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    St Brigid's Cross - ancient Irish symbol of protection

    St Brigid's Cross -  ancient and potent symbol of protection

    A beautiful tradition, a holy and potent symbol woven from the rushes of Irish rivers and thought to ward off evil and hunger for generations of Irish people.

    St. Brigid's Cross (Cros Bríde in Irish) is a cross woven from rushes, with 4 arms tied at the end and meeting in a woven patterned square in the centre. Traditionally they were displayed over the door of a house to ward off evil. The tradition marks the beginning of spring, St Brigid's Day being the 1st February.

    St Brigid is one of Ireland's patron saints, who was an abbess and mother of the church, presiding over an abbey in Kildare, Ireland. The story of the first St Brigid's cross comes from a story about an old pagan lord on his deathbed whose servants summoned Brigid to his side to calm him. She held vigil there, comforting him, and in an effort to make him understand the new faith, she picked some rushes from the floor, and wove an intricate cross. So moved by her care and her words that he asked to be baptised before he died.

    However, the legend of Brigid is likely much older than Christianity. Brigid was a goddess, one of the race of Irish gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann. The cross of rushes may indeed be an adaptation of an older woven symbol, which along with Brigid, may have been transfigured into a Christian saint by early Irish pilgrims to ease the conversion or Irish pagans to Christianity.

    BROWSE OUR ST BRIGID'S CROSS COLLECTION

    St Brigid's Cross is such a beautiful yet simple design and is at the heart of our St Brigid's Collection.

    Browse our full St Brigid's Cross collection

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