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Irish women should follow Saint Brigid - not just Saint Patrick

By
NIALL O'DOWD,
IrishCentral Founder
Published Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 9:48 AM
Updated Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 9:59 AM

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St. Brigid represents the Irish aspect of divine femininity
St. Brigid represents the Irish aspect of divine femininity
Photo by indigenize.wordpress.com


St. Brigid is the female equivalent of St. Patrick in Ireland, but there are no parades in her honor, and apart from the St. Brigid's Cross, her name is hardly known.

That really should change.

St. Brigid was a woman who was well ahead of her time. Born around 453, she was the daughter of a slave and a chieftain. Her feast day is celebrated on February 1.

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Read More: 

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She became one of the most-powerful women in Ireland. After refusing an arranged marriage, she went on to found many convents whose schools provided an education for thousands of young women who otherwise would have had none.

She was the lone female figure whose voice was heard in a male-dominated Church, but the stories of her good deeds and extraordinary acts ensured she was canonized well before most of her contemporaries.

She stands today as an example of an Irish woman who followed her heart and took on the powers-that-be in a male-dominated world. She was certainly a figure as extraordinary as Patrick himself.

 

Originally published 2010.

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2 Comments

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Madeliene | Feb 12, 2012, 06:04 PM EST
I would like to see that I will teach my americsn neice of irish descent ( her heart is pure Irish) she will like that) good article

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jacersagain | Feb 01, 2012, 06:46 PM EST
Beg to differ Niall - St. Brigid is highly regarded in modern day Ireland and you should well know that. Devotion to St. Brigid goes far beyond having her straw Cross in your home. But you're right... Irish women should follow her example and start up convents again, get Mná na h-Éireann back to prayer instead of slavishly following Hollywood hunks, fashion magazines and Wellwomen Clinics etc. It would also stop them carrrying spare Durex in the handbags.

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