Brigid (Old Irish *Bríg*) means "exalted one." **The pre-Christian Irish goddess of poetry, smithcraft, healing, and sacred fire — daughter of the Dagda, of the Tuatha Dé Danann**. **Her cult was so beloved that the Christian church absorbed her as Saint Brigid of Kildare (c. 451-525)**, second patron of Ireland after Saint Patrick. **The eternal sacred flame at her shrine in Kildare burned for over 1,000 years**, tended by a sisterhood of 19 nuns, until extinguished by Henry VIII; it was relit in 1993.
Feast day February 1 — Imbolc, the Celtic spring.
Brigid reduces to eight — the number of Irish triple goddess.