St Brigid's Day

​St Brigid's Day, February 1st
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A relatively new holiday in the Irish Calendar.  In 2022, Caitlín Nic Gabhann was commissioned to write a tune and dance to honour St Brigid.  Click below to view her promotional video - no word of a lie, a stunning piece of work.  

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​I was really taken by the dance, also, I adore the timing of the slip jig.  I was teaching 4 levels of dance online at that time, and when I asked Caitlín if I could teach her dance she said:

" Hi Annette, absolutely ! 
I’d be honoured, that would be very very cool ! "

Since then we have performed the dance twice together, firstly at the Willie Clancy Festival, and again in Belfast - my claim to fame!   Click this image for a quick peep, a private link. 

Click here to download a free copy of the sheet music for this tune.

​Click here if you would like to purchase a home-study course and learn this beautiful dance. 

A quote from a student regarding my home study courses:  "Hi Annette, I did not yet thank you for this material. Its absolutely fantastic! I wonder how much work you put into this.  Hope you are well with greetings from Langerwisch, Germany, Björn"

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Brigid the Saint
 
It’s believed Brigid was born in Faughart, County Louth, in 450AD. She was heavily inspired by Patrick’s teachings, became a Christian, and devoted her life to helping the poor, sick, and elderly.
 
With her newfound faith, Brigid entered a convent. She then went on to found convents across the region, including an Abbey built just beside an oak tree just outside Kildare town.
 
She’s believed to have died in 525 AD and was eventually canonized as a Saint. She’s seen as a patron of Ireland, protection and healing, poetry, babies and midwives, dairy and livestock, beer, blacksmithing, and more.
 
St Brigid is featured in many different legends, but the one she is most well-known for is her cloak.
 

St Brigid’s Cloak
 
Needing land to build her convent, Brigid went to the King of Leinster, who refused to take her request seriously. So instead, Brigid asked that he would give her just as much land as her cloak would cover.
 
The King agreed, but when Brigid and her friends took each corner of her cloak and pulled, it expanded to cover a vast area.
 
Believing it was a miracle, the astonished King kept his promise, gave Brigid the land, gifted her food, money, and supplies, and converted to Christianity himself.
 
Brigid built her Abbey there in Kildare, near where St Brigid’s Cathedral stands today. Not only that, but the name ‘Kildare’ comes from the Irish “Cill Dara” meaning “Hill of the Oak”, which suggests it may have been inspired by Brigid and her abbey.
 

Brigid the Goddess
 
Many feel that St Brigid’s stories were the Catholic Church’s adaptation of the Pagan Celtic Goddess Brigid, so they would be easily accepted.
 
The Goddess Brigid is a powerful deity in Irish and other European folklore. She was a member of the Tuath de Danann, a daughter of the Dagda, and is considered the Goddess of the harvest, fertility, healing, poetry, fire, and Spring.
 
The celebration of Brigid and of Spring also traditionally happens on the 1st of February. It’s known as the ancient time of “Imbolc”, the start of the season of Spring in Celtic Ireland.

Above text from McNeela

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​If you know anything of me, you will know - much like family and friends - I love the writing of my brother Tom, here is his piece on St Brigid, published in the Irish News in February 2026.