Anna Egan Smucker

The Life of Saint Brigid

I am often asked what compelled me to write a book about the Irish Saint Brigid.   I am very interested in Celtic spirituality, in particular the early Irish saints. None is more appealing than St. Brigid, a woman of truly unique vision, personality, and spirit. It is quite possible that she founded the first monastery in Ireland, one that served as a model for those founded later for men. If not consecrated a bishop, Brigid certainly acted like one! Her life was a whirlwind of activity: acting as a champion of the poor, a healer, and a peacemaker in a violent time, all the while never once taking her mind from God, the source of all that she was and all that she accomplished.

Note: The easiest way for U.S. residents to order The Life of Saint Brigid is to contact me.


People are searching for books on Saint Brigid only to find very little written about her. A cursory internet search for Brigid finds a proliferation of websites, many of them religious, but also a significant number of others that focus on the goddess Brigid. As I say in my book, THE LIFE OF SAINT BRIGID published by Appletree Press in Belfast, it is impossible to separate the legends of the saint from the stories of the goddess that had the same name. The Irish of the latter half of the first millennium joyously celebrated both, not worrying over which was more “real.”

Brigid’s story is an inspiration for those looking for a spirituality, a unique Celtic spirituality, that celebrates the sacred in all of creation, and for those searching as well for the feminine face of God.

In a recent interview, I was asked if my book THE LIFE OF SAINT BRIGID was connected to my ancestry.

My maiden name, Egan, is Irish. My grandfather was born in County Mayo. In 2000, my brother, sister and I attended a Clan Egan Gathering at Redwood Castle in Ireland. I had been doing research on Saint Brigid in preparation for writing a book about her. Amazingly, the source I was using (a translation from THE LEABHAR BREAC, a manuscript written in Latin and Middle Irish) had been written for the MacEgans in the early 15th century, a part of it quite likely written in the very castle where we had our reunion!

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