Today is St Brigid's Day which, in Ireland, is traditionally regarded
as the beginning of Spring. I usually consider that a trifle optimistic
but there was a real promise of Spring today although I'm sure it's
only short lived.
St Brigid was born at Faughart, outside Dundalk, and the people
of area have great devotion to her. I had intended visiting the
shrine in Faughart on the way home from work but got stuck
in a traffic jam of cars belonging to pilgrims on country roads
too narrow for two cars to pass. Luckily I had taken this pic in
St Nicholas Church on my way to collect my son from school.
One of Ireland's patron saints, legend says that her father was
a chieftain and her mother a slave who had been baptised by
Saint Patrick. St Brigid was very beautiful and rejected attempts
by her father to find her a husband. One story tells how she
ripped out her eye in an attempt to disfigure herself. She
eventually founded a convent in Co Kildare around 468.
Pilgrims visit the Shrine at Faughart and pray at the stones
said to bear the imprint of her eye and her knees where she
prayed.