Giving out the Brat Bríde in Kilcullen today

So, as promised, Mary Orford and Julie O'Donoghue were passing out pieces of cloth as 'Brat Bríde' this morning outside Eurospar and Nolans, writes Brian Byrne.

The initiative attracted lots of interest, curiosity, and engagement, and it's quite likely that the symbolic pieces of Brigid's cloak will be gone in short order.

For those who wanted an explanation of the idea, they had notices in Irish, English and Polish about the tradition, of putting a piece of cloth out in the garden or window sill on the night of 31 January — St Brigid's Eve.

"The idea is that Brigid will be passing through on the night and will bless the cloth, and it will protect you and your family from small ailments for the next year," Julie told the several people who stopped while the Diary was there.

"We could certainly do with that," one lady remarked as she accepted a piece of the Brat for herself, and took another for her sister.

The Brat is free, though many seemed to think the two were selling it. "It's just a small thing to kick off the Brigid 1500 festival," Mary Orford said. "It's certainly getting interest."

Meantime, we hear that another local Brigid 1500 initiative, the Creative Writing Group organised by Woodbine Books, has also garnered a good number of people wanting to get involved. We'll revisit that later, but talk to any of the Woodbine people if you want to get writing yourself.

UPDATE NOTE: If anyone missed us, please call to the Community Library tomorrow (Saturday) morning (10am-1pm) or on Tuesday 31st (10.30am-1pm and 1.30-5pm) to collect a brat. Also available from Monday in Ger’s Fruit & Veg and Nolan’s Butchers. Thank you to everyone for the lovely chats  — Julie and Mary.

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