Brigid of Kildare

Brigid of Kildare, born around 451 in Faughart, County Louth, became the mother saint of Ireland and founder of the Kildare abbey. She is patroness of poetry, healing, blacksmithing, livestock and dairy work, while a perpetual fire burned at Kildare in her honour for centuries. Her feast on 1 February descends from Imbolc, when people weave crosses and mark the arrival of spring.