Images of St Brigid and her Cross by Harry Clarke

It’s St Brigid’s Day, and Danny is teaching Finola how to make a Brigid’s Cross with which to safeguard Nead an Iolair from fire and lightning. When his family and ours lived in Devon, Danny faithfully provided us with a new Brigid’s Cross every year. I always kept the old ones – until they disintegrated: that’s the tradition. Now we have both made our homes in West Cork and it seems appropriate that Danny is still the provider of these essential tokens of protection – which should be placed above the hearth, at the threshold of the byre or in the rafters.

February 1st: Tradition under way in the McCormack household

There are far more stories told about the Irish Saint Brigid, Brigit, Brighid or Bride than there are about Saint Patrick himself: if I wrote down here everything I…