Marking 1500 years since the passing of Ireland’s foremost female saint, Brigid 1500 will celebrate the extraordinary life of St Brigid.
Taking place in County Kildare from 27 January to 6 February, 2024, Brigid 1500 will bring together artists, performers, enthusiasts, communities and visitors to celebrate St Brigid in a contemporary way with a culturally rich programme of events.
The programme will engage with the values that St Brigid championed such as faith and spirituality, biodiversity and sustainability, arts and culture, social justice, peace, hospitality and education.
Highlights of Brigid 1500 will include a St Brigid’s day concert that will feature leading Irish artists Eleanor McEvoy, Moya Brennan of Clannad, Mary Coughlan, Gemma Hayes, Una Healy, The Henry Girls, Lisa Lambe and Nell Mescal.
There will be a Pause for Peace which will call upon people worldwide to observe a one-minute silence, and a musical evening featuring songs of social justice and freedom.
A line-up of renowned female chefs including Darina Allen, Majken Bech-Bailey and Chantelle Nicholson will present Mother Earth: A Day of Food and Music. Specially commissioned St Brigid art pieces will also be unveiled as part of the programme along with an artists’ exhibition, honorary window displays and theatre programmes.
Light shows will feature prominently in the festival. A candlelight pilgrimage and ritual at St Brigid’s well will take place on January 31 and two grand fiery processional events will take place in the towns of Maynooth and Kildare. The tower on the Hill of Allen will be bathed in white light to symbolise hope for the new year.
St Brigid’s Day and the Celtic festival of Imbolc, which marks the beginning of spring, are traditionally marked on 1 February but there is also a public holiday on the first Monday of February.
In the run up to St Brigid’s Day it is customary to make a St Brigid’s cross from rushes or straw to display in the home as protection from fire and evil.
Kildare in Ireland’s Ancient East is the place most associated with the saint as it was there that she founded a nunnery. A visit to Kildare should include stopping at St Brigid’s Cathedral and Round Tower and dropping into the heritage centre to enjoy a virtual reality tour of the town’s history. Here you will meet not only St Brigid but also the pre-Christian goddess Brigid, as well as other characters from Ireland’s Celtic mythology and medieval past.
