Fiona's trip to Kildare

Fiona writes about her recent trip to Kildare to walk in St Brigid's footsteps....

Hey  guys!
Last week on  the 1st of February it was St.Bridgid's day! This is a very special holiday in Ireland especially in Kildare because here in Kildare was she lived and set up her convent.
We went on a trip to Kildare town to visit the historical sites related to St.Brigid. We went inside her cathedral which was very interesting as we saw lots Brigid crosses hanging up on the walls and on a Concrete statue of Bishop Wesley there was a fertility mark. It is believed that if you touch it you will become very fertile!

Next on our trip we went to St.Brigid's kitchen with was a small passage underground which apparently  years ago had hundreds of tunnels leading around kildare so if there was an attack on the cathedral  people could escape. (unfortunately it wasn't a real kitchen like i taught it was).

After that we went to the round tower at the back of the church. It was very interesting to know that it was the  tallest round tower in Ireland until its cone roof fell off which lead to it being the second largest in Ireland today.

After we finished our lunch we went walking (a very long walk) and  we visited St.Bridgids Well. We prayed around the well and took jars of her holy water. I found this experience very relaxing and it took a load off my shoulders as beside the well there was a tree where people could tie something small like a ribbon to the branches. I tied a woolen tread from my hat around one of the highest branches I could find to remember my nanas and grandads that are in heaven looking down on us, and my baby cousin Trease. I now feel happier that St.Bridgid is with them.

So that was the end of the trip and we went home happy and tired from our trip. I loved learning more about St.Bridgid and it made me more proud to be from Kildare. I also found out that she is popular not only in Ireland but that she is infact the patron saint of the Brigidine schools in Australia. It is so cool because we are working on projects to put up on our blog so that the school in Australia can learn from our experiences here in Kildare too :D

Model of the original Town

St. Brigid's cathedral 

Me getting to ring the bells in the cathedral 

The Famous round tower... Its HUGE

St.Brigid's Flame

St.Brigid's Kitchen

St.Brigid's Statue and holy stream

The first of St.Brigid's wells 

The woman herself St.Brigid 

St.Brigid's well

Tree beside St.Brigid's well, where we could tie strings praying for our loved ones alive and passed

Sarah's trip to Kildare

Sarah M writes about her recent trip to Kildare to celebrate St Bridget's Day......

Last Wednesday was St Brigid's day. Our religion teachers thought it would be a great idea to take us to Kildare town which is very historical and links in with St Brigid's life. Yesterday we visited Kildare town to learn about St Brigid. Even though we all live in County Kildare it's surprising how many people in our class have never actually been to Kildare town.

We got the bus to Kildare and we went into the Kildare Town Heritage Centre where we watched a video on St Brigid's life and historical places in Kildare town. There was lots of art and ornaments upstairs too. There is a really unusual monument outside the centre which signifies St Brigid's Flame.

Then we headed off to St Brigid's Cathedral. This was really nice and the inside was beautifully decorated inside. We all even got a go at ringing the bell too. The round tower was at the back of the Cathedral. Usually this was open for visitors to climb but unfortunately it wasn't open yesterday. Then we saw St Brigid's fire temple. This is where she used to light a fire to let people know they were welcome. St Brigid's kitchen was really interesting. We went in in 10's to see it. It's was pretty small and you definitely wouldn't want to be claustrophobic.

After walking quite a lot we were given the chance to go to the Kildare Village Outlet. Here we looked around the shops and had a quick rest. We had our lunch at a local parish centre.

Our last stop was at the two wells in the town. I enjoyed this part of the pilgrimage because we got to bless ourselves from the wells and reflect. St Brigid's well was especially nice. The well was really pretty and there was a statue of St Brigid. We said a few prayers here too.

I think this pilgrimage was good because I learned a lot more about St Brigid. It was a very relaxing peaceful day. I recommend anyone living in Kildare to visit here it's very worthwhile!
Here are some pictures I took!
photo1: St Brigid's cathedral
photo 2: The Graveyard
photo 3: St Brigid's well

Trip to Kildare

On Tuesday 7th February, all TYs took a trip to Kildare to learn about St. Bridgid. We visited St. Bridgid's Cathedral and two of St. Bridgid's Wells. It was a fun and educational day that we all enjoyed. 

Check out what we did here on Emma's blog and here on Rebekah's blog. Meg and Aoife had a great time too!