Brigid, or Bride

(c. 453-c. 523). Very little is known about Brigid, except that she became a nun and founded the first nunnery in Ireland at the Church of the Oak, now Kildare. She is thus known as the Abbess of Kildare. She is also known as St. Bride, and “the Mary of the Gael.” With Patrick and Columba she is a patron saint of Ireland. She is also patron of poets, blacksmiths, and healers. She was born at Fauchart in Leinster, Ireland, and died in Kildare. She is commemorated in the Episcopal calendar of the church year on Feb. 1.