St. Brigid of Kildare

“Just living is not enough” said the butterfly “One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower” - Hans Christian Anderson

“A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi

In our Bealtaine celebration we look forward to welcoming summer and marking May as the month of Mary.

Time: 7.30pm – 9.00pm | Admission: €15 | In-Person Event | Booking Essential

The 30th Anniversary Of Féile Bríde : Darkness, Dawning, Light

In this talk Dr Wycherley will discuss the early history of Brigid and her church of Kildare. She will explain how a focus on a ‘pagan goddess’ of the same name overshadows what is truly interesting about St Brigid, especially in light of her new bank holiday and the implications for modern feminism. While the miracle-working saint and the awesome goddess are both worthy subjects for veneration, encapsulating virtues such as inclusivity, strength, kindness and healing, Dr Wycherley will show how the real ‘flesh and blood’ woman behind it all was much more extraordinary.

Dr Niamh Wycherley works in the Department of Early Irish as a medieval historian, specialising in the early Irish Church. She won the NUI Publication Prize in History in 2017 for her book, The Cult of Relics in Early Medieval Ireland. She is the Principal Investigator of the 4-year SFI-IRC Pathway project ‘Power and Patronage in Medieval Ireland: Clonard from the sixth to twelfth centuries’. She contributes regularly to RTÉ Brainstorm and television programmes such as the RTÉ 1 documentary ‘Finding Brigid’, with Siobhán McSweeney.

Niamh Brennan, PhD., is a writer and educator. For the past ten years she has been engaged in research and teaching in the area of eco-cosmology and the environmental humanities. Her research focuses on the ecological crisis, whose effects are growing in our daily lives and raising concerns about the future of all life. She underscores the role philosophy and spirituality play in ecological thinking. She is author of ‘The human in the Universe’ (Wyndham Hall Press, 2014) and co-author with Greg Morter of ‘The Universe Story in Science and Myth’ (Green Spirit, 2016). She has contributed to several journals including ‘Religions’, ‘Worldviews: Global Religions, Ecology and Culture’, ‘Spirituality’ and ‘The Furrow’.

Revised edition of Rekindling the Flame, a Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare by Rita Minehan

Rekindling the Flame – A Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare was first published in 1999. The intention then, as now, was to provide a guide to pilgrims to Kildare ‘this sacred place, this ground revered by all who honour the name of Brigid’.

The book begins with a brief introduction to St. Brigid and her foundation and later the Brigidine foundation. The guide to pilgrimage then begins leading the pilgrim from the Market square to St. Brigid’s Cathedral, Here time is taken to observe the detail of the stained glass windows, before moving outside to the High Cross, Round Tower and St. Brigid’s Fire Temple to reflect their significance.

The Pilgrim continues to make their way to St Brigid’s parish church and on to Solas Bhride Spirituality Centre and St. Brigid’s well.

Since the first edition of the book was published in 1999, Solas Bhríde Spirituality Centre on Tully road was opened in 2015. This new chapter provides the visitor with an overview of the vision of Solas Bhríde and invites them to visit in particular the Brigid room that holds the Brigid Flame. The spark, taken from the Brigid flame, relit in 1993 is tended here and burns as a beacon of hope, justice, and peace for the world. This visit also includes strolling in the grounds to take in St. Brigid’s sculpture, the Labyrinth, and the mini Oak grove. A more detailed history of development of Solas Bhríde Spirituality can be found at the end of the book.

The visitor is presented with many opportunities and practices to pause and reflect on St. Brigid, a ‘Woman for our time’ and also on their own inner journey. If unable to come to Kildare, with guidance from this book, it is possible to take this pilgrimage in one’s own place, at one’s own time.

Title	Rekindling the Flame: A Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare
Author	Rita Minehan
Contributor	Solas Bhríde Community
Publisher	Solas Bhríde Community, 2022
ISBN	9781739145507
Length	80 pages