Earlier this week F2 got to work making some beautiful St. Brigid’s crosses.
The crosses, made by folding rushes over each other in a square pattern, are traditional symbols for St Bridget, one of the patron Saints of Ireland.
St Bridget is the patron Saint of the Hearth, Smiths, Midwives, and Cattle, and she has strong associations with Spring as February 1st is the start of Spring in the Irish Calendar!
It’s believed that these crosses prevented fires in your home for the following year and often farmers would have them hanging in their sheds. Families across Ireland burn away their crosses made from the year before and begin gathering up the rushes from the bogs to make new crosses.
The 1st of February, St Bridget’s Day is also the first day of Spring. Her Feast Day ties in with a Pre-Christian Festival called Imbolc which is associated with a Goddess of the same name – Brighid.
