Brigid was a symbol of love and femininity

A gentle but dynamic figure, St Brigid occupies many contrasting roles in Irish heritage and culture. A bridge between humankind and the otherworld, a Celtic goddess and a Christian saint, Brigid knits together traditions ancient and new, existing in a space between.

It seems only fitting then that such a liminal symbol would be born in a town on the edge – Faughart, Co Louth, surrounded by the Cooley mountains.

It is here, just a few kilometres from the main Belfast to Dublin road, that St Brigid’s Shrine and Holy Well are found. It’s also where Irish Country Living meets Roisin Cotter and Maura Lennon, two of the organisers of the Brigid of Faughart Festival – and both possess a great knowledge and appreciation of Ireland’s iconic female saint.

“The stories tell us Brigid was born in Faughart on the 8th of the lunar month, but I often wondered why was she born here? She was obviously born here for a reason,” says Roisin.

“Brigid sits in a lot of different spheres. She was the bridge between her father who was part of the old religion, and her mother who was a Christian. She was also the bridge between the rich, as her father was rich, and the poor, because her mother was a slave.”

“That’s why her story is such an amazing one, she came from that and yet went on to become the most important woman in Ireland and probably Europe at the time. She was the head of a monastery.”

Roisin and Maura take us on a walking tour of the site enveloped by beech trees. It’s a fresh, morning with clear blue skies, and it feels like the beginning of spring, with which Brigid is also associated. This is despite the fact that weather warnings were in place that storm Éowyn was on route.

“They say she brings life into the dead of winter,” Maura remarks. “She’s definitely doing it today.”

We begin at the lower part of the shrine, passing Brigid’s ancient healing stones, the oratory and along St Brigid’s Stream, described as “God’s orchestra”.

“If you listen to different parts of the stream, you can almost hear the music when it goes around the bend or over stones,” says Maura.

At the top of the stream, she stops to fill her water bottle at St Brigid’s Well, one of the 3,000 such wells in Ireland.

Buttery beams of light reflect through the stained glass of St Brigid’s Shrine.

“I remember coming up here when we had exams at school. We would pray to St Brigid, I’d say she was more popular than Mary here,” jokes Maura.

Where Brigid is renowned for bringing together opposing ideologies, she has also brought together these two women.

“I would’ve known Maura’s children growing up in Dundalk, my husband and Maura’s son had a band together,” says Roisin, laughing, “but I suppose through Brigid we became friends. I got to know Maura with the festival and now we do our workshop together every year.”

Brigid of Faughart Festival

Roisin and Maura, along with other local women including spiritual guide Dolores Whelan, have been organising the Brigid of Faughart Festival since 2008.

The event has expanded from gathering in one of the women’s houses to becoming a regional attraction, with visitors from across Europe, Australia and America.

“We have circle dancing, talks, a candlelit procession down to the shrine with the local children from the three schools and a pilgrimage walk,” says Roisin.

“Last year, we had the writer, Manchán Magan, that was a sellout. He’s wrote the book Listen to the Land Speak, about our connection to the land and goddesses.

“We always have a talk about Brigid and some poetry, as she was the goddess of poetry. Then we have a beautiful closing ritual to celebrate Imbolc as we come into spring.”

“It’s about connecting back to our past traditions and the richness of them. There are so many traditions associated with Brigid,” says Roisin.

A cornerstone of the festival is the cross-making workshop that Roisin and Maura lead together.

“I’m 84, so I’ve been making crosses for 80 years,” says Maura. “Making the cross is very much part of the heritage of this area.

“When we were young, we would make the crosses the week before Brigid’s Day. You’d have to make the farmers two – one for the cow shed and one for home.”

Roisin has brought along rushes which she cut from the pond in her garden, and Maura gets to work, methodically weaving the thin lines of green and quietly murmuring “over up, over down, over up, over down”. Meanwhile, Roisin explains the symbolism.

“It’s a pre-Christian sun symbol,” explains Roisin. “The great wheel in the sky turning. The middle of it, the diamond shape is the representation of the pregnant belly of the goddess.”

Workshops

The cross was traditionally made on the eve of Brigid’s Day and hung up over the doors and in the outbuildings to gain Brigid’s protection for the family and their animals over the coming year.

“When you put a cross up in your home, you’re asking the goddess for her protection,” says Roisin.

The Brigid’s cross continues to resonate for many today and Roisin and Maura teach people of all ages to make a cross at their workshop each year.

“Every year the workshop is very popular,” says Roisin.

“It’s all much more mainstream now. We used to be weird hippies doing this and now everyone’s doing it,” she says, laughing.

“People are searching for something that has meaning to them in their lives. Carrying on these traditions is a way of helping them to find those spiritual connections that they’re looking for.

“I made a video of me making a cross a few years ago, just my hands and it got thousands of views on Facebook. People love handling natural materials.”

Another key part of the Faughart Festival is reflecting on how to integrate Brigid’s teachings into modern Ireland. Both women say that Brigid’s life and work inspires solutions to the social and environmental problems of today.

“She was there for the rights of women. She ran a whole monastic city. She was an environmentalist, she looked after nature. She could communicate with animals in lots of the stories as well,” says Roisin.

“Brigid was an amazing person because she did exactly what she felt was the right thing to do. She wasn’t bound by the conventions of the time. She lived to help people and she was aligned to God.”

“Nearly all her stories are about her generosity,” says Maura. “She constantly gave away food and possessions to those in need, always looking after people.”

It is clear that the women of Faughart are embracing these same qualities reflected in Brigid’s stories – kindness, generosity, courage and compassion – as they honour her legacy in the quiet of Faughart, where it all began.

Visit brigidoffaughart.ie

Irish Country Living interviewed Roisin and Maura just before the arrival of storm Éowyn. The area was impacted by the weather and trees were uprooted. Roisin says, “The tree miracously did not fall on the stone grotto, it fell in front of it rather than on it, amazingly enough.”

The Parish are clearing the trees this week in time for the thousands of people arriving at Brigid’s Shrine for events this weekend, including a Pilgrim Walk and candlelit procession organised as part of the Brigid of Faughart Festival.”