St Brigid's Day memories
St Brigid's Day (in Irish: Lá Fhéile Bríde) is on 1 February, marking the beginning of springtime.
Monday 3 February will be a public holiday in Ireland this year in its honour. You can learn more about St Brigid and some of the traditions around celebrating this day on our website here.
Some of our Irish in Britain groups, including London Irish Centre and Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith, will this year be holding celebratory events around the day.
Not everyone in the Irish community celebrates the day, but for others who have grown up with St Brigid's Day traditions the day may be very meaningful.
Some people will remember making St Brigid's Day crosses to play on doors at home and at school. Traditionally made from reeds, these crosses can also be made simply from straw (see video on our page here).
Our Cuimhne team suggests that if you may be caring for a person living with memory loss or dementia, you might like to consider if they might have celebrated St Brigid's Day in the past.
If so, then sensitively you might invite them to become involved in a craft and reminiscence activity around making and decorating or handling a St Brigid's Day cross.
This kind of hands on practical and sensory activity may be a great touchstone to memories, helping people connect with happy memories from growing up and creating possibilities for conversation.
The day could also be used to talk about, appreciate and celebrate some of the women who may have played or still play an important role in our lives, including loved ones living with dementia and family carers.
Photo by Greg Clarke, Buncrana, Donegal.