This Imbolc marks the second centenary of the rekindled Brigidine order of nuns--the Congregation of Saint Brigid.The Oak planted by Bishop Delany
Celebrating Heritage and Horizon Brigidine Bicentenary1807—2007
On February 1st 1807 Daniel Delany, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, gathered six women catechists in Tullow, Co. Carlow and established the
Congregation of St. Brigid.
They were Eleanor Tallon, Margaret Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson, Judith Whelan, Bridget Brien and Catherine Doyle. The Brigidine Annals record that he was not founding a new Congregation but rather refounding the Sisters of St. Brigid.
To show continuity between the old and the new, Bishop Delany brought an oak sapling from Kildare and planted it in the convent grounds in Tullow.
“From every seed sown and cultivated by love we shall be sure to reap a harvest”, was one of his sayings to the early sisters.
In 2007 the Brigidine Sisters and the wider Brigidine Family throughout the world will celebrate the harvest, plant seeds for a new horizon and continue to further compassion and justice for humanity and the earth.
