Mayor of Newbridge welcomes planned Brigid 1500 programme for County Kildare

The Mayor of Newbridge has welcomed Kildare County Council (KCC)'s plans for the upcoming Brigid 1500 programme.

The programme will celebrate 1,500 years of Brigid, the county's patron saint.

Fianna Fáil councillor Noel Heavey gave his support to the programme at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District (MD) meeting, which was held on Wednesday, December 13 last.

A representative of KCC delivered a presentation to local representatives present at the meeting.

She told the members of the MD that in relation to the grant scheme attached to the programme, 101 community and creative grant applications were received.

58 of these applicants were approved, awarding over €188,999 to creative and community groups across Kildare.

Groups that received the grants include: Athy Traveller Women's Groups, the Irish Wheelchair Association's Clane branch, Kilcock Scout Group, Monasterevin Parish Camino, Robertstown National School, the Kildare Traveller Association, Nás na Ríogh singers and Naas Care of the Aged.

The representative also noted the full programme of events that would take place from Saturday, January 27 to Sunday, February 4.

Mayor of Newbridge Noel Heavey. File photograph.

She also said that light shows will be unveiled around the county at prominent locations in Clane, Newbridge, and Athy, including at the Naas Potato Market and the new Naas Library and Cultural Centre.

In addition, two grand fiery processional events to celebrate St Brigid will take place in the towns of Maynooth and Kildare over the bank holiday weekend.

The full festival programme of events can be found on www.brigid1500.ie.

She also said that a school resource pack would be circulated through a number of schools in Kildare, in order to show children what life was like during St Brigid's time.

After the presentation concluded, Mayor Heavey said that he welcomed the programme, and added that St Brigid 'was a real person of the Earth and of the community.'

Sinn Féin Cllr Noel Heavey proceeded to ask the KCC representative two questions in relation to the programme.

For his first question, he asked the representative if KCC are aware of any plans for mural of St Brigid in Kildare town, to which the representative told him that the matter was being looked at by the Heritage Office.

For his second question, Cllr Connolly asked her if there was going to be a virtual-reality (VR) experience for young people, in order to tell the story of St Brigid and to show them what life was like back in her time.

In response, she said that a few schools groups in Kildare would be taking part in the VR experience.