St. Brigid of Kildare, Ireland’s only patroness saint, has become an icon of feminism and an important spiritual figure in contemporary Irish society.  

In 1969, St. Brigid was one of 93 saints removed from the universal Roman Catholic calendar by Pope Paul VI, because it was felt that there was insufficient documentary evidence relating to her. Despite this, St. Brigid continues to be held in high regard throughout Irish culture and is currently Ireland’s only patroness saint, alongside St. Patrick and St. Columba. 

St. Brigid’s Day, held on February 1^st, was introduced as a public holiday in Ireland in 2023. It is also referred to as the festival Imbolc or Imbolg. This festival is held between the winter solstice and spring equinox and is used to celebrate the beginning of spring.  

Every year, many people show their devotion to St. Brigid by hosting and engaging in a variety of events to celebrate her ongoing legacy. Kildare takes great pride in St. Brigid and many festivities are held across the county. These events are held by organisations and by members of the local county council. It is without a doubt an immense community effort. 

“It’s a huge testimony to everybody that turned out today to help with the event,” said Marion Higgins, the director of service in Kildare County Council, in relation to Carrying Her Flame. 

“We had people from the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority), we had the ICA (Irish Countrywomen’s Association) and they all came together to help with the event, it was a tremendous coming together of people to celebrate Brigid and all that she stands for.”  

The Carrying Her Flame event was held on January 30^th, 2025, on Maynooth main street in Kildare. It is a celebration to honour St. Brigid by bringing light and fire in an illuminated spectacle. The parade portrayed a series of performances conducted by LUXE landscape theatre, Kildare. This event was used to represent the ‘light’ half of the year following a dark winter.  

“The flamboyance of the fire and the candles and the music was beautiful,” said Genevieve, a local resident of Maynooth. 

“For this particular event, the floats, the fire and the theme of it, with the sky and the stars, it was magical and the girls dancing, it was a celebration of women,” said Barbara, another local resident of Maynooth.  

The sense of community and lively buzz at the event was undeniable. Despite the heavy rain, the crowd was filled with people who had travelled from all over Ireland to attend the celebration. Throughout the performance, the intense base of traditional Irish music could be felt and the underlying smell of the burning candles added to the overall experience.  

“It was a brilliant event, great for the town of Maynooth, a great family event, you can see all the kids and parents and everything out here, people really enjoyed it,” said Garda Inspector Ronan MacDonald. 

“The artistry, the effort that has gone into the floats is brilliant, you’d like to see it get better every year, there is talk of it being a yearly thing,” said Rob, a member of An Garda Síochána. 

As St. Brigid is the only patroness saint in Ireland, she is considered an icon of feminism in Irish culture, although there are numerous other reasons why she continues to be adored and admired. She is the patroness of a variety of things including poetry, learning, healing, protection, blacksmithing, livestock and dairy production. She was also considered to be an expert in prophecy relating to fertility and child-birth. St. Brigid’s association with spring also relates to her connection with fertility and life. 

Even though St. Brigid was originally born in County Louth, she is commonly referred to as St. Brigid of Kildare because she founded an important monostatic community in Kildare in the 5^th century. While living in Kildare, St. Brigid acted as a disciple of St. Patrick and later went on to become a nun, founding several monasteries, as well as a school for art. St. Brigid continued her crucial societal and religious work until she passed away in Kildare on the 1^st of February 525.