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St Brigid’s Day Folk Customs Preparations for Saint Brigid’s feast day (1st February) were once as complicated and community-centred as those of a modern Hallowe’en. The following detail is an extract from the Appletree Press title The Life of Saint Brigid by Anna Egan Smucker. In traditional Irish culture, people trusted in Brigid’s power to keep them safe. On St Brigid’s Feast Day, and just as importantly on its eve, people performed many rituals through which they sought her protection for themselves, their families, their crops, and their livestock.
St Brigid’s EveTypically there were three parts to the St Brigid’s Eve observance. First, Brigid was welcomed into the home. This was followed by a ceremonial meal in Brigid’s honour, then the making of St Brigid’s Cross/Cros Bride.In some villages, this welcoming of Brigid took the form of the Brideog procession where costumed boys and girls, Biddy Boys and Biddies, would go from house to house. In some places, only girls would take part. The leader of the group would carry a representation of Brigid. Often a peeled turnip, with eyes, nose, and mouth cut out and marked with soot, would serve as the head. The turnip would be put on a stick that would serve as the body and the whole would be wrapped in cloth. Sometimes the brideog was made of a churn dash dressed in clothes that were padded with stuffing. It was considered unlucky to turn away the young people carrying the brideog. In return for performing some type of entertainment, they would be given bread, cakes, eggs, or butter, which in some places would have been later used for a meal in one of the village’s houses. In recent years, coins or sweets have been the gift for the costumed children. This custom is still observed in some places, especially in the west of Ireland. |
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