Brigid Celebrations 2025 – “Fire” news!

Exciting Announcement!

With thanks to our publisher Arlen House and Syracuse University Press Fire: Brigid and The Sacred Feminine is now available in USA.

Nearer to home, Women Spirit Ireland are hosting a Brigit Weekend at An Grianán in County Louth which focus on Brigit as Peace-Weaver and is curated by the wonderful Dr Mary Condren.

*NOTE: Due to Storm Éowyn, this event will now take place on the weekend of 1 February. All registrations for the original event are valid for the rescheduled event. However, if anyone is unable to attend the rescheduled event, please contact wsibrigit2025@gmail.com and they will arrange for your refund. See WomanSpiritIreland Website for more information.

With thanks again to Kildare County Council/ Brigid 1500 for awarding me a Brigid 1500 Grant in 2024 which allowed me to work with Niamh Boyce and Arlen House to curate Fire: Brigid and The Sacred Feminine which is also available for purchase from KENNYS (free postage in Ireland), BLACKWELLS (free worldwide postage) and to borrow from libraries across Ireland.

Fire: New Anthology Cover Reveal

Editors Niamh Boyce and Shauna Gilligan are delighted to reveal the cover for Fire: Brigid and the Sacred Feminine (Arlen House: Dublin, 2024)

Save the date:

Fire: Brigid and the Sacred Feminine an anthology of art and writing (Eds Niamh Boyce and Shauna Gilligan) will be launched at Naas Library and Cultural Centre at 6.45pm on Thursday, 26th September by Lucina Russell, Lecturer in Art & Design Teacher Education, Limerick School of Art. This is part of the Kildare Readers’ Festival 2024. Copies of a special limited edition to celebrate 50 years of Arlen House will be available at the launch only!

We are thrilled to feature “Snakelady” by the brilliant Noël O’Callaghan as the cover art – see more of her work here. Keep posted for more on this exciting new anthology on the themes of Brigid, the Sacred Feminine and the heritage of Kildare.

This anthology  – the result of the Holy Cows Project started by Shauna Gilliganwas made possible with a 2024 Brigid 1500 / Kildare County Council Arts Act Grant.

Tearing Stripes off Zebras: Review

Cover of anthology Tearing Stripes off Zebras Edited by Nessa O’Mahony featuring a painting of a domestic scene, tiled floor and an open door.

How wonderful to find a review in the Irish Times (6th April) of the Arlen House Anthology Tearing Stripes off Zebras edited by Nessa O’Mahony. The review highlights the quality and variety of the work, and I’m delighted to have a short story in it. The anthology is dedicated to the memory of Eavan Boland.