Nationwide visits Kildare to celebrate St Brigid and new bank holiday

RTE's Nationwide will be visiting Kildare on January 28 ahead of the annual Féile Bríde festival. The week-long festival beginning January 31 commemorates Saint Brigid who is the focus nationally for a new bank holiday. Host Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh will be visiting multiple of Kildare's historical and religious sites. Kildare county council historian Mario Corrigan will be telling the story and subsequent legacy of Saint Brigid ahead of national celebration in 2024, that will mark her 1,500 year anniversary.

Bláthnaid will also be accompanied by Newbridge singer, songwriter Luka Bloom who perform his song dedicated to the saint herself. The Nationwide crew will also visit Solas Bhríde, a Christian spirituality centre, with a focus on the legacy of kindness, hospitality and good works and welcomes all faiths and where the perpetual light still burns.

The show also stops by the magnificent historical Church of Ireland cathedral in Kildare town and speaks to the Dean, Rev Tim Wright who glories in the history and takes pride in serving on the original monastic site when Brigid set up her first monastery for men and women in 470 AD.

Bláthnaid also visits Scoil Bhride in the townland of Lackagh to get a sense of how Brigid's tradition is carried on today in school. The 5th and 6th class students show their enthusiasm for making the St. Brigid's Cross and share their stories.