Brigid of Ireland
Saint Brigid of Ireland (451- 525) was born at Faughart near Dundalk,
County Louth,
Ireland. Legend states that her parents were Dubtach,
pagan Scottish king of
Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pictish slave who had been baptized by
Saint Patrick. Brigid was named after one of the most powerful Goddesses of the Pagan religion that Dubtach parcticed. Brid or Brigid, the Goddess of Fire's manifestations were song and poetry, which the Celts considered the flame of knowledge. St Brigid became a vestal virgin in service to the Goddess Brid, and eventually high priestess at the Kil Dara (the temple of the oak), a pagan sanctuary built from the wood of a tree sacred to the Druids. Information concerning her conversion to Christianity is lacking, but supposedly in 468, followed St. Mel of Armagh to Meath. Around 470, she converted the pagan sanctuary of Kil Dara(Cill-Dara) into a Christian double monastery. She founded a school of art at Kildare, where the Book of Kildare, a famous illuminated manuscript, was created. She died at Kildare on February 1 and is buried at Downpatrick with St. Columcille and St. Patrick, with whom she is the patron of Ireland. Similar to the association between St Patrick and the shamrock, a tiny cross made of rushes was linked with St Brigid.
