Brigid of Faughart – Wise Guide for Modern Soul Seekers by Dolores Whelan

Faughart near Dundalk Co Louth is an ancient place filled with a history that is both gentle and fierce. It is a place associated with battles, boundaries and travel. The Sli Midhluachra, one of the 5 ancient roads of Ireland, runs through the hill of Faughart on its way from the Hill of Tara to Armagh and then to the north coast of Ireland, making it an strategically important place. However, Faughart is also a place of deep peace, tranquillity, beauty and healing, being associated from ancient times with Brigid, Pre-Christian Goddess and Christian Saint. Brigid holds the energy of the Divine Feminine within the Celtic Spiritual tradition. The mystical woman St. Moneena was also associated with Faughart…

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Brigid of Faughart Mural

We were thrilled to be involved in the development of the new Brigid of Faughart Mural created in Bridge Street, Dundalk as part of the SEEK Visual Arts Festival in August 2020. The mural was created by the wonderfully talented artist Friz, who is based in Belfast and who managed to incorporate so many aspects of Brigid as both Christian Saint and Pre-Christian Goddess in this exciting new artwork. The mural is located in Bridge Street in Dundalk, which is the street that local people would have passed along, when walking out to Faughart for the annual St.Brigid's Day celebrations - a very fitting location indeed. We wish to thank all involved in organising the fantastic SEEK art…

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On the Week Before the Brigidine Festival by Brid McDonnell

On the Week before the Brigidine Festival. Brigid, my namesake, how I wonder about you, The all-embracing goddess and the saint. What is it about you that is burning bright again, After millennia of continuous flame. Unforgettable your lasting love, your poverty, your healing. Bristling through place, space, time immemorial. As you initiate your monastery forward When you cover your cloak over fertile land. Matriarch in the stars, Primordial as Mary As you wet nursed her child. Mary of the Gael Where do you lie? With us and on high. The people’s person Vastly beyond Saint Brigid, Although she you once were. I adore you with your cross As girl, as mother, as cailleach. Whoever you were, Whoever…

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Guided Walk – Exploring the Sacred Sites of Faughart with Pat O’Rourke……(Starting point St.Brigids Shrine A91 Y771)

Local historian and longtime friend of the Festival, Pat O’Rourke, guides us around the sacred sites of Faughart, from St.Brigid’s Shrine A91 Y771 and the Healing Stones, to the ancient Hill of Faughart, Brigid’s Well and old Faughart Graveyard. (half a mile away) From the Hill of Faughart one can look across to Dundalk Bay, forward to the Cooley Mountains and back to the famous Gap of the North and the mighty form of Slieve Gullion. All these locations are steeped in myth and folklore, playing a major role in the epic story of the Táin Bo Cúlaigne and in the military history of Ireland down through the ages, as the armies of local chieftains and foreign invaders…

Continue ReadingGuided Walk – Exploring the Sacred Sites of Faughart with Pat O’Rourke……(Starting point St.Brigids Shrine A91 Y771)