Massachusetts Celebrates St. Brigid’s Day on Wednesday, February 1, 2023

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Massachusetts is gearing up to celebrate the feast day of St. Brigid, one of Ireland’s three patron saints along with Patrick and Columbkille.

These local celebrations take on added significance, because starting in 2023, Ireland has officially declared a bank holiday honoring St. Brigid.  The holiday is set to take place on February 6, the first Monday after February 1.

 

In Boston, Ag Céiliuradh Lá Fhéile Bríde takes place on Wednesday evening, February 1, starting at 6:30 p.m. at Westin Copley Place Hotel in the city’s Back Bay, complete with live music, appetizers and a cash bar. Sponsored by the Irish Cultural Centre of Greater Boston and Invest Northern Ireland, the celebration features guest speakers Middlesex county District Attorney Marian T. Ryan, and Consul General of Ireland Dr. Laoise Moore. 

 

The event also serves as the official launch of the Boston New England Rose of Tralee pageantry for 2023. Joining the launch at the Weston Copley are Sinead Flanagan, 2019 International Rose of Tralee, and 1985’s International Rose of Tralee Helena Rafferty, who is also the  Chief of Police in Canton, MA, home of the Irish Cultural Centre.

 

In Dorchester, the Irish Pastoral Centre of Boston is hosting a mass and luncheon to celebrate St. Brigid's Day on February 1 in the afternoon at its office in Dorchester. 

 

In West Springfield, the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England announces the winners of its raffle on February 1, offering a trip for two on a group tour to Ireland in 2023, or $5,000 in cash.  Entertainment begins at 6 p.m. with a traditional Irish music session, and the drawing takes place at 7 p.m. 

 

In Portland, the Maine Irish Heritage Center has scheduled the St. Brigid’s Day Dance Concert on the evening of Saturday, February 4, featuring the Stillson School of Irish Dance. 

 

Saint Brigid's Day itself coincides with a Gaelic traditional festival called Imbolc.  In Celtic tradition, February 1 falls halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox,  On the  Christian side,  Brigid was venerated as “Mary of the Gael,” a saint for women, shepherds, beggars, refugees and those in childbirth, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

 

“Like many of Ireland’s other Christian feast days, Brigid predates Christianity – her roots lie in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, the feast of the goddess Brigid, celebrated at least five millennia ago. In old Irish, Imbolc means "in the belly", a reference to lambing and the renewal spring promises,” according to the Embassy of Ireland, USA.

 

The Boston area has two Roman Catholic churches named in Brigid’s honor: St. Brigid of Kildare Church in South Boston, dating to 1908, and St. Brigid in Lexington, dating back to 1886.  


Learn more about the Irish community in Boston, Massachusetts and New England by visiting irishboston.org. 

 

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