Saint Brigid's Holy Well in Kildare, Ireland

Long before Brigid was the Patron saint of Ireland, there was a Goddess Bríde who was venerated all over the Celtic world.  At St. Brigid's well, you feel Ireland's ancient past wrapped around you like a mantle...

Holy wells in Ireland are plentiful. Over 3,000 wells and springs dot the countryside; more than any other country in the world.  Always dedicated to an Irish Saint, in ancient times these sacred wells, were places of power devoted to Celtic Gods and Goddesses. In myth and folktale, sacred springs are portals to the Otherworld, the realm of the unseen...the realm of the faeries.  The holy wells were visited at the four significant Pre-Christian holy days February 1 (Imbolc), May 1 (Beltaine), August 1 (Lughnasadh) and November 1 (Samhain).  Other times a well would be visited was when someone needed healing, poetic inspiration, or trying to conceive a child.  These wells and sacred pools often had fish in them which were said to have magical powers, for they lived in the waters that have healing and transformative power.

St. Brigid's Slippers

Many of the sacred springs and wells in Ireland have elements of pre-Christian ritual sites.  Accompanying the well or natural spring, there was often a standing stone, a natural or man-made hill, and a very ancient tree; oftentimes a Hazelnut or Ash tree.  There was usually a ritual circuit for each sacred site. Often the ritual included circling the well a certain number of times in a clockwise direction, then drinking or bathing in the spring water. The ceremony concluded with leaving an offering for the God, Goddess or Spirit of the well in gratitude.

"Tobar Bride" is Irish for Brigid's Well

When Christianity came to Ireland in the 5th century, Christian churches were often built at the pilgrim site of the holy wells, using the water of the well as a baptismal font.  There are even some churches built directly over pagan wells that still have a subterranean spring in its crypt!  



As the new Christian stone churches were being built, gathering at the holy well sights either fell out of popularity or was forbidden.  After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-1500s, many Roman-Catholics had nowhere to worship once their Church was disbanded or destroyed.  Catholic parishioners then decided to gather once again at the holy well sights on the Parish's Patron Saint's Feast Day.  The word 'Patron' turned into 'Pattern' and visiting Holy Wells on 'Pattern Day' became very popular in Irish culture in the 1700s.

The Spring & The Stones Leading to The Well

I visited Kildare's "Tobar Bríde" or Saint Brigid's well. In Irish, Tobar means well, and Bríde is one of the spellings for the Celtic Goddess Brigid.  Kildare or Cill Dara is Irish for "Church of the Oak," and it is in Kildare that St. Brigid established her monastery in the 5th century.  Check out my blog post on Saint Brigid for more information on this fascinating woman that helped shape the history of Ireland.



Kildare is about a 45-minute drive from Dublin on the M7 motorway.  While St. Brigid's Cathedral is located in the heart of Kildare, the well is located on the Southside of the M7 in a park-like setting.  From Dublin heading East on the M7 take the Kildare Centre exit and head South on the R415 following the directions to the Irish National Stud.  Take the second left, and you will see a sign to the well on a small laneway to the right.  There is parking for a few cars at the entrance gate to the park.

Cloutie Tree To The Left of The Well

I had learned about St. Brigid's well from some women in my spiritual community back home in Vancouver, Canada,  In fact, while I was visiting the well in Kildare, an Irish-Canadian woman was gathering water to bring back to her home in Toronto.  The woman was a Catholic, and she explained that she believed the waters from this well helped to heal her from her cancer.

The well is in a small park maintained by the Brigidine Sisters.  The deep well with a stone cross is fed by an underground spring.  The water then travels in an underground stream and path is marked by "station stones"  where one would say prayers at each stone.  Then the flow pops to the surface again at a stone archway leading to a stepped channel.  The two U-shaped stones under the arch are called St. Brigid's Slippers and are flumes to divert the flow when the water is running high.  Tradition has it that this area was used for early Christian baptisms and healing rituals.   


  

St Brigid by Annette McCormack

Behind the well is a traditional clootie tree.  A "clootie" or "cloutie" is a strip of cloth or leather. The cloutie strip is dipped into the well or spring and then used to wash the affected area of the body.  The cloutie is then tied to a sacred tree next to the well, and as the cloth turns to rags and disintegrates, the illness will disappear.  

