Irish House Charm: "Saint Brigid's Cross"

St. Brigid's crosses consist of rushes woven into a swastika-like ornament, reminiscent of a number of designs found in Celtic art both ancient and modern. In their construction they are very much like the whirligigs found on painted pottery or the swastikas in the few textiles that exist from Celtic burial sites. A typical cross consists of a central square with four spokes, one protruding from each corner of the square in an opposing direction.

Saint Brigid was born in 450. She founded a monastery in Kildare. Her primary purpose was to give relief to the poor and ill. During a visit to an ill person, while praying for healing, she made the first Saint Brigid's Cross from straw. The patient recovered.

Nowadays Saint Brigid's Crosses are hung in houses and barns to protect the buildings against fire and lightning and the inhabitants from illness and epidemics.
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