Brigs of the Judgements

 

Brigs of the Judgements:

Kim McCone points out that “The names Brig and Brigit were prone to interchangeability in early Irish sources…” Some are referred to as goddesses, but others are unproven candidates – women named Brig who may or may not be divine. Lisa Bitel reminds us that the story of Saint Brigit became complicated as her popularity spread. More children were named Brigit, more Brigits entered holy orders and had churches named after them, and so on. So, we must be careful not to assume that every time the name “Brig” or “Brigit” appears we are seeing an instance either of our saint or of our goddesses. Of those who are goddesses, it is unclear how many individual deities there are, and how, if at all, they are related to the trio named in Cormac’s Glossary.

The most important of these “other” Brigs are the three connected to the famed judge, Sencha (Senchan) mac Ailella,cited in the Brehon Laws (c. 700 C.E.).

 

“The earliest evidence for the goddess is in the Irish vernacular law tracts … which contain a few little legal stories in which Bríg is the daughter, wife, or mother of the legendary judge Sencha of the distant Irish past. According to these she sat by Sencha’s side as he made pronouncements on law, and on occasion intervened to correct or contradict him. Nowhere in this material is she equated with the saint of the almost-identical name.” Women in a Celtic Church: Ireland 450-1150 (2002), Christina Harrington, pg. 63-63

 

Eugene O’Curry expands a little on these Brigs:

 

“Several women of the name of Brig are mentioned in the ancient laws as female judges; some of them appear to have been connected with each other. The mother of Senchan, chief judge and poet of Ulster in the time of Conchobar Mac Nessa, was called Brig ban Brughad or Brig the female Brugad;⁷ his wife was called Brig Brethach or Brig of the judgments; and his daughter, the Brig Ambui alluded to in the text, was also it would appear called Brig “of the Judgments,” and was wife of Celtchoir Mac Uthichair, a renowned personage of the Tain Bo Chuailgne, and other heroic tales of that period. She is mentioned as one of the nine, or rather ten, women who accompanied Queen Mugan, wife of Conchobor Mac Nessa, at the Fled Bricrind or Bricriu’s Feast.” On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish Eugene O’Curry (1873)

 

The three Brigs related to Sencha are sometimes confused with each other in the old tales. They are found in the Ulster Cycle and do not have obvious parallels with the three goddesses named by Cormac, patrons of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. They may be another example of a triple goddess, especially as the title “Brig of the Judgements” in various stories is applied to all three, they may be versions of Brigit, patron of poets, suggested by the connection between poets and judges, or they may not be goddesses.

Brig Ambue (Brig of the Cowless) appears to represent a section of society peopled mainly by “the fían or association of propertiless (literally cowless) and predominantly young, unmarried warrior-hunters on the fringes of settled society.”⁸ Yet she is listed as a jurist. Brig Brethach (Brig of the Judgments), unlike Saint Brigit, who frequently defends oppressed women and slaves, is famous for her wise judgement regarding the rights of freeborn women of property. Brig Briugu (Brig the Hospitaller) was mother of “the Ulster Cycle’s peacemaker, Sencha mac Ailella.”⁹Hospitality was a vital part of early Irish life, for the fruitfulness of the land depended on the appropriate open-handedness of its king. Hostels were common, and hostellers were expected to welcome all and provide food, shelter, and entertainment. Failure to do so could result in a loss of status.

The Brehon Laws and the part played by Sencha and the Brigs would have been known to the monks who scribed Cormac’s Glossary in the 9^th century. Yet they are not mentioned in the entry on the goddess Brig. This suggests to me that the “Brigs of the Judgements” were not considered by them to be the same as the daughters of the Dagda.

Credit: Quoted from A Brigit of Ireland Devotional - Sun Among Stars by Mael Brigde (2021) Moon Books. pp. 244 - 246.

Notes: 

7. Hospitaller.

8. McCone, Kim. Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature. An Sagart [Maynooth, Ireland] (1990). pg. 163.

9. Ibid. pg. 162.

Image: ‘La Justice’, Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin (1860-1943), via Wikimedia. Public domain.

Solas Bhride Centre & Hermitages ONLINE Shop

 

Solas Bhríde has an online shop at last, and I am happy to say that they are selling the CD they made a number of years ago which was unavailable for a while. Gracious Brigid - Chants inspired by the spirit of Brigid of Kildare, has tracks with voice as well as instrumental tracks of the same chants. I received it as a gift years ago and I quite like it.

They also have St. Brigid's Cross pins and pendants, candles with their beautiful logo, Sister Rita's revised book, Rekindling the Flame - a Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare, and a couple of other items. The folk at Solas Bhríde are lovely (as are their hermitages), so I am happy to be able to support them when I can.

Image: CD covershowing title and detail from stained glass of red-haired white woman carrying a torch against the green leaves of an oak.

