The Book of St. Brigid

by Colm Keane, Una O'Hagan

Feminist, farmer, abbess, bishop and miracle worker, St. Brigid has inspired Irish women and men down through the ages. She cared for the poor, healed the sick, and founded monastic settlements.She became patron saint of revolutionaries and women fighting for their rights. She is also credited with inventing the Rosary beads, brewing ale, and inspiring the first tiered wedding cake and Buy Irish campaign.Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley, Lady Gregory and Maud Gonne MacBride, regarded her as a guiding light. All of them, including Brigitte Bardot, are featured in this book.The book also describes her holy wells, St. Brigid’s Crosses, churches, miracles and cures – providing you with all you will ever need to know about this iconic saint.

Paperback

Published September 8, 2021

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about St. Brigid that I did not know before.

[Megan Easley-Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so many interesting things in this book! I also enjoyed how it spoke to both St. Brigid and her many centuries of influence.

[MxEx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of this was interesting and useful, but I lost interest once the focus shifted to telling stories of people who just share the saint's name.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scope of this book is vast -- the authors' choices of what to include made for interesting reading. I enjoyed the tales, the history, the way seemingly disparate events, names, beliefs knit together. I'm glad I read the book, but I was disappointed that the writing isn't very critical in nature. Ancient events cannot necessarily be "proven", but the book lacks references, sources, or bibliography. There are a lot of guesses, and dialogue has been put in the mouths of long-dead people. It's the kind of reading I steer students away from, which is a shame, because I think there is probably a lot of good intent in this book.

[Jonny McD · Rating 1 out of 5]

This should be a children’s illustrated book. I think the authors would have had a very successful book if they went down that route. Several stories are repeated where cows are replaced with pig and pigs are replaced with sheep. They got lost or stolen and Brigid finds them again and everyone agreed she was great .