Brigid's cross
Brigid's cross or Brigit's cross (Irish: Cros Bhríde, Crosóg Bhríde or Bogha Bhríde) is a small variant of the
Brigid's cross is typically woven on 1 February, her
In addition to the shamrock and Celtic harp, Brigid's cross is a national symbol of Ireland. From 1962 to 1995, it was incorporated into the Raidió Teilifís Éireann logo. A collection of Brigid's crosses collected by the Irish Folklore Commission is on display at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life.
Design
Brigid's crosses broadly refer to a type of cross woven out of straw or
The most popular of these is the diamond or lozenge cross, the dominant variant throughout Munster and Connacht.[1] Two sticks are crossed over one another to provide a wooden framework for this cross, and at its centre, straw is woven into the shape of a diamond. Sometimes, additional woven diamonds are added to the four arms of the cross.[2] Some historians have compared the lozenge shape at the centre of the diamond cross to that of the Mexican god's eye or the Eurasian "magic square".[3]
Another popular variant is the "swastika" cross. Rather than being set parallel to one another like a traditional cross,[4] the arms of the swastika cross are set at right angles from a lozenge or diamond at the centre. These offset angles evoke the image of a wheel in motion and may have originally represented the sun, or "the great wheel in the sky".[5] In certain regions of Ulster, this wheel spinning in a circle imagery is evoked with a three-armed woven cross.[6] This three-armed variant has been compared to the triskelion, a popular motif in Celtic imagery.[7] In rare cases, Brigid's cross may be set fully inside a circle; this is known as a "wheel cross" or "St. Brigid's Bow".[8][9]
Unlike other Brigid's crosses, which were typically made of straw, the interlaced cross is often made of rushes. Unlike other forms of the cross which contain a woven shape in the centre, the interlaced cross consists only of rush or straw strands woven into a Christian cross shape.[8][9] While straw is the more popular weaving material for most variants of Brigid's cross, the interlaced cross is more frequently made from rushes.[1] An even simpler variant is the bare cross, which consists either of two bound plaits of straw or of two planks of wood bound together in the centre by straw.[10] Occasionally, no straw is used at all: the Sheaf-Cross, located in eastern County Galway and County Roscommon, involves two small sheathes of unthreshed corn are bound together by a split thatching branch.[11]
Folklore
Brigid's cross is named for
Many of the folk attributes ascribed to Brigid of Kildare bear similarities to the pagan grain goddess
Ritual use
One of the customs associated with Brigid of Kildare's feast day was to hang Brigid's crosses in the rafters or over entryways of buildings, thus invoking the saint's blessing and protection for the remainder of the year.[18] Families would gather rushes on 31 January, the eve of Brigid's feast day. After an evening feast, the head of household would supervise the rest of the family as they wove crosses from the collected material.[19] These crosses were left out overnight to receive Brigid's blessing, and on 1 February, crosses would be mounted in the main dwelling place, outhouses, and stables.[20] While the direction in which the crosses were hung remains unknown, that the centre shape is frequently described as a lozenge rather than a square suggests that Brigid's cross is properly displayed in a saltire style rather than that of the Latin cross.[21] Crosses were either taken down annually and replaced, or they accumulated between feasts.[22] If they were discarded, they were burned or buried, with the latter preferred due to Brigid's associations with agriculture.[23]
The weaving of Brigid's crosses was popular throughout Ireland, particularly in the north and midland, but its popularity dwindled during the 20th century.[24] Some families attributed the decline of Brigid's crosses to house renovations that inhibited the ability to hang them appropriately.[25] Outside of Ireland, Brigid's crosses are also customarily hung in Glastonbury, England, in accordance with a local legend that says Brigid of Kildare visited the town in 488 CE.[26] Families may also send woven crosses to their friends and relatives who live abroad, or they will carry a cross with them when they leave Ireland.[27] The weaving of crosses was not restricted to Brigid's feast day: friends would often gift crosses to incur blessings and strengthen their bond,[28] while newlywed couples would often receive "womb crosses" to hang above their door, as Brigid was also a patron of fertility.[29]
Although they take place at different points of the season, the weaving of Brigid's cross is associated with other rituals in which the last sheaf of that year's harvest is woven into intricate shape.[30] In County Armagh, for instance, the harvest season involves the weaving of Harvest Knots and Harvest Stars, the former of which involves a lozenge shape similar to that of Brigid's cross.[31] These "last sheaf" celebrations are collectively known as the Cailleach.[32]
As a national symbol
Shortly after the Irish Free State gained its independence in 1922, Brigid's cross became one of several nationalist symbols, alongside such other motifs as the shamrock and Celtic harp, used by Irish artists in order to create a national cultural identity separate from that of Britain.[33] In the 1950s, Brigid's cross was incorporated into the logo of the Irish Department of Health,[27] and as of 2024, the cross remained a part of the logo of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, who frequently incorporate Brigid into their imagery for her associations with midwifery.[34]
Brigid's cross was selected as the first
In 1942, the Irish Folklore Commission created a questionnaire regarding the Feast of Saint Brigid, during which they collected several hundred Brigid's crosses.[37] In 2022, the Commission selected a sample of 21 of these crosses to be displayed at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Castlebar. The display coincided with an announcement from the Irish government that 1 February would be declared a national holiday.[29]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b c O'Dowd 2015, p. 55.
