Renata Steffens
Irish Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin raises the St. Brigid relic after removing it from its box at the beginning of Mass at St. Brigid’s Church in Kildare January 28, 2024. Photos: OSV News/John Mc Elroy The Feast for St Brigid is celebrated this Saturday, February 1 with a bank holiday on February 3. Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Denis Nulty said “it’s critically important” to officially have the Kildare saint celebrated with a bank holiday.
This is the third year the bank holiday will take place, and for Bishop Nulty, having a day to honour the saint is important, as “it’s very clearly a moment in the life of Ireland that’s publicly recognised and with the darkness and the difficult weather… it’s great to have a bank holiday that represents Brigid as a person who brought great hope to our land and to our people.”
The celebrations in Kildare and Leighlin Diocese began last week, the bishop said. “I was over in Solas Bhríde in Kildare, we had a lovely ceremony where pilgrims came from Noorbeek, Netherlands to get the flame of Brigid to bring it back with them.”
The diocese will be busy with celebrations to mark St Brigid’s Feast. One of the main events will be Mass in Carlow Cathedral on Saturday, for the Feast Day, when the bishop will make an announcement related to the Jubilee 2025.
“St Brigid is always important because we have many customs associated with Brigid, like the making of St Brigid’s cross… I remember my father putting one on the milking parlour at home and how she was the patron of the cows, of animals. There’s a circumstance of people going back to that tradition of keeping Brigid very much to the forefront in our country. That’s what makes this bank holiday such an important one.”