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Catherina Cunnane
Catherina Cunnanehttps://www.thatsfarming.com/
Catherina Cunnane hails from a sixth-generation drystock and specialised pedigree suckler enterprise in Co. Mayo. She currently holds the positions of editor and general manager at That's Farming, having joined the firm during its start-up phase in 2015.
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Celebrating Brigid and the women of Ireland

A music and entertainment show on TG4 is set to celebrate Brigid and the women of Ireland.

Farmers are set to feature in the documentary, Ardóidh mé mo Sheol – Lá Le Bríde 2023, presented by, Síle Ní Bhraonáin and Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, to talk about the importance St. Brigid to farmers.

Across 75 minutes, an ensemble cast of diverse Irish people, musicians, singers, poets, mythologists and academics will celebrate Brigid’s life, myths, traditions and influences.

The show is filmed in front of a live audience in the majestic surroundings of St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare Town.

These are the very grounds that Brigid is said to have established a church and monastery in 480 A.D.

Brigid’s sheltering famous cloak gathered women of all traditions, and Ardóidh mé mo Sheol seeks to emulate this.

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The show will also shine a light on the celebrations of Imbolg, which marks the arrival of longer, warmer days and an emergence from the darkness of winter.

Musical guests include Siubhán O’Connor, Paddy Keenan, John Francis Flynn, T with the Maggies, Tara Erraught – Co Louth, Nás na Rí Singers and Precious Abimbola.

St Brigid’s Day

Lá Fhéile Bríde (St Brigid’s Day) will be a new bank holiday to celebrate Irish women from 2023, which comes following a cabinet decision in mid-January 2022.

St Brigid, formerly the pre-Christian Earth Mother Goddess Brighid, is one of Ireland’s two patron saints, along with St Patrick.

The bank holiday will fall annually from 2023 on the closest Monday to February 1st – unless February 1st falls on a Friday, and in this case, the Friday will be a public holiday.

In Celtic mythology, Brigid was a triple goddess – of healing, fire, and of poetry – and the Christian saint who took her name, born in 450 AD, carried some of those same associations as the patron saint of poets and midwives.

As such, this bank holiday carries a dual opportunity to recognise the role of women through our arts and cultural heritage.

The inaugural Saint Brigid’s Day bank holiday, also known as Imbolc, heralds the beginning of spring, a time of growth and renewal.

In Ireland, the first of February marks the beginning of Spring and the celebration of Lá Fhéile Bríde, St Brigid’s Day.

Like many other feast days of the Irish calendar, Brigid predates Christianity – her roots lie in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, the feast of the goddess Brigid, celebrated at least five millennia ago.

In old Irish, Imbolc means ‘in the belly’, a reference to lambing and the renewal spring promises.

Main image source: Credit link

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