Next Monday, many of us will have the day off, and we have Saint Brigid to thank for it. It comes after Ireland declared a national bank holiday in honour of our mother saint, St. Brigid of Kildare, one of Ireland’s three patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba. But while many of us, religious and non-religious alike, will happily enjoy a day free of work, who is the Catholic Saint being honoured?
From a browse of the festivities online, it seems we’ve come a long way from the humble making of the simple but intricate St. Brigid’s cross. Many of us will remember turning up at school as children, armed with more carefully prepared rushes than we could count, to begin turning and weaving them to create a St. Brigid’s cross to proudly bring home and hang on the wall to welcome the first day of Spring.
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