Page Notes: The NCAD Library Blog

This blog post was written by the organiser of the Saint Brigid's Day event Aisling Ní Aodha, the Learning Centre Library Assistant

On St. Brigid’s eve January 31^st, the library held a St. Brigid’s day cross making workshop and did a screening of Hands: Rushwork to celebrate a Saint’s name day who has become increasingly popular over the years. In this blog post I am going to share the behind the scenes details of how this event came together. 

The influences behind the St. Brigid's Day poster design

For the St. Brigid's day poster I wanted to create a graphic of St. Brigid that embodied the contemporary revival of her in Irish society. I wanted her to look like an ordinary woman, using reference photos of women from Inis Meáin, Aran Islands wearing their colourful Galway Shawls. More information on these shawls can be found in the book ‘Traditional Crafts of Ireland’ (2003) by David Shaw-Smith. You can find this in our collection under the call number: 745.449415 / S

I liked how this reference to the shawl symbolised an indigenous connection with the saint, emphasising how much she is still practiced as a folk custom rather than being maniupalted into a commercial object such as St. Patricks day. I wanted Brigid to have a strong commanding pose. Emphasising her independence, and her connection to fundamental and positive aspects of life. Anne O'Dowd quotes Maria Gimbutas in listing these aspects: “seasonal awakening, growing, fattening and dying…” (O'Dowd quoting Gimbutas, 2015, p. 63) Keeping this in mind, the visual reference I used for this came from an unexpected source; from the cover of a book about Frida Kahlo titled Frida Kahlo: Her Universe (2022) by Museo Frida Kahlo. You can find this book on our shelves, call number: 759.97206 / KAH

Frida Kahlo is not only an extraodinary painter but she was incredibly adept at allowing her artistic world to continue through portraits of herself. I loved the idea of the image of the women of Inis Meáin in their shawls being blended with this photo of Kahlo to try depict Brigid as a figure that is both grounded and valued in the material world, whilst also commanding an other worldly power that is the source of her celebration today.

Books that informed the event

O’Dowd, A. (2015) Straw, hay & rushes in irish folk tradition. [Sallins, Co. Kildare, Ireland]: Irish Academic.

Straw, Hay & Rushes in Irish Folk Tradition (2015) by Anne O'Dowd provides one of the most detailed accounts of the practice of weaving rushes as part of the Saint Bridget's day celebration. 

"In Irish tradition, 1 February is one of the quarter days. It is the festival of St Brigid or Imbolc, as it was known in pre-Christian times. There are different ideas as to what Imbolc might mean and it is safe to say that it is connected with milk and milk products. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin tells us that Imbolg or Imbolc literally means parturition and that St Brigid in Ireland is the Special patron of farm animals and crops. The celebration of her feast day, he suggests, is ‘the synthesis of paganism and Christianity under the name of Brighid, with further additions from continental hagiography in medieval times." (O’Dowd, 2015, p. 53)

 Evans, E.E. (1957) Irish folk ways. London: Routledge & Paul.

This is a wonderful book that I first discovered at home as part of my dad's book collection. I was delighted that the library held a copy and I have consistely returned to this book as a reference for numerous events and learning outreach initiatives in the library. The chapter on folk festivals includes a detailed account of way and how Saint Brigid's day was celebrated in Ireland. The extract below was read out at our own event:

"Briget's Crosses are believed to protect the house and the livestock from harm and from fire. No evil spirit could pass the charm, which was therefore hung above the door of house and byre. The rushes must be pulled, not cut, on St. Briget's Eve, and care must be taken to fashion the crosses from left to right, with the sun. As a rule they are left in position until replaced the following year, though I have seen byres with many crosses thrust into the underthatch, the decaying accumulation of annual offerings. In Co. Galway similar crosses made of wood or straw were also placed in the rafters at Hallowe'en, and the discovery of a partly burnt rush cross which had been deposited in a megalith in Co. Limerick points to a more general cult of the 'cross'. A 'love-knot' of similar shape, fashioned out of sedge leaves, is known from South Wales." (Evans, 1957, p. 268)

 Condren, M. (2002) The serpent and the goddess : women, religion, and power in Celtic Ireland. New ed. Dublin: New Island.

The Serpent and the Goddess(2002) by Mary Condren is a rare item that is full of highly original research which traces the female figures which illustrate belief systems from pagan origins to Christianity. It provided fascinating detail on the life of Saint Bridget. The quote below illustrates this:

 

As an infant, her mother left her in the house on her own. While she was away, the neighbors saw flames rising from the house and rushed to it, thinking it was on fire. Instead, the baby slept peacefully in her crib, and they came to the conclusion that she was full of the "grace of the holy Spirit."' She is said to have hung her cloak on the rays of the sun. One of the earliest Irish hymns to St. Brigit begins with these words:

Brigit, ever excellent woman, golden sparkling flame, lead us to the eternal Kingdom, the dazzling resplendent sun.

As a saint, Brigit was historically associated with the foundation of a convent of nuns in Kildare. Most of the written information about Brigit is deposited in the several "Lives of Saint Brigit" scattered throughout Europe where her cult was widespread in the early Middle Ages.

It is said that Brigit chose for her monastery an elevated spot over the plain of the Liffey that was called in ancient times Druim Criad, or “ridge of clay.” Brigit's main symbol was that of the sacred oak from which the present day Kildare (Gill Dara), "Church of the Oak," takes its name.

But the area surrounding Kildare, about thirty miles from Dublin, had a long history predating Christianity and possibly even Brigit herself.

Only six miles from the present-day Kildare town was a religious site, Dún Ailinne, a site of major importance in the Iron Age and the largest "royal fort" in Ireland after Emhain Mhacha in the north." (Condren, 2002, p. 66)

Bibliography