A Brief Herstory of Flamekeeping
The Goddess Brigid and Saint Brigid are intrinsically entwined, with myths and legends attributable to one or both, sometimes indistinguishably. Each is traditionally associated with fire, with Goddess Brigid in particular to the forge, the sunrise, and dawn. Celtic lore infers that Brigid in her many guises and names, along with other deities, are tied to fire and ritual as well. Mythology tells us that nineteen Druidic priestesses — known as daughters of the fire (inghean an dagha), or fire-keepers (breochwidh) — kept a perpetual flame in a large shrine dedicated to the Goddess Brigid in Kildare, Ireland.
It is written that when Saint Brigid was born at the liminal moment of dawn, a beam of light burst around her head like a flame. When she built her monastery and church in Kildare, she continued the priestesses’ custom of keeping a fire alight. For her and her nuns, the fire represented the new light of Christianity, which reached the shores of Ireland early in the 5th century. Also of note, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), a Welsh chronicler, visited Kildare in the 12th century and reported that the fire of St. Brigid was still burning and that it was being tended by nuns of St. Brigid.
Some historians record that a few attempts were made to have the fire extinguished, without success, and Brigid’s perpetual flame survived for many years, possibly up to the suppression of the monasteries in the 16th century. The flame was re-lit in 1993 by Sr. Mary Teresa Cullen, leader of the Brigidine Sisters in Kildare, and since then they have tended the flame in their Solas Bhride Centre. This famous perpetual flame in Kildare, and other flamekeeping sites around the world, are testament to the number of Brigid devotees who keep alive this sacred practice.
