(Left, another tree with coins hammered into it, this one fossilized. The tree is located south of Dublin. Photo © 1999 Shae Clancy.)

Suggested Further Reading:Tales of Brighid

By Francine Nicholson

Bríd, Brighid, Brigid, Bride, goddess, saint: many are the forms of her name. Indeed, the goddess herself has undergone much transformation in the perceptions of those who have honored her over the years. Whether she is honored as goddess or saint, Brigid remains one of the most beloved and important figures in Celtic religion. Serious study of Brigid in all her guises will inevitably help you to better understand Celtic religion in its original pagan and later syncretic forms.

Begin with Barry Cunliffe’s The Ancient Celts (Oxford Univ Press, 1997: ISBN: 0198150105), probably one of the best single studies based on current archaeological evidence. Follow with Barry Raftery’s Pagan Christian Ireland which brings a similar level of scholarship and insight to the recent discoveries in Ireland. Ancient Irish Tales edited and translated by Tom Peete Cross and Clark Slover (Barnes & Noble, 1969: ISBN: 0389202541) contains reliable translations of the Lebor Gabala and Cath Mag Tuired, two myths that mention Brigid. Anne Ross’s Pagan Celtic Britain (Academy Chicago Pub: 1997: ISBN: 0897334353) continues to be the most comprehensive compilation of the archaeological evidence about Brigid and her British counterpart, Brigantia. Ross’s book also includes a useful study of the Brigantes, the tribe associated with Brigantia. Miranda Green’s recently reprinted The Gods of the Celts (Sutton Publishing, 1998; ISBN: 0750915811) solidly describes the Celtic pantheon and her Celtic Goddesses (George Braziller, 1996: ISBN: 080761405X) examines Brigid’s place within the pantheon. Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book by Miriam Robbins Dexter (Teachers College Press, 1990; ISBN: 0807762342) examines Indo-European goddesses in general and particular and offers interesting insights on how Celtic goddesses both resemble and differ from their counterparts.

An important article is Hilda Davidson’s essay, "The Northern Milk Goddess" in The Concept of the Goddess, edited by Sandra Billington and Miranda Green (Routledge,1996: ISBN: 0415144213). This article traces the imagery of dairy and cow in the iconography of Brigid. Pamela Berger’s The Goddess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint (Beacon Press, 1988: ISBN: 0807067237) performs the same sort of analysis for Brigid’s role as patroness of crops.

In The Goddess and the Serpent (Harper San Francisco, 1989: ISBN: 0062501569), Mary Condren traces the transition of Brigid from Celtic mother goddess to Christian virgin saint. Although Condren’s grasp of the facts of Celtic culture occasionally slips, her insights nevertheless make this valuable reading. Supplement it with Joseph Falaky Nagy’s Conversing with Angels and Ancients (Cornell Univ Pr, 1997: ISBN: 0801483689), a brilliant study of how the myths were recorded by the scribes in medieval Irish monasteries. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in serious study of the myths. Nagy’s earlier book, Wisdom of the Outlaw includes interesting analysis of some stories in the Brigidine hagiography.

In Pagan Past and Christian Present, Kim McCone closely examines the cult of Brigid as found in the myths, law tracts, and hagiography. Although the book is not without controversy and is now out of print, McCone’s analysis of Brigid is well worth seeking in libraries. Similarly, Padraig Ó Riain’s article "Pagan Example and Christian Practice: A Reconsideration" persuasively argues that the prominence of Brigid in Ireland is primarily due to the zealous PR efforts of the monks of Kildare. That article appears in Cultural Identity and Cultural Integration: Ireland and Europe in the Early Middle Ages edited by Doris Edel (Four Courts Press, 1995: ISBN: 1851821678).

After the Christian period began, worship of Brigid became a syncretic mix of pagan and Christian customs. For an insightful look at how the pagan practices persist still in Ireland today, see Crossing the Circle at the Holy Wells of Ireland by Walter L. Brenneman, Jr., and Mary G. Brenneman (Univ Press of Virginia, 1995: ISBN: 0813915481). This careful study of field evidence of worship at holy wells and springs should be more widely considered in Celtic pagan circles.

The feast par excellence of Brigid is, of course, Imbolc, the Celtic seasonal feast that became the feast of St. Brighid. For evidence about how Brigid continued to be honored in the highlands of Scotland on that day and others, see Alexander Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica, the classic collection of Scottish folklore. A translation has been published as Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Invocations. Noragh Jones’ Power of Raven, Wisdom of Serpent (Lindisfarne Books, 1995: ISBN: 0940262665) is a recent work that summarizes and supplements a segment of Carmichael’s work. Selections from the Carmina also appear in Celtic Christian Spirituality: An Anthology of Medieval and Modern Sources edited by Oliver Davies and Fiona Bowie (Continuum Pub Group, 1955: ISBN: 0826408354). A quick review of these works and the Brennemans’ volume will show you how little the devotional practices changed after Christianity came to the Gaels.

The most comprehensive study of the folk customs of Imbolc and the cult of Brigid is The Festival of Brigit: Celtic goddess and holy woman by Séamas Ó Catháin. Although out of print, this book is well worth searching for in libraries. Also worth seeking out is Máire MacNeill’s classic study, Festival at Lughnasa for its examination of the associations of Brigid with that feast.

This article in the Celtic Well E-Journal is © Copyright 1999 by Francine Nicholson. Sections may be freely quoted, provided the author is properly cited with the URL and the words"electronic version." You may link to this site, but please do not copy this web page and its dependent web pages without contacting one of the Celtic Well List moderators.