Another tradition of sacred wells is the spotting of a tiny fish in the well.  Of course, the symbol of the fish was an early symbol for Christianity before the cross.  If you peer into the well at Tobar Bride, you may spot a little fish frolicking in the spring.  A sighting of the fish is supposed to ensure that St. Brigid has answered your prayers.

  




I am happy to report there was a goldfish sighting in the dark waters of Tobar Bride in August of 2018. Let me tell you my prayers were answered swiftly and directly!  The transformative energy of Brigid was not a slow burn, but a raging inferno that has changed the course of my life forever.  

I hope you have the opportunity to add one of Ireland's magical holy wells to your Irish itinerary.

For another of my blog posts on Ancient Sacred Sites in Ireland click HERE

In Ireland, this world and the next are only separated by a thin veil. Whisper questions into the sacred wells and your answers will appear...

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Storytime: Ireland's Brigid-Saint or Goddess?

 Ireland has many holy wells dedicated to its patron Saint; St. Brigid.  There is also a Celtic Goddess named Brighid who was worshipped long before Christianity arrived in Ireland.  So what is the difference between these two and the significance of the ancient pilgrim sites dedicated to them?

I have found Ireland's myths, legends and history so enticing and also so confusing, but Brigid is by far the most intriguing for me.  Many similarities between the Celtic Goddess Brighid (who is also Brigit, Bríg, Bride-pronounced breet) and the Christian Saint Brigid have scholars debating whether they are one and the same.  Brigid is sometimes referred to as "Muire na nGael" or "The Mary of The Gaels," and along with Saint Patrick and Saint Colomba, Saint Brigid is Ireland's third official patron Saint.  I am in no way a scholar or academic; just a travel lover, a story lover, & Goddess lover.  This blog post addresses all three.  

The Legend Of Brigid 

According to a book written about the life of St. Brigid in the early 600's, she was born in Faughart (also spelled Fochart) which is close to the town of Drogheda near the modern border of Northern Ireland.  St. Brigid was said to have been born around the year 451 to a beautiful Pictish slave mother named Brocca and a Pagan Chieftain of Leinster named Dubhthach.  Brocca was a converted Christian who was said to have been baptized by Saint Patrick himself.  When Brocca was pregnant with Brigid, Dubhthach's wife, who was jealous of Brocca's beauty and the attention her husband paid to her, sold Brocca to a Druid.  There is no mention of the Druid being a man or a woman since a Druid could be either-but my hunch was the Druid was a female.  This Druid Priestess mid-wifed Brocca and helped to raise Brigid and I suspect the Priestess also had a hand in naming Brigid.  The Druid helped to raise Brigid and let her work alongside her mother in the dairy the Druid owned, probably training her to become a Druid as well.   Young Brigid gained a considerable reputation for healing the sick, feeding the poor from the dairy and performing miracles; one of them being turning water into beer.  That sounds vaguely familiar for some reason 😉

A "Bogha Bride" or St. Brigid's Cross

Now Brocca was the property of the Druid, but Brigid was still the property of her Cheiftan father.  As the legend has it, when Brigid was 10, she was returned to the household of her father Dubhthatch and raised alongside her half-brothers and sisters.  Brigid soon turned into a lovely young woman like her mother. Approaching close to marrying age, her father wanted to use Brigid's marriage to make alliances with other Pagan Chieftains.  Her father brought Brigid to the court of the King of Leinster to either sell her or to find a suitable husband that would strengthen his political alliances.  At court, Bridgid told the King that she did not wish to marry and become the property of a man again and that she wanted to become a Christian nun.  The King of Leinster at the time was Crimthann mac Énnai a Christian King baptized by Saint Patrick like Brigid's mother. The King had heard of Brigid's miracles and convinced Brigid's father to free her from slavery as long as she promised to take the vow of Christianity.  Dubthatch complied, and Brigid returned to her mother at the dairy and continued to feed the sick and poor and to also keep learning from the Druid, growing into an intelligent and formidable woman.  



Brighid The Goddess

St. Brigid's Holy Well, Kildare

At this time, Celtic Christianity was different from Roman Christianity because of the societal structure of the Celts and their intense connection to nature; many people blended the new Christian beliefs with the old Celtic religion.  The Celtic Goddess Brighid was revered all over Ireland as a life-giving Goddess of midwifery, healing, poetry, animal husbandry; especially cows which were scared to the people of Ireland dating all the way back to Neolithic times. Brighid was the virginal keeper of the flame, fire and smithcraft, representing transformation.  She was also the Goddess of the Spring and her sacred day was the Celtic festival of Imbolc, celebrated on February 1st, the official start of Spring for the Celtic people.  

