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EchoLive.ie, 28 Jan
Cork actor Siobhán McSweeney, who starred as Sr Michael in Derry Girls,
fronts a documentary Finding Brigid on RTE this week
Cork actor and Derry girl star follows in footsteps of St Brigid in TV
doc
Cork actor Siobhán McSweeney with Pat Storey, Church of Ireland Bishop
of Meath and Kildare, filming Finding Brigid for RTE1
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John Dolan
IF January seems to have lasted for 50 days already, and the cold, dark
days are taking their toll, then perk up - the first bank holiday of
the year is just around the corner.
Monday week, February 6, will see Ireland mark its first St Brigid’s
Day bank holiday, and very timely it is too, as we usually have to wait
until March 17 for the first one of the year. It’s also the first of
our ten bank holidays that celebrate the life of a woman.
The occasion is marked in the documentary Finding Brigid on RTÉ1 on
Tuesday January 31, at 10pm, as Cork actor Siobhán McSweeney, of Derry
Girls fame, goes in search of the real Brigid.
The programme is being shown the day before St Brigid’s Day, which
falls on February 1 and traditionally heralds the first day of spring
in Ireland.
The new bank holiday in her honour will take place on the first Monday
in February each year, except where it falls on a Friday, in which case
that Friday will be a public holiday.
In Finding Brigid, 1.500 years after her death, Siobhán, of Ovens,
unravels the tangled threads of fact and folklore, to reveal the truth
about this elusive goddess and saint, and asks why, in an increasingly
secular and diverse Ireland, her popularity appears to be on the rise.
Siobhan gathers a mnásome, in a stone circle in Galway, with Herstory
activist Melanie Lynch and Laura Murphy, poet and daughter of a mother
and baby home survivor, who candidly reveal their motivation behind the
mission to make St Brigid’s day a national holiday. Siobhán also talks
to Pat Storey, Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, and
feminist scholar Mary Condren (pictured on the cover of TV Week) about
Brigid.
The process towards the bank holiday began in 2021, when Minister of
State Martin Heydon submitted it as a proposal to Government. He said
it would be a welcome boost for the tourism sector in a quiet time for
visitors, bridging the length of time between existing public holidays
on January 1 and March 17.
Brigid is considered a patron saint of Ireland and was a pupil of St
Patrick. She became famous for her kindness, her mercy, and her
miracles.
In addition, she founded Ireland’s most famous mixed (male and female)
monastery in Kildare. At the same time, legends about her echo the
myths and legends about the three-faced Celtic fertility goddess Brigid
- the goddess of war, poetry, crafts, and healing.
It is worth noting that before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland,
the feast of the goddess Brigid was also celebrated on February 1.
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