- ^ Ó Duinn 2005, pp. 122–123.
- ^ O'Dowd 2015, p. 59.
- ^ Ó Duinn 2005, p. 121.
- ^ Kissane 2017, pp. 258–259.
- ^ Ó Duinn 2005, p. 122.
- ^ Mason 1945, pp. 162–163.
- ^ a b Ó Duinn 2005, p. 125.
- ^ a b O'Dowd 2015, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Ó Duinn 2005, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Ó Duinn 2005, p. 126.
- ^ Bitel 2022.
- ^ Loughrey-Grant 2018.
- ^ Kissane 2017, pp. 259–260.
- ^ Berger 1985, p. 71.
- ^ Berger 1985, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Kissane 2017, p. 260.
- ^ Mason 1945, p. 160.
- ^ Kissane 2017, pp. 254–258.
- ^ Kissane 2017, pp. 260–261.
- ^ O'Dowd 2015, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Kissane 2017, p. 261.
- ^ Paterson 1945, p. 47.
- ^ O'Dowd 2015, pp. 55–57.
- ^ Kissane 2017, p. 258.
- ^ Robinson 1953, pp. 97–99.
- ^ a b O'Riordan 1951, p. 91.
- ^ Paterson 1945, p. 48.
- ^ a b Shiel 2022.
- ^ O'Dowd 2015, pp. 64–67.
- ^ Paterson 1944, p. 348.
- ^ Ó Duinn 2005, p. 129.
- ^ Kennedy 1992, p. 17.
- ^ Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland 2009.
- ^ Curtayne 1962.
- ^ Mullally 2020.
- ^ O'Dowd 2015, pp. 53–55.
Sources
- Berger, Pamela (1985). The Goddess Obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from Goddess to Saint. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-6722-9.
- Bitel, Lisa (15 March 2022). "Meet St. Brigid, Ireland's Only Woman Patron Saint". Smithsonian.
- Curtayne, Alice (19 January 1962). "The Story Behind Our TV Symbol". RTÉ Guide. p. 6.
- Kennedy, Brian P. (Spring 1992). "The Failure of the Cultural Republic: Ireland 1922–39". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 81 (321): 14–22. JSTOR 30091646.
- Kissane, Noel (2017). Saint Brigid of Kildare: Life, Legend and Cult. Dublin, IE: Open Air. ISBN 978-1-84682-632-0.
- Loughrey-Grant, Taragh (1 February 2018). "St Brigid: 5 things to know about the iconic Irish woman". Raidió Teilifís Éireann.
- Mason, Thomas H. (September 1945). "St. Brigid's Crosses". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 75 (3): 160–166. JSTOR 25510514.
- Mullally, Una (1 February 2020). "The evolution – and disappearance – of Brigid's cross in RTÉ's logo". The Irish Times.
- ISSN 0791-2412. Archived from the originalon 22 December 2015.
- O'Dowd, Anne (2015). Straw, Hay & Rushes in Irish Folk Tradition. Dublin, IE: Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-07165-3310-8.
- Ó Duinn, Seán (2005). The Rites of Brigid: Goddess and Saint. Dublin, IE: The Columbia Press. ISBN 1-85607-483-8.
- O'Riordan, Sean (February 1951). "The Cult of Saint Brigid". The Furrow. 2 (2): 88–93. JSTOR 27655719.
- Paterson, T. G. F. (1944). "Harvest Customs in County Armagh". Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society. 10 (4): 336–341. JSTOR 27728619.
- Paterson, T. G. F. (1945). "Brigid's Crosses in County Armagh". Ulster Journal of Archaeology. 8: 43–48. JSTOR 20566478.
- Robinson, John L. (1953). "St. Brigid and Glastonbury". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 83 (1): 97–99. JSTOR 25510851.
- Shiel, Tom (31 January 2022). "St Brigid's crosses donated by public in 1940s go on display". The Irish Times.