Minister congratulates Suas ladies on Brigid's cloak installation

The ladies of the Suas Knitting Group gathered this morning to see their Brigid's cloak masterpiece displayed in Nolan's Butchers window, and were joined by Minister of State Martin Heydon TD, writes Brian Byrne.

The cloak, which consists of many hundreds of squares knitted over recent months by individual group members stitched together — "and my husband should be here too," one told the Diary, "he was up with me half the night trying to get them finished" — represents the legendary one worn by Brigid of Kildare and supposedly cast out over the county plains to claim a space for her monastery.

Minister Heydon spoke to the group after admiring the work, and while congratulating them for their achievement he recalled watching his own mother knitting over many years. He said it is wonderful to see the Brigid traditions being kept alive, and enhanced in the Brigid 1500 festival.

James Nolan, on behalf of the generations-old business that is a key part of Kilcullen's streetscape, said the reaction since the cloak was installed yesterday has been 'phenomenal'.  It will be on display in the window through the month of February.

Pictured with the Suas ladies are Minister Heydon, James and Emma Nolan, and Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer, along with Fr Martin Harte. The group, established in 2009, meets on Tuesday mornings in Kilcullen Parish Centre. Down the years their work has decorated the town during many special occasions. 

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