Did you know that the Spring Festival of Imbolc has been celebrated in Ireland for over five thousand years? The astronomical mounds built some five thousand years ago by the almost mythical race of scientists and magicians known as the Tuatha Dé Danann were designed to measure and record the passage of the sun and the moon. The most well known examples are Newgrange, which heralds the Winter solstice, and Knowth which marks the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, while the Mound of the Hostages on the royal Hill of Tara, and Cairn L at Slieve na Calliagh are among those aligned with the sunrise on Imbolc and Samhain. Both Imbolc and Samhain are associated with the goddess Brigit, the daughter of the Dagda (the chief god of the Tuatha Dé) and the wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán. Her sacred tree is the birch and she is the patron of wisdom, poetry, and healing. She is closely identified with Imbolc, and, while portrayed as a beautiful young woman who heralds the Spring; she has a second identity as the Cailleach, portrayed as an old hag whose feastday is Samhain (Halloween) and who heralds the Winter.
Imbolc continued to be celebrated by the Milesian Gaels, on their arrival from Iberia during the Bronze Age. They spread the custom together with their language, to Alba (Scotland) and Ellan Vannin (the Isle of Man). And so Imbolc became one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. The central European Celts, who came with the Iron Age were, likewise, quickly absorbed. And the legends regarding Brigit were so strong that the Christian evangelists, arriving some hundreds of years later, quickly adopted her as their first female saint and continue, to this day, to celebrate her at Imbolc!
And so, to continue the ancient traditions the Wild Geese of Czechia gathered together in Kieran
Mulhall’s cafe on the campus of the Anglo-American University in Prague. Kieran, ably assisted by Rachel, had opened the cafe specially for us. The Wild Geese owe particular thanks to Louise Kelleher for organising and steering the event and to Lorraine Traynor for providing a workshop on the weaving the traditional Bridget’s crosses from rushes. Bridget herself would have been proud of the results! Tradition required the cross to be hung on the wall for the following year as a protection from fire, (so all those who succeeded in making one can get a discount from their insurance company on their house insurance!). Thanks also due to Ivan Barta for recording the event pictorially. Lovely memories!
On conclusion we adjourned up the road to The Three Fiddles Irish Bar on Nerudová 12 where owner Joe O’Halloran had organised a big screen so that we could witness the battle of the year – the 6 Nations rugby encounter between Ireland and England! We were joined by some English geese who, of course, were offered safe conduct. Thankfully Ireland won, so we were able to deliver on our promise! What a way to bring Imbolc and Brigid to a close!
