SCHOOL: Sonnagh | ADDRESS: Sonnagh Old, Co. Galway
St Brigid stands next to St Patrick as the greatest of our Irish Saints. She was born at Faughart near the present town of Dundalk.
In those late years a beautiful shrine has been built over the birthplace of St Brigid and thousands of pilgrims visit it every year on her feastday.
Many customs are done in this place in honour of St Brigid. The people in this village make crosses of rushes and also of timber.
On St Brigid’s eve the man-of-the-house would hide a garment outside lest Brigid and her companions may be seeking for clothes and if so they would find the garment.
There was a man not far from this village who used to go out at all hours of the night on St Brigid’s Eve to see if he would see St Brigid.
On St Brigid’s day it is said that if the sunbeam comes the snow may be expected before May Day.
One day St Brigid went to the King of Leinster and asked him to give here a piece of land which she wanted to build a church on. At first he refused her but she asked him to give her as much as her garment would cover. She then spread her garment on the ground and it then started spreading and spreading until it nearly covered the whole of Leinster.
The King told her to stop and he gave her the land to build the church.
The people of this village always put up small crosses made of timber on St Brigid’s night.
Bibliography
“The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0059, Page 0341” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0