Along with Patrick, Brigid is one of the most beloved Irish saints. She was born into slavery in the middle of the fifth century, the daughter of a local chieftain and one of his slaves. Her father Dubhthach was the poet laureate of King Loeghaire and a pagan, but her mother Brocca was a Christian.

Even as a young girl, Brigid was notorious for giving away all of the family’s food and goods in order to feed and assist the poor. Enraged, her father tried to sell her to the king of Leinster, but even while the two men were negotiating her price, she took her father’s jeweled sword and gave it to a beggar so that he could sell it to feed his family. The king was impressed with her compassion and resourcefulness, and offered Dubhthach his own jeweled sword as a replacement, telling him to give his daughter her freedom.

Gathering a group of women around her, Brigid founded a monastery in 470 at Kildare, a place whose name meant “Church of the Oak.” This was the first monastic community for women in Ireland. Tosecure the sacraments, Brigid persuaded the anchorite Conlaed to receive ordination as a bishop and to bring his community of monks to Kildare, thus establishing a double monastery for both men and women. She also founded a renowned scriptorium and center for manuscript illumination at the monastic community.

Brigid actively participated in leadership and in policy-making decisions, not only within her own monastic federation but also within the councils and synods of the Irish church. She died around 523 at Kildare. Her remains are said to have been re-interred with those of Patrick at Downpatrick in the ninth century.