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Research atlas for early Christianity. Claims are tagged attested, traditional, or disputed. Copyrighted full texts, including CCEL editions, are not included.

person

Brigid of Kildare

Also known as Brigit, Bride

medium

  • born. 451high · Wikidata P569
  • died. c. 525medium · Wikidata P570

Irish abbess (d. c. 525) of Kildare whose early Lives mix history and legend.

Wikipedia extract

Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland is the patroness saint of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiographies, she was an abbess who founded the important abbey of Kildare, as well as several other convents of nuns. There is little historical evidence of her. Her hagiographies primarily focus on her miracles, and many stories about her have their basis in Irish pagan folklore. They say Brigid was the daughter of an Irish clan chief and an enslaved Christian woman, and was fostered in a druid's household before becoming a consecrated virgin. She is patroness of many things, including poetry, learning, healing, protection, blacksmithing, livestock, and dairy production. In her honour, a perpetual fire was kept burning at Kildare for centuries.

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Sources

Authority files

irish-christianity · women · 6th-century

Brigid of Kildare · DeChurched Atlas