Irish
Brigid
The Irish figure of fire, wells, poetry and healing, honoured as both a goddess and a saint.
Brigid is an Irish goddess of poetry, healing, smithcraft, fire and wells. Saint Brigid of Kildare, one of Ireland's patron saints, shares her name and many of her stories, and people have long told them together. Her feast day is 1 February, the start of spring (Imbolc).
In the early Lives of Saint Brigid, the baby Brigid could keep no food down until she was fed on the milk of a white cow with red ears. Brigid's crosses are woven from rushes and hung over doors, and a flame was kept burning for her at Kildare for centuries. On Brigid's Eve, families welcomed her in at the door.