Another Stunning Brigit Sculpture by Denisa Prochazka

The Red Maple Grove of Ár nDraíocht Féin (A Druid Fellowship) has installed a beautiful Brigit shrine at Raven's Knoll in Eganville, Ontario.

The bust was created by Denisa Prochazka, (see her plaque for Saint Brigid's Church, Ottawa, here) and Leo Lanoy Dit Watier built the stone base.

Brigit's shrine joins those of Lugh and Manannán mac Lir. A pilgrimage to this site (camping allowed!) is definitely something to consider.

Images (above): Courtesy of Red Maple Grove of ADF. (below): Photo by Lisa Wasilkowsky Malik.

Brigit - Bless and praise her.

The Waters of Brigit's Birthplace

Anthony Murphy's wonderful video of the shrine at Faughart, Eire. The only music is the sound of the waters running over Brigit's soil.

"The shrine at Faughart, near Dundalk, County Louth, is dedicated to Saint Brigid, Ireland's second saint (after Patrick), who was said to have been born at Faughart in the fifth century. She later founded a monastery at Kildare. Her tradition is strongly celebrated in Faughart and Dundalk to this day, with an annual pilgrimage and other events taking place on her feast day, February 1st, every year."

http://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie

Solas Bhride Pilgrimage

Solas Bhride is a small Christian community in Kildare, Ireland which is devoted to Celtic Christianity as exemplified by Saint Brigit of Ireland. The Catholic Sisters who live there are part of the Brigidine community, and a renewal of a long tradition of tending Brigit's flame.

Many places of contemplation and prayer bear Saint Brigit's name in Kildare and the surrounding countryside. The foundations of her ancient fire temple have been restored, the mother church of the Church of Ireland bears her name, wells and statues do as well.

If you cannot go to Ireland to visit Brigit's Kildare, go on a virtual pilgrimage online at the Solas Bhride site.

Brigit Shrine Online

Visit Roibn's Shrine of the Forgotten Goddesses and spend a few moments or a few hours in their company. Of special interest to us here is the Brigit Shrine, calming and beautiful and filled with quiet prayer. Several more pages of his site are devoted to Brigit, and can be located through the search menu at the bottom of the introductory page.

Thank you, Roibn, for your work.

Treesong's Online Shrine

Treesong is another lover of Brighid, who has created a small online shrine to Her. It features pictures, poetry, facts and so on, and an online forum about Brighid which as yet has no one signed up. want to talk with Treesong and, in time, others who love Brighid? visit Her online shrine.

Treesong also points us toward these Brigit sources:

Sanctuary of Brighid
Tuatha de Brighid

Bride's Mound Purchase Update

Bride's Mound was successfully purchased (see posting below)--

congratulations to the Friends and to all who supported them!
Funding is needed on a continuing basis to meet mortgage
payments and forestall the need to sell of portions of the
land.

go to their site to see lovely pictures of Sr. Mary Minehan of the
Brigidine Sisters of Kildare participating in a festival at
Bride's Mound.

Blessings!

Restoring Bride's Mound

a couple of days ago i received an email telling me about a group of women in Glastonbury, England called the Friends of Bride's Mound who wish to buy this little piece of land and preserve it as a sacred site. the land is currently for sale and the decision will be made on 1 march. the Daughters of the Flame have sent a cheque to help with the purchase of this land, as others who are concerned with the sacred sites of the Celtic Goddess and Saint Brigit are invited to do.

why is this important? it certainly isn't the most dire petition for money i have come across in the last year. the floods in Haiti and Guyana, the killing in Darfur, the tsunamis in Asia, AIDS and malaria in the third world, homelessness in Canada are all more immediate disasters. yet we have a need not only to respond to disaster, but to preserve the elements that nourish our spirits. these range from wild country with its inhabitants to ancient temples and modern sanctuaries to what are now called, oddly, "green spaces" in our busy towns.

for those of us who love our ancestral cultures and religions, preserving living links to them, places where we can connect directly to them and deepen our own awareness and sensitivity, is extremely important. Bride's Mound is one of those places, and i am grateful that there are people willing and able to organize themselves to try to care for this one small part of our sacred heritage. whether i am able to walk that land one day or not, i have walked similar, and i am strengthened by the knowledge of one more piece of contemplation and prayer secured for a little while.

if you wish to make a donation, please go to the Bride's Mound Appeal page of the Bride's Mound website.

The Town of Saint Brigid's Birth

A page called St Brigid, Muire na nGael, First Woman of Ireland.

Contains info about Saint Brigid's birth in the area, and various shrines and monuments which honour her. Also instructions in making Brigid's Crosses.
http://www.iol.ie/~scphadr/brigid.html

From the site of Scoil Phádraig Naofa, "a small, Irish, rural school located near the east coast on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Our nearest towns are Dundalk and Newry." Created by the students.