Saint Brigid of Ireland

Saint Brigid of Ireland, along with Saint Patrick and Saint Columcille, is the patron saint of Ireland. Alice Curtayne's biography of Brigid details her legacy with lively descriptions of her character and family history; her virtues and miracles; her monastic foundations and missionary achievements; and her lasting influence on Irish culture. Brigid of Kildare was, by all accounts, a unique figure in her own time and place: as a fifth-century woman, she "stood isolated, without prototype, without peer." When she stood up, it was as if she had pulled back a heavy curtain that had shrouded the scene. And at that gesture all the other actors on the stage stand transfigured before a landscape where they see for the first time such freedom as they had never dreamed of, and beyond, Vision, the world opened to them by the Faith.”

Everything that Brigid would ask of the Lord was granted to her at once. (The Book of Lismore)

Proof of both its subject’s enduring greatness and to its author’s obvious talent, Saint Brigid of Ireland is a heartily enjoyable and edifying biography of one of Ireland’s—and the Church’s—greatest saints.

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Alice Curtayne (1898–1981) was an Irish author, critic, journalist, and lecturer. In 1935, she married fellow author Stephen Rynne, with whom she raised four children and tended their family farm. Curtayne’s rich bibliography comprises histories and hagiographies, fiction and biographies, all of which demonstrate her keen intellect and vivid imagination.

Paperback: 122pp.