Brigid’s Holy Well in Co Kildare. IRELAND’S CONTENT POOL
The Feast of Brigid, also known as Imbolc, marks the arrival of longer, warmer days and the early signs of spring on February 1.
Imbolc is one of the four major “fire” festivals or quarter days, referred to in Irish mythology from medieval Irish texts. The other three festivals on the old Irish calendar are Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain.
The word Imbolc means literally “in the belly” in the old Irish Neolithic language, referring to the pregnancy of ewes.
In ancient Irish mythology, Brigid was a fire goddess. Nowadays, her canonization is celebrated with a perpetual flame at her shrine in Co Kildare.
2
The sacred flame in Kildare Town. (Ireland’s Content Pool)
St. Brigid is the patron saint of babies, blacksmiths, boatmen, cattle farmers, children whose parents are not married, children whose mothers are mistreated by the children’s fathers, Clan Douglas, dairymaids, dairy workers, fugitives, Ireland, Leinster, mariners, midwives, milkmaids, nuns, poets, the poor, poultry farmers, poultry raisers, printing presses, sailors, scholars, travelers, and watermen. Here’s a busy saint!
St. Brigid’s Day traditions and customs
One folk tradition that continues in some homes on St. Brigid’s Day (or Imbolc) is that of the Brigid’s Bed.
The girls and young unmarried women of the household or village create a corn dolly to represent Brigid, called the Brideog (“little Brigid” or “young Brigid”), adorning it with ribbons and baubles like shells or stones. They make a bed for the Brideog to lie in.
On St. Brigid’s Eve (January 31), the girls and young women gather together in one house to stay up all night with the Brideog, and are later visited by all the young men of the community who must ask permission to enter the home, and then treat them and the corn dolly with respect.
Brigid is said to walk the earth on Imbolc eve. Before going to bed, each member of the household may leave a piece of clothing or strip of cloth outside for Brigid to bless. The head of the household will smother (or “smoor”) the fire and rake the ashes smooth.
In the morning, they look for some kind of mark on the ashes, a sign that Brigid has passed that way in the night or morning. The clothes or strips of cloth are brought inside and believed to now have powers of healing and protection.
Neopagans of diverse traditions observe this holiday in a variety of ways, celebrating Brigid’s divine femininity. As forms of neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably despite the shared name.
Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how the ancient Celts are believed to have observed the festival, as well as how these customs have been maintained in the living Celtic cultures. Other neopagans observe the holiday with rituals taken from numerous other unrelated sources, Celtic cultures being only one of the sources used.
Imbolc is usually celebrated by modern Pagans on February 1 or 2 in the Northern Hemisphere, and August 1 or 2 in the Southern Hemisphere, or at the solar midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox, which now falls later in the first week or two of February.
For the first time ever, Brigid’s Day has become a Bank Holiday in Ireland in 2023. While Brigid’s Day is February 1, the Irish Bank Holiday will be observed on the
As of February 2023, Ireland will have a Bank Holiday to celebrate St. Brigid’s Day. The new Irish Bank Holiday will be observed the first Monday in every February, except where St Brigid’s Day, the 1st day of February, happens to fall on a Friday, in which case that Friday 1 February will be a public holiday.
January 22, 2024: Senator David Norris delivers his final address in the Seanad Éireann. YOUTUBE
Senator David Norris, 79, delivered his final address in the Seanad Éireann today, January 22, marking the end of his 36-year run as a Senator.
After thanking his colleagues and all those who voted for him over the years, Senator Norris said: “Since this is my last opportunity to speak on the floor of this House, I would like to continue to advocate for peace in Palestine, and in particular Gaza.
“What is happening to the inhabitants of Gaza is appalling and cannot be allowed to continue.
“Man’s inhumanity to man is our greatest shame, and I have to say, also, that it goes completely against the Jewish ethic, which is ‘l’chaim,’ or ‘to life.’
“The present [Israeli] Government under Netanyahu has committed them to death instead of to life, and to death in overwhelming numbers for the unfortunate trapped citizens of Gaza. I deplore it completely.
“What is happening is appalling and cannot be allowed to continue. Man’s inhumanity to man is our greatest shame. I urge Senators to continue to push for peace in our times.
“Finally, I would like to voice my support for the forthcoming referenda on the family. It is important that they succeed, and even though I will be retired, I will be, to the best of my ability, campaigning for their success.”
Sign up to IrishCentral’s newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish!Subscribe to IrishCentral
In the 1970s, Norris founded the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, which featured Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, both future Presidents of Ireland, as advisors.
