This day is celebrated in Ireland on 1st February and is the only female patron saint of Ireland. It has its origins in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, it is a festival of fertility and marked the beginning of spring in Ireland. It signalled the end to the darkness of winter and ushered in a new season of hope and growth. People celebrated with a festival meal and a host of customs, all aimed at securing her protection and promise of new life and abundance for the year ahead. It is one of the quarter days, marking the transition of one season to another.
People believe she crossed through the land on the eve of her feast day and gave blessings and protection to homes and farms where crosses were hung in her honour. There were many variations throughout Ireland with different materials used to make a cross. Families would recite prayers, bless the rushes of straw with holy water and then each make the crosses. They would hang them over the door and around the home to welcome her. Many households kept the cross each year in the under thatch of the house and you could tell how old a house was by how many crosses were in the roof.
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