BRAY-BASED FILMMAKER David Keeling got some of our favourite Irish faces together in a video that tells the story of what St. Brigid got up to back in the day.
Dublin actress and dancer Sophie Merry stars as St. Brigid, while narrator Tara Flynn shares some of the mythology surrounding the Kildare saint.
In reality, Brigid was probably a pagan druidess, or a Celtic goddess. But the Catholic Church co-opted her because…. Well they do that sort of thing a lot.
Tara explained that St. Brigid was the patron saint of:
- Babies
- Blacksmiths
- Mariners
- Poultry farmers
- Travelers
- Printing presses
- Midwives
- Children whose parents aren’t married
- Fugitives
- and… Florida.
What a busy woman.
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Tony Cantwell makes his appearance about 1/3 of the way into the video, where he plays the King of Leinster.
They reenact the most famous story about Brigid – how she asked the King of Leinster for a bit of land and he said no, before she attempted to bargain with him by saying that she only needed as much land as her cloak could cover. We all know how that ends.
Aww… Shit…
They then go on to talk about St. Brigid’s talent for brewing beer.
And that time she supposedly made a man’s eyes explode in his head for telling her that she had to get married some day.
Finally, they get to one of the most interesting stories about St. Brigid.
Perhaps the most interesting story of all was when a young woman came to Brigid for help. The young woman had an unwanted pregnancy and she was very stressed about it. But, Brigid said she’d help her out. And she did – because y’know, that’s the sound thing to do.
