sorrowful tales of Ireland. Of course, there’s no real sex scandal in it either, whereas both Deirdre of the Sorrows and Children of Lir have some elements of a woman causing trouble – always a popular theme…
Short and Sweet
I know, this is a very high level introduction to who is Brigid. But I do link to other posts and classes where I go into a lot more detail! If you’re starting out here – this is as good a place to start as any! If you’ve been here a while – you probable already know this stuff. But that’s ok. A refresher is always handy!
