FESTIVAL OF BRIGIT
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Professor Seamas OCathain's monumental study of the Festival of Brigit - Imbolc, February 1st - updated, extended, and published in a new edition, in honour of Ireland's newest national holiday. Brigit was one of three great saints of early Irish Christianity, alongside Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and Colm Cille (Columba), Irish colonizer of Scotland and founder of Iona. By tradition, Saints’ Day festivals and other Holy Days were celebrated over twenty-four hours, starting on the eve of the feast and continuing through the night and through the following day. Thus the Festival of Brigit includes Oiche Fheile Bride (St Brigit’s Eve) and La Fheile Bride (St Brigit’s Day) – on 31st January and 1st February respectively. However, these are not the oldest names associated with this festival in Irish tradition, for in earlier pre-Christian times it was called Imbolc – a word whose basic meaning has much to do with milking and milk-production.
This book views Brigit – the Celtic goddess and the Christian-era Saint – not merely in an Irish context, but also in an international and western European context. It attempts to uncover the motivation of previous generations, both within Ireland and beyond it, in sustaining and preserving ancient practices and beliefs, and highlights how fundamentally important folk culture is to our understanding of the past.
Dr Seamas OCathain was educated at Queen's University Belfast, where he became Professor of Celtic. Later he was appointed Professor of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin, and Director of Ireland's National Folklore Collection.
He has edited and authored numer ous books on the folklore of Ireland and north-western Europe, including Uair a Chloig cois Teallaigh /An Hour by the Hearth (Comhairle Bhealoideas Eireann : 1985); The Festival of Brigit first edition, (DBA Dublin: 1995); Gaelic Grace Notes (Novus Press, Oslo : 2014); and his autobiography Jumping the Border (Phaeton: 2018) also published in Irish as De Leim thar Teorainn (Phaeton: 2020). He is the editor of Northern Lights : Following Folklore in North-Western Europe (UCD Press : 2001), and joint editor of Treasures of the National Folklore Collection /Seoda as Cnuasach Bhealoideas Eireann (Four Courts Press : 2010),
He has received many distinctions and literary awards, including Knight (First Class) of the Order of the Lion of Finland; the Dag Stromback Prize of the Gustavus Adolphus Academy, Uppsala, Sweden; the Ruth Michaelis-Jena Ratcliff Prize, Edinburgh, and an award in 2022 from the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for his contributions to Nordic-Celtic cultural connections.