In 1983, Norris went to the Irish Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and the 1885 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, laws which made homosexuality an offense that had been passed before Irish independence and had been since repealed in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Norris was unsuccessful.
In 1987, Norris was elected to the Seanad as an Independent; he has been re-elected at each election since. Upon his resignation this month, Norris is the longest-serving member of the Seanad in the history of the Irish State.
The following year, Norris took a case to the European Court of Human Rights to argue that Irish law was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. This time he was successful in his efforts, and the ECHR ruled that the criminalization of male homosexuality in the Republic of Ireland violated the right to privacy in personal affairs.
Five years later, Minister for Justice Maire Geoghegan-Quinn included decriminalization with an equal age of consent in a bill to deal with various sexual offenses. No parties in the Oireachtas opposed decriminalization.
Mary Robinson, who had represented Norris in his Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights case, was President of Ireland and ultimately signed the act into law when it passed the Dáil in 1993.
Two days after the bill passed the Dáil, Norris wrote in the Irish Times: “When, next week, this Bill is passed by Seanad Éireann and sent to the President for signature I will, for the first time in my life, feel that I am at last a full and equal citizen in my own country.”
Norris has sponsored 34 bills throughout his tenure as a Senator. While he received several tributes in the SSeanad on Monday following his final address, he also received written tributes from Preisdent Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
“Your legacy as a champion of equality and diversity will continue to inspire future generations to come,” President Higgins wrote.
An Cathaoirleach Jerry Buttimer said in the Seanad on Monday that Varadkar wrote: “In your campaigns, you showed true leadership, standing for causes that were unpopular and poorly understood but, above all, were appealing to our best instincts as human beings: kindness, compassion, tolerance and acceptance.”
The widely opposed Legacy Bill is now enacted as the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, 2023. But it remains widely hated and the Irish government has launched inter-state proceedings against the UK administration. This is a clear and strong sign of how bad relations are between the two governments that are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.
Out of what we can now call the Legacy Act comes the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. While this body – abbreviated to ICRIR – investigates past events from the Troubles, the Act limits criminal investigations, legal proceedings, inquests and police complaints.
The Act also extends the prisoner release scheme that was initially enacted in 1998. In addition, the legislation aims to provide “for experiences to be recorded and preserved and for events to be studied and memorialised”.
The Irish government’s inter-state case claims that the Legacy Act reneges on previous commitments entered into by the UK government through the Stormont House Agreement. In addition, that the legislation is not victim-centred; that it is not consistent with obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, which is a cornerstone of the Good Friday Agreement; that it is widely opposed within Northern Ireland; that it allows for the granting of immunity; and that it closes down existing police investigations and civil actions. Ireland argues that the ICRIR investigations are not a substitute for properly resourced police investigations.
In the latest Holywell Conversations, Sara Duddy from the Pat Finucane Centre explains why it and the victims it represents will not co-operate with ICRIR. Coinciding with the establishment of ICRIR, the Centre has launched its own ‘Impunity Project’, through which families of victims of Troubles killings seek to challenge false allegations against dead relatives. In some cases – as with Bloody Sunday – the Army falsely accused the dead of being bombers or otherwise paramilitaries to ‘justify’ their killings.
Families are now seeking two types of justice – to know the truth behind killings and to correct false allegations against dead relatives.
The other interview in the latest podcast is with Peter Sheridan, a former senior officer with the RUC and PSNI who is now Commissioner for Investigations at ICRIR. He operates under the overall leadership of former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Sir Declan Morgan, who is the Chief Commissioner.
Peter Sheridan says that ICRIR hopes to be fully operational in the middle of this year and explains how it will proceed and how relatives of those who died, and also those seriously injured, will be able to raise cases with ICRIR. He argues strongly that his police background will not undermine his credibility as lead investigator.
With such a wide array of opponents and critics of the Legacy Act – ranging from the five largest Northern Ireland parties, to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Chief Commissioner, to the departing Victims Commissioner, to victims groups and to international human rights groups – it seems implausible that ICRIR will have an easy birth.
The podcast can be listened to at the Holywell Trust website along with previous episodes.
Disclaimer: This project has received support from the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council which aims to promote a pluralist society characterised by equity, respect for diversity, and recognition of interdependence. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Community Relations Council.
BBC Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded on Bloody Sunday
Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 15 others injured when members of the Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside – a predominantly Catholic part of Londonderry – on Sunday 30 January 1972.
The day became known as Bloody Sunday.