"Finding Our Voice with Brigit, Goddess & Saint” with Mael Brigde

Last week I attended Vancouver Pagan Awareness Day, here in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 2025, I offered the workshop “Brigit of the Powerful Voice,” where we looked at the traditional connections between Brigit and the voice, and tied that to our own voices, specifically the ways in which we have had our voices stifled, and ways in which we can reclaim them.

I was very happy with how it went, and subsequently led the same workshop online. This year I decided to fine-tune the workshop for both an in-person and an online venue and shift the focus from Brigit herself to the need to reclaim our voices. In truth, the same material was covered, but I wanted to make it clear from the outset that this would be an opportunity for folk to learn about how they might approach this important life task with the help of Brigit.

This year I added another offering. An hour before the workshop, I occupied the main ceremonial circle to lead a devotional and prayers to Brigit. I was very glad that my friend Ngoc had come with me, because everyone scattered when the previous ritual ended. I began setting up my tiny altar and spreading out the thin blanket Ngoc and I were going to sit on, and then I began the ritual with just the two of us. I felt rather silly at first, and wondered if I should skip it, but that felt wrong. I had committed to leading this ritual, and so I entered into it fully and it was grounding and reassuring to do so. When I lifted my voice to sing — three of the prayers in the ritual were sung — a couple of people joined us, and when it was over the four of us sat and talked for several pleasant minutes.

The workshop itself had a full circle of participants, and it also went well. I was very happy to get to speak with people in person about Brigit and do the work together.

I expect I will do another online workshop in the next few months. Perhaps in November; perhaps in the new year. If you are interested in being on a waiting list, please let me know.

Meanwhile, may Brigit bless you, and may you find your true voice, and set it free. 

 

Images: Two social media images with snowdrops as a background to text telling the names and nature of the two events, with dates and place (8 August, Trout Lake). The first image, for the workshop, has a photo of a pen and a journal, as well. All photos by Mael Brigde.

"Mary of the Gael — A Song of St Brigid” written and sung by Carmel Boyle

  

This is a beautiful and heartfelt song to Saint Brigit, written and sung by the talented Irish singer/songwriter Carmel Boyle. Sung from the point of view of a modern petitioner, it is inspired by ancient prayers. Carmel is co-founder of An Croí Wisdom Institute & Celtic Spirit Centre, Drogheda, Ireland.  www.ancroi.ie

 “Carmel Boyle sings Mary of the Gael A Song of St Brigid” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlsofT4lfuQ

***

Carmel also has an online retreat, accessible when you wish, called “Three Songs for Brigid.” I haven’t taken it, but it looks interesting. You can find out more by contacting her through https://ancroi.ie/. Bear in mind that this will be a Christian retreat, like as not.

Below is an image of a brown card with a photo of snowdrops and the words:

Online retreat. Retreat in your own space at your own time; Three Songs for Brigid with singer/songwriter and spiritual director Carmel Boyle. Video sessions and resources can be accessed for one week on the An Croí learning platform, beginning the day you commence retreat. Donation €55

If anyone reading this does do the retreat, I would love to learn more about it, and what you get out of it. 

Review: The Torch of Brighid – Flametending for Transformation by Erin Aurelia

 

The Torch of Brighid – Flametending for Transformation by Erin Aurelia (2024) Moon Books

Nonfiction, Popular (Neo-Pagan) (Paperback, e-book)

 

The Torch of Brighid is a fascinating book, or rather, more than a book, a system, an elaborate blueprint of mythical references and mystical practices aimed at supporting and containing a deliberate and tightly focussed program of personal transformation. Aurelia gathers material together from historical sources, mostly Irish but some Scottish, mostly from texts but also from folklore, and builds her very modern practice on these foundations.

 

The sources she draws on range from the ogham to the The Oak of Mugna, which I confess I had never heard of before, “a joyous treasure” mentioned in the Metrical Dindshenchas. She draws on Brigidine flametending, visionary ritual and meditation, and offers a liberal salting of poetry, using all of these together to build a framework for deep transformation. Using the various symbols she finds meaningful, Aurelia matches the traditional twenty-day flame-tending cycle to the twenty féda (letters) of the ogham, focussing especially on the trees associated with these letters. 

 

Erin’s system is not for the faint of heart, or for folk like me who are dictated to overwhelmingly by chronic fatigue. It is intense, it is complex, and it demands a persistent commitment of time, concentration, and energy that are well beyond what I can do. I had to concentrate hard just to grasp what she was pulling together, because it is detailed and complex and I am not that well. But for someone with the ability and the desire, I can see the potential for this being a fruitful practice. If I was well, I would try it out; as it is, all I could do was read the book.

