PILGRIM DIARY
Painting by Carlee Clark
St. Brigid's Wayside Well in Kildare
Pilgrim Diary:
Notes Along the Way
According to tradition, Saint Brigit built her monastery in Kildare beside a large oak tree around 480 a.d. In Gaelic, Cill Dara (Kildare) can be translated as “cell” or “church of the oak.” The cathedral in Kildare is built on the site of Saint Brigit’s fifth-century foundation. There are beautiful stained-glass windows depicting stories about the legendary abbess.
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Still in existence are the foundations of the fire building where Brigit’s sisters tended “Brigit’s fire,” a perpetual flame kept burning by Brigit and her nuns from the sixth century until the destruction of the monasteries in the sixteenth century. Fire is a symbol that reflects back to pre-Christian times but which is also associated with saints like Brigit and with divine power in Christianity. Some scholars believe that Brigit’s foundation may have originally been a sanctuary of Druidic priestesses who converted to Christianity. (See M. Pollard, In Search of Saint Brigid, Foundress of Kildare, Armagh, 1987, cited in Rita Minehan, C.S.B., Rekindling the Flame, Solas Bhride Community, 14 Dara Park, Kildare, Ireland, 1999.)
Video on brief history of St. Brigid's Cathedral in Kildare
https://youtu.be/mBhS3fFmA0I
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Sister Mary Minehan, a Brigidine sister, and Sister Phil O’Shea came to live in Kildare in 1992. They opened Solas Bhride, a small Celtic spirituality center in the spirit of Brigit of Kildare. They welcome pilgrims from all over the world who come to Kildare to walk the ancient paths, pray at Brigit’s wells, and connect with Ireland’s legendary saint. The Brigidine Sisters, founded in 1807, are a restoration of the ancient order of Brigit. In 1992, they came to Kildare to reconnect with their roots and to reclaim Brigit in a new way for a new millennium. This led to the relighting of the flame of Brigit in 1993.
In both 1999 and 2000, we met with Sister Mary who shared traditional stories about Saint Brigit with us and guided us to the sacred wells of Kildare: Saint Brigid’s Wayside Well, Saint Brigid’s Well and prayer stones, Saint Brigid’s Cathedral, and Saint Brigid’s Parish Church. On one occasion we gathered with the Friends of Brigit around her flame in a prayer for healing. The spirit of Saint Brigit lives on in those who work for the full equality of peoples in the Church and in society, and who work to promote peace, reconciliation, justice, and conservation of God’s good earth. (Note that the spelling of “Brigit” varies according to context and usage.)
Saint Brigid’s Cathedral is owned by the Church of Ireland and was constructed in the twelfth century on the site of Brigit’s abbey. In the churchyard is a timeworn round tower and a Celtic cross (without its top section) that may date as far back as the tenth century. Inside the cathedral are picturesque stained-glass windows depicting scenes from Brigit’s life. Also worth noting is a sheela-na-gig, a primitive fertility stone figure hidden under the tomb by the door. In order to see it, you have to get down below on the floor.
From Corrofin travel north on the R476 for 3.5 kilometers. The church is on the right. There is parking on the right beyond the church.
Some scholars believe that sheela-na-gigs, such as the one in a medieval church in Killinaboy in County Clare, depict Saint Brigit with a wide-open womb even though she was a virgin. In Killinaboy, the sheela is carved on the top of the arch to the door. Sheela-na-gigs continue the representation of Celtic women as generous providers. These sheelas present a positive attitude toward female sexuality and honor birthing as a sacred experience. Like pre-Christian cultural icons, Brigit was associated with fertility and abundance. She was an activist who, mother-like, sought the health, well-being, and growth of her children. Perhaps today, sheelas can remind us that all creation is enveloped in the eternity of God’s love.
View Video on St. Brigid's Shrine in Faughart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ikMsmp2ZK4
Faughart, which according to folklore is the birthplace of Saint Brigit, is located near the border of south Louth and north of Armagh. Faughart is a peaceful place, surrounded by trees and a panorama of the Irish countryside, including the Gap of the North, the Plain of Muirthemhne, and the town of Dundalk.