It is widely regarded as one of the darkest days of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
The events leading to Bloody Sunday
About 15,000 people gathered in the Creggan area of Derry on the morning of 30 January 1972 to take part in a civil rights march.
Five months earlier, in August 1971 and against a backdrop of escalating violence and increased bombings in Northern Ireland, a new law was introduced giving the authorities the power to imprison people without trial – internment. The government had decided it was the only way it could restore order.
Thousands gathered in Derry on that January day for a rally organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to protest at internment.
The British Embassy in Dublin was burned to the ground by an angry crowd.
The day after Bloody Sunday the government announced there would be an inquiry led by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery.
The victims, top row (l to r): Patrick Doherty, Gerald Donaghey, John Duddy, Hugh Gilmour, Michael Kelly, Michael McDaid and Kevin McElhinney. Bottom row : Bernard McGuigan, Gerard McKinney, William McKinney, William Nash, James Wray and John Young
The Widgery Tribunal largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame, although he described the soldiers’ shooting as “bordering on the reckless”.
It was derided as a whitewash by the victims’ families, who spent years campaigning for a fresh public inquiry.
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that a new inquiry would be held, headed by judge Lord Saville.
It was set up in 1998 and reported back in 2010, becoming the longest-running inquiry in British legal history and costing about £200m.
The inquiry found that none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting.
It said no warning was given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire and that none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers.
Saville found there was “some firing by republican paramilitaries” but that on balance the Army fired first.
Having weighed up 125,000 pages of material, prosecutors said on 14 March that they will prosecute Soldier F for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney.
He had also faced charges for the attempted murders of Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and Michael Quinn.
On 2 July 2021, it was announced Soldier F would not face trial following a decision by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
In a statement, the PPS said after “careful consideration” the decision had been taken due to another recent court ruling which found evidence being relied upon in the prosecution of Soldier A and Soldier C for the killing of Joe McCann was inadmissible.
This was due to the circumstances in which the evidence was obtained.
The decision not to proceed with the case is now the subject of live judicial review proceedings following a legal challenge brought by the brother of one of the Bloody Sunday victims.
The Police Ombudsman has unlawfully failed to investigate alleged RUC wrongdoing in the killing of three IRA men within a reasonable time, a High Court judge declared today.
Mr Justice Humphreys confirmed the outcome in a challenge mounted by the widow of one of the men shot dead by the SAS 35 years ago.
Brothers Gerard and Martin Harte were gunned down at Drumnakilly, Co Tyrone in August 1988.
They were ambushed 10 days after the IRA bombed a bus carrying troops at Ballygawley, an attack which claimed the lives of eight soldiers.
Relatives of the three republicans believed they were victims of a suspected shoot-to-kill policy operated by the security forces.
State agents allegedly lured them into a premeditated trap, according to their case.
It has also been claimed that RUC officers were involved in cordoning off the area prior to the shooting and did not carry out an effective probe in the immediate aftermath.
Gerard Harte’s widow, Roisin, lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman’s Office following a television documentary about the case broadcast in 2015.
In 2018 the watchdog confirmed that an investigation into her grievance would be carried out.
But amid budgeting issues the inquiry was never completed.
Mrs Harte issued judicial review proceedings against the Ombudsman over that delay, and against the Department of Justice for an alleged failure to provide the necessary funding.
With the Government’s controversial Legacy Act set to shut down work on Troubles-era probes, her case is not expected to be dealt with by the cut-off date of May 2024.
In court today it was announced that the Ombudsman had conceded Mrs Harte’s legal challenge.
Mr Justice Humphreys stated: “The court will make a declaration that the first respondent (the Police Ombudsman) has acted unlawfully by failing to investigate the applicant’s complaint within a reasonable time.”
He also ordered the body to pay Mrs Harte’s legal costs.
Proceedings against the Department of Justice were formally dismissed.
Outside court, Mrs Harte’s solicitor stressed she had expected her complaint would be fully examined and the subject of a published report.
Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law claimed: “The circumstances of this case are that three men were shot dead by the SAS with the knowledge and assistance of the RUC.
“It is clear now that the Ombudsman has acted unlawfully, but unfortunately there will be no report due to the Legacy Act.”
Citing the separate High Court challenge to that legislation, he added: “Mrs Harte, like many other families, are in a state of uncertainty and hope that judgment will allow them to obtain investigations into their cases.”
PA
PacemakerDerry’s Guildhall Square was packed for David Cameron’s apology on behalf of the state in 2010