 

If you’ve read any of my previous reviews, you will know that I am often frustrated by authors’ failure to differentiate between their own UPG or interpretations of lore, and the traditions and texts they are drawing on. So you can imagine my delight at Aurelia’s wonderfully explicit disclaimer, with lists of what this book is not (reconstructing a past pagan practice, etc.) and what it is (presenting an inspired practice, etc.). I appreciate her willingness to find new truths in old materials without claiming that her work is an old practice newly revealed, and that she is in the main clear about where she has used traditional material and where she has followed her intuition. I found some of her insights and the practices she offers quite inspiring, such as the Mantle of Brighid exercise, which builds on grounding and energy work and is powerful and beautifully realised, as a brief excerpt will reveal:

 

“The Mantle of Brighid is an energy exercise designed to help you open your energy to and commune with Brighid. It works with three internal energy centers the Irish tradition calls cauldrons, and which I correlate with Brighid the Smith, Brighid the Healer, and Brighid the Poet. These energy centers are detailed in the writing called The Cauldron of Poesy, designed to promote poetic inspiration. The energy you move will not only fill you, but surround you, as Brighid’s protective and healing mantle is said to do. Use this exercise to prepare yourself for each meditation in your transformational flametending work…

 

“Now seat yourself comfortably, close your eyes and ground yourself with three deep breaths. In your mind’s eye, picture your internal bone structure, and the three containers within you formed by your pelvic bones, ribcage, and skull. In the first cauldron of the pelvic region, the Cauldron of Warming, envision a forge. Feel a connection in this region to the energy of the inner Earth, that roiling cauldron of liquid fire, and with your inhaling breath, draw that up into your Cauldron of Warming to light the fire of its forge. As you then exhale through pursed lips, feel and envision this forge fire igniting and intensifying. Take eight more rounds of these breaths to make nine in all, feeling this earth-fire energy grow within you as you inhale, and expand within you as you exhale…”

                                                                                                pg. 34 and 35

 

The difficulties for me: I find the language a little challenging – a bit more cerebral than I am used to and sometimes kind of hard work, as a result. There are some moments where she makes mistakes, such as mixing up details about Saint Brigit’s birth from the different Saint’s Lives (the Lives are contradictory and confusing). But these are nitpicks, and in general I am heartened by the extent of her research and the creative use to which she puts the material. I also appreciate that she relies on Erynn Rowan Laurie’s excellent book, Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom, for her understanding of the ogham, as that is a solid piece of research and inspiration, itself.

 

In general, I would say that The Torch of Brighid would appeal to those who resonate with complex metaphor and ritual, more than those who prefer a less structured, impulse-driven style of contemplation. If you have the energy and discipline that this structure requires, the vessel Aurelia has created is a good one to hold and support your inner, transformational aspirations.

A look through Trinity's digital collections: an artistic history of St. Brigid

Celebration of St. Brigid’s Feast Day in the Middle Ages – Antiphon 1

 

Trinity College Dublin, for St. Brigit’s Day 2026, reviewed some of the images and texts from its archives. Included are the Liber Hymnorum, the Clarke Stained Glass Studios Collection, the Offices of St. Brigid, and 20th Century art from Cuala Press. For the full article, go here.

"From medieval times through to the 1930s and 40s, creative representations of St. Brigid showcased in the digital collections of the library of Trinity College Dublin offer us a picture of how the historical celebration of Brigid as a pagan goddess and as a Christian saint have informed how we see her today.”

Clarke Stained Glass Studios Collection

New Book in the Works! "Brigid’s Worlds," Niamh Wycherley, editor

 

Brigid’s Worlds - Proceedings from the Brigid 1500 Maynooth University and Kildare County Council Conference, Niamh Wycherley, editor

Hardback €45.00 [Catalogue Price: €50] ISBN: 978-1-80151-170-4 March 2026. 288 pages. Ills. Four Courts Press

Collecting essays from leading international academic experts on St Brigit of Kildare and early medieval Ireland, this book marks a unique historical and scholarly moment. Chapters explore the various institutional, literary, material, religious, gendered, political, and territorial worlds inhabited by Brigit, by her successors and by her devotees, from the fifth to the ninth centuries. The varied approaches offer rigorously researched insights into the early Irish Church, the role of women, early Irish society and the growth and spread of early Irish literary culture. Exploring the history of Brigit and her Church of Kildare from a multitude of disciplinary perspectives, the authors collectively investigate the local, national and international significance of, arguably, the most famous woman in Irish history.  

Contributors: Niamh Wycherley; Catherine McKenna, David Stifter, Dorothy Ann Bray, Sharon Greene, Catherine Swift, Tiago Veloso Silva, Conor McDonough, Clare Stancliffe, Katja Ritari, Thomas Owen Clancy, Jean-Michel Picard, Fabio Mantegazza and Pádraig Ó Riain.  

Niamh Wycherley is assistant professor of medieval Irish history in Maynooth University.

Note: According to one of the authors, "The publication date is given for March 2026, which is a bit optimistic.”

Image: pale green book cover with stylised four-armed Brigit’s cross in red ranging to yellow. It gives the title and author’s name and has the logo of Brigit 1500.