In the 1,500th anniversary year of St. Brigid’s death, scores of craftswomen, pupils,  and writers have been celebrating her legacy in Bringing St. Brigid’s Cloak to Life.  The project was imagined by poet Bee Smith and artist Morag Donald (Crafting Your Soul). 

Their vision has been brought to life with many helping hands and will be exhibited in The Eden Gallery, Cavan County Museum from January 28th to February 22nd with a launch on Saturday 1st February 2025. 

The project was inspired by the legend of St. Brigid’s miraculously expanding cloak that secured the land for her monastery in Kildare.

Over two hundred individual pieces of feltwork, gelli print, embroidery and crochet adorn the outer cloak. The cloak’s lining has over a hundred prayers, blessings and poems written by school children and adults from across Cavan and beyond.  The project includes contributions spanning 80 years of experience; the youngest contributor was a 4 ½ year old Ukrainian refugee schoolchild and the oldest a member of the Irish diaspora, 84 ½ year old Brigid McGovern, originally of Dowra but now resident in Birmingham.

Bringing St Brigid's Cloak to Life shows the story of the project.

The project was supported by guest facilitators from Baileborough Creative Hub and embroidery expert Fatíma González Méndez.  Julie Corcoran Photography Artist  created an inspired interpretation and visual record of the project from a photo shoot in Cavan Burren Park.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.