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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…

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…

A clear indication of the approach of Saint Brigid’s Day or Imbolc, is that nature’s time of rest is coming to a close and the landscape is re-awakening. This was noted most beautifully by the local poet Marie Kerley in her poem : What is Spring When crocuses push Coloured heads Through quickening soil. When trees rustle Skeletal branches – When buds burst bark. When Birds weave baskets And trill. When air is flushed green And Brigid’s spirit reigns. Saint Brigid’s Shrine at Faughart. At Saint Brigid’s Shrine we see the cheerful stream weave through the re-awakened mystical landscape just as the reeds weave together to make the traditional St Brigid’s Cross. The stream emerges out of Mother…

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 Tara to Armagh and to the north coast of Ireland, making it a 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 occupies a central role within the Celtic Spiritual tradition, holding the energy of the Divine Feminine, a central pillar of that tradition. The mystical woman…