The idea that St. Brigid was trained as a Druid was not uncommon for this time in Ireland, and many "Holy" men & women were versed in ways of the Old Region as well as the new religion of Christianity.  Around the year 468, a 17-year-old Brigid took "the Veil" to become a nun, but was ordained the first Abbess in Ireland. Appointed by St. Patrick's nephew St. Mél of Ardagh who "accidentally" read the wrong ceremony and ordained Brigid as a bishop instead of a nun-whoops!   St. Mél claimed the error was an act of God and did not rectify the mistake, giving St. Brigid substantial power.   Brigid set out with St. Mél and his disciple St. Mac Caille to convert Pagan Cheiftans in central Ireland to Christianity.  Along with St. Mac Caille (sometimes spelled Maccaille) Brigid set up an early Christian monastery at a holy well at Croghan Hill which was an ancient Pagan burial site.  A group of women soon joined her there, and her community proliferated.  

St. Brigid's following was growing so rapidly in fact, she decided to ask her old buddy, the King of Leinster for some land to establish her own abbey.  There is a myth about St. Brigit's Cloak magically expanding to cover all the area where the King would allow Brigid to build her monastery.  What is more likely, is that Brigid wanted to establish her abbey in a specific Pagan spot, later named Cill Dara so that she could carry out her work.  "Cill Dara" in Irish means "Church of the Oak" and where we get the modern Irish name for the town of Kildare.   Oak trees are sacred to Druids, and the site Brigid selected to build her convent was a nemeton or a Druidic sacred Oak Grove.  In this sacred grove, an eternal flame burned in the honour of the Celtic Goddess Brighid and was tended around the clock by Druid priestesses. Remember the King of Leinster was a Christian, so giving Brigid a Druidic place of worship to establish her monastery was definitely a calculated move on his part.



Brigid Of Kildare

St Brigid Flame in Kildare, Ireland

The Abbey that St Brigid established in Kildare was unusual for several reasons.  The abbey was co-ed, housing both monks and nuns which was very uncommon for that time in history.  Brigid also kept the tradition of the sacred flame alive.  Nineteen nuns took turns holding twenty-four-hour vigils tending the flame, and on the 20th day, the Goddess Brighid Herself was said to tend the flame.  The sacred fire on the hill of Kildare was never to be extinguished; keeping the holy traditions of the Druids of Cill Dara. In addition to this, St. Brigid (and the Abbesses who came after her) co-ruled Cill Dara with an Abbott, but the Abbess ranked above the Abbot essentially holding the same privileges as a Bishop, which is why St Brigid is often depicted with a Bishop's crozier.   The power over Kildare Cathedral and Abbey that was given to St. Brigid (and the abbesses that followed) by the Church, lasted until the year 1152 and has never happened again in the history of the Catholic Church.   St. Brigid's community at Cill Dara expanded, and she convinced St. Conleth, a religious hermit who lived in the woods nearby, to help her establish a school of art, illumination and metalwork.   Over time Cill Dara developed into a monastic city like Glendalough.

Saint Bride by John Duncan 1913

Saint Brigid is said to have died on February 1st, somewhere between the year  521-525.  February 1st is St. Brigid's feast day in the Catholic church, and it is also the Celtic Pagan holy day of Imbolcas I mentioned earlier.  How curious that the Goddess and the Saint are celebrated on the same day...I am convinced it is not a coincidence.   I also believe that St. Brigid was a powerful Druid High Priestess as well as Catholic Bishop and her specific brand of Christianity allowed many Pagans to convert to the new religion and still maintain their beliefs in the Goddess Brighid.
In the year 1993, an order of Brigidine nuns re-lit Brigid's eternal flame in Kildare, and you can see it today if you visit the Solas Bhride Centre and Hermitages. You can also see the original stone foundation of the fire temple at the Kildare cathedral and a round tower that you can actually climb to the top!  Nearby is St. Brigid's holy well, located in a park-like setting, where you can feel the healing & peaceful presence of both Brighid and St. Brigid. 

As far as I can tell, the radiant energy of Brighid's holy wells, pilgrim sites and churches in Ireland are the same, even if the story of Brigid may be different.  I hope you have the chance to experience this energy yourself soon...

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