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Friday, February 09, 2024

St. Brigid Island, Antarctica

 





Oстров Св. Бригита (Bulgarian for "the Island of St. Brigitta"), known in the English speaking world as St. Brigid's Island, is a small island of the Archipelago of Antarctica, that thin arm you see unfurling from the main body of the land mass. It is 2.7 km long and 1.4 km wide, and is the largest in the Barcroft group of Biscoe Islands. It is uninhabited, and its icy surface area is 222 ha. The internet sources I've consulted point out that it is named after St. Brigid of Kildare as patron saint of scholars.

The peregrinatio* of Ireland, medieval holy people who set off in oarless coracles to wherever God took them, might have found this island a bit too hostile for their purposes, but it is still inspiring to realise how far afield her followers went, taking her with them. Shall we organise a retreat here???



* Thus, peregrinus, a word originally meaning stranger, came to be interpreted as referring to a pilgrim or an exile. Among the Irish, peregrinatio, the journey of the peregrinus, described a life-long exile for the sake of God. "Exiles from the Edge? The Irish Contexts of Peregrinatio" by Elva Johnston. Research Repository UCD.

Sources: St. Brigid Island Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia; first map from Mapcarta, second and third from Apple Maps, final two from Kiddle.


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