Holy Wells and Sacred Trees: Interference with the natural world

While legal and religious factors have long guided our moral compass, our traditional code of right and wrong has also been informing individual conduct for a considerable amount of time. In oral tradition, particular behaviours deemed to be unacceptable are often followed by examples of what happens when this code is ignored. Among the prohibitions … Continue reading Holy Wells and Sacred Trees: Interference with the natural world

St Brigit of Kildare: Patron of the Powerless

Traditionally, February marked the transition from winter to spring in Ireland, icy rain watering green shoots. For the early medieval Irish, the month started with Imbolc, one of the quarter-days on which the calendar turned, the others being May 1st (Beltene), August 1st (Lugnasad) and November 1st (Samain). Above all, February 1st was the festival … Continue reading St Brigit of Kildare: Patron of the Powerless