March 5th –St. Piran’s Day a.k.a. St. Perran or Pyran.
A 6th century Irishman who literally washed ashore in Cornwall, Piran is credited with bringing Celtic-style Christianity to Cornwall. The Cornish Saint is also dear to our hearts at Nagle Forge & Foundry because he is the patron saint of tinners –tin being one of the primary products of Cornwall and the primary component of pewter! Beloved by the people of Cornwall Piran’s banner of a white cross on a black background –light shining from darkness– is the flag of Cornwall today.
We at Nagle Forge & Foundry do not make anything with a specifically “Cornish” motif. We have also never made a piece dedicated to the Cornish Saint. However, tin is the primary component of pewter and we use over 1,200 pounds of tin in a given year so we like to think that most of our pieces are a tribute to the Cornish Saint Pirran.
February 1st –The Feast Day of St. Brigid of Kildare
February First is traditionally celebrated as the Feast Day of St. Brigid –or Brigit– of Kildare.
Born to an enslaved mother and a pagan Irish chieftain sometime in the 5th century, Brigid was raised among Druids. Early in the Christian Missionary period she was Baptized & dedicated her life to charity & education eventually founding an art school as well as a convent in Kildare. Often depicted as the “lady with the lamp” –the lamp symbolizes Brigid’s role as a teacher and “bringer of light”– Brigid is celebrated as the protectoress of newborns from ignorance as well as harm.
Brigid’s birthplace –once the Kingdom of Kildare, now the County– is an inland county, just west of Dublin, Beautiful Kildare is woven through with some of Ireland’s most important rivers –including the Barrow, the Boyne and the Liffey. Once a part of the Kingdom of Leinster, Kildare already had an ancient history –stretching back to at least the Bronze Age– when St. Brigid founded a religious community there sometime in the early sixth century. Later in the ninth century Kildare’s rivers made it easy for Viking raiders –moving inland from Dublin– to establish an area of settlement known as the Dyflinkarskiri. However, famous as Kildare is for its fish it is even more famous for its horses and, in recent centuries, its horse races. (In the early 20th century Kildare was also the site of one of Ireland’s first motor races.) Kildare will always be most famous for its most celebrated daughter, St. Brigid of Kildare.