The shrine at Faughart is dedicated to Saint Brigid, Ireland's second saint (after Patrick), who was said to have been born at Faughart in the fifth century. She later founded a monastery at Kildare. Her tradition is strongly celebrated in Faughart and Dundalk to this day, with an annual pilgrimage and other events taking place on her feast day, February 1st, every year.
As you walk in through the entrance, you see a shrine with a statue of Saint Brigit on top of the roof.
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At the bottom of the steps leading to Brigit’s shrine are various statues: Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, Saint Columcille, the first missionary, Saint Malachy, twelfth-century reformer and archbishop of Armagh, Saint Oliver Plunkett who was martyred for the faith during the period when Catholicism was suppressed by Henry VIII. The statue of Brigit is located above all these, and looks as if she is suspended among the surrounding and majestic tall trees. To the left of the shrine is a holy well with its water spouting like a fountain.
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Down the hill are prayer stones, stations of the cross, and a quiet stream. Several of the stones are identified as places where pilgrims come to pray for specific bodily ailments: there is the knee-marked stone, the waist-marked stone, the eye-marked stone, and so on.
A guidebook entitled Saint Brigid of Ireland: Faughart Pilgrim’s Manual by John J. O’Riordan, C.Ss.R., provides a wealth of information on this shrine. It also gives both traditional and alternative versions of the stations for visitors. The stations are places where pilgrims stop to pray. “Doing the rounds,” or moving from station to station, is an ancient prayer-style that Celtic people have practiced down through the centuries.
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View Delightful Video on "Keeping the Tradition of the Biddy Alive in Kerry": https://youtu.be/RhN52teEF3Y
An old custom known as the “Brideog and ‘Gathering the Biddy," is being reclaimed today. Children carry the Brideog, a cloth doll stuffed with straw from house to house, asking that the blessing of Brigit be upon each house. Or the parents would prepare a straw baby doll (made simply out of a baby’s outfit stuffed with straw to resemble a body) in advance of the visit. On the eve of Saint Brigit’s feast, January 31, when the family gathered for the main meal, one parent would carry the straw doll symbolizing Brigit out the back door (which represented the end of winter) and place the effigy at the front entrance, symbolizing the beginning of spring. The parent would knock and call out: “It is Brigit who knocks. Let Brigit in.” Those inside the house would respond, “Brigit is welcome.” The ritual was repeated twice more (three times in all) and then the parent would bring the straw doll representing Brigit through the door whereupon all would say: “Welcome to our table, Brigit. Let us make a toast. Slàinte (cheers).” The doll was then given the place of honor at the table.
The popular tradition of the weaving of Saint Brigit’s cross is believed to have started during a visit by Brigit to a dying pagan chieftain whom some sources identify as her father. To share her faith in Christ, Brigit wove a simple cross from the rushes strewn on the floor. From that time on, the woven rush cross has been identified with the saint.
View Video: Making a Saint Brigid's Cross: An Easy Step by Step Guide
https://youtu.be/Yn_MG4HZVOo
The Brigit cross is usually made around February 1, Saint Brigit’s feast day. After the cross is woven, it is blessed and placed above the entrance to a house, barn, or stable as a sign of protection and blessing for all who live within. (See the Appendix 5 for a description of how to make the Brigit cross and for prayers of blessing to accompany its installation.)
Another place where Saint Brigit is celebrated is in Saint Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Armagh which has some of the most exquisite stained-glass windows depicting scenes from her life. One window shows the clothing ceremony in which Brigit is presented with a white woolen dress. According to the story, each nun was asked to choose a beatitude which she would practice. Brigit chose “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Mt 5:7). Being a reflection of God’s mercy and love to the downtrodden became the cornerstone of Brigit’s life, according to Elaine Gill in The Book of Celtic Saints (Blandford Press, 1996).
Left: St. Brigit of Kildare is depicted standing next to apostles on a ancient stone altar at Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland