St. Brigid, also known as Brigid of Kildare, is a household name in Ireland and a highly revered patron saint of the land. Known for her compassion, generosity, and unbelievable feats, St. Brigid is a beloved figure to the Irish folk. However, there’s one miracle that makes her a close second to 9 White Deer’s most favourite saint, St Gobnait.
As the story goes, while St Brigid was working in a leper colony, she was approached by a group of thirsty lepers who begged her for something to drink. Brigid being the absolute legend that she was decided that not even water was good enough for these lepers. Oh no, she had something far more delicious in mind. Spotting a tub of water used for bathing, she channeled her divine powers to turn the bath water into sweet sweet delicious beer. Unfortunately, the tale doesn’t specify what kind of beer she managed to make but our money is on some kind ale with an extra “earthy” flavour. She even did it again when some visiting priests were in need of a drink.
In those days, ale was considered a more nutritious and cleaner alternative to water. And St. Brigid was no amateur when it came to brewing. In fact, her love for ale is so famous that there’s a 10th-century poem about it. The poem paints a vivid picture of St. Brigid gifting a lake of ale to God and the heavenly host, inviting all the folks of heaven to come and drink to their heart’s content. Sounds like a solid Friday night to us!
St. Brigid of Ireland was truly a legend in Irish history, not only for her compassion, generosity, and unbelievable feats, but for being an early adopter of the home brew method. So let’s raise a glass (or a lake, or a bathtub) of ale to St. Brigid, the ale-mazing miracle worker and absolute legend!
You can check out more about St. Brigid and her enthusiasm for distributing the gift of a crip pint to the masses by clicking the link below.
https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/monasticmatrix/commentaria/st-brigit-ireland
