St Brigid's Day: Having a go at making a St Brigid's Cross

Many people will remember making St Brigid’s crosses in school, going out into a muddy field in the cold days of late January and pulling out reeds (rushes) by hand to take back into the warmth of the classroom and fashion into their very own crosses to proudly present at home.

Most people may never have attempted to do so beyond those primary school years, like ourselves so we thought we’d have a go, and after a few disasters managed to create something resembling one of the iconic crosses, with a little help from some online tutorials.

St Brigid has been revered for over a millennium in Ireland and her feast day Lá Fhéile Bríde, which was originally the festival of Imbolc in the pre-Christian calendar, has been celebrated from generation to generation as people heralded the arrival of Spring.

The cross is made of reeds (or rushes) but can also be made from straw and even willow wands. All you’ll need is a bunch of reeds, a pair of scissors and either thread, yarn or elastic bands to tie the four ends of the cross once completed. Traditionally they are placed over the threshold of Irish homes to bring blessings on those that pass beneath it.

Schools, churches, places and groups the length and breadth of Ireland today are named in honour of Ireland’s only female patron saint.

Tradition holds that she was born the daughter of a slave woman and a chieftain in the Kildare region of Ireland in or around the year 425 and founded many convents across the island. If the dates tally then she would have been alive at the same time as St Patrick.

Medieval biographies of the saint have her performing numerous miracles and contend she even had supernatural powers including the gift of healing and the power to bring about miracles.

Today St Brigid is still venerated and prayed to as a healer by people in Ireland and across the world.

Imbolc, which celebrates the arrival of Spring, renewal and rebirth as the world awakened from winter to begin a new cycle, is also celebrated across Ireland with the Imbolc music festival held in Derry each year and other events and festivals held across Ireland.