Was Brigit a true feminist icon? Was she even real? Or merely made up by a man to exploit the veneration of a 'pagan' goddess? All this and more in our special St Brigit's Day episode with Prof. Catherine McKenna (Harvard University) to celebrate the Brigit 1500 commemorations in 2024. Happy St Brigit's Day!

Niamh's suggested reading: Since the podcast aired Dr Elva Johnston published an excellent article, available free online, which references all the relevant reading on St Brigit, including my book (The cult of relics in early medieval Ireland) which discusses the relics of Brigit in detail and the glory of Kildare, Prof McKenna's article on Maud Gonne and the development of Brigit the goddess, and the translations of the earliest texts on St Brigit which are online. See Elva Johnston, 'Making St Brigit real in the early middle ages', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 124C (2024), 1–26.

Hosted by Dr Niamh Wycherley.

Regular episodes every two weeks (on a Friday).

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Supported by the Dept of Early Irish, Maynooth University, & Science Foundation Ireland/The Irish Research Council. Views expressed are the speakers' own.

Production: Tiago de Oliveira Veloso Silva.

Logo design: Matheus de Paula Costa

Music: Lexin_Music