Brigid

Brigid (pronounced 'Breed') is the goddess whose multiple roles have protected the Irish people and all who worship her since ancient times. She is goddess of healing and midwifery for both people and animals. Her festival day is Imbolc, February 2^nd, the feast of lactating ewes, but Brigid crosses are also hung in byres as protective amulets for cattle. She offers protection to people as goddess of midwifery, caring for everyone as they embark on life, but she is also goddess of both work (smithcraft), leisure through poetry and the hearth, where in her Christian aspect as St Bridget, nuns have tended an ever burning flame in her monastery at Kildare.

Her name means 'exalted one', - a manifestation of the Great Goddess. She is associated with the purity of water in the many wells and springs dedicated to her and of the provision of bounty and health for her entire community.