ST. BRIDGET 
the monastery of Kildare as well known for its cul- 
ture as for its piety and yet all the time remained a 
thoroughly practical woman recognizing very clearly 
the value of agriculture and the place it must ever 
have in the lives of the Irish people. A very old 
tradition connects her name with the making of beau- 
tiful illuminations for books and also with Irish lace 
making. The first bishop of Kildare, Conlaeth, is 
often spoken of as Bridget’s brazier because of his 
excellent work in brass made for the convent of 
Kildare under Bridget’s directions. 
As the result of the influence which she exerted 
and the prestige which she created for herself and 
that of Kildare, there is a well accepted tradition 
that her successors, the abbesses of Kildare, enjoyed 
distinction in the religious life of Ireland for cen- 
turies after. Archbishop Healy in his great work on 
“Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars” went so 
far as to say that: 
“The lady abbesses of Kildare enjoyed a kind of 
primacy over all the nuns of Ireland and moreover 
were in some sense independent of episcopal jurisdic- 
tion, 1f indeed the bishops of Kildare were not to 
some extent dependent on them.” 
Coming from a great prelate who would be per- 
haps inclined to be jealous of the rights and privi- 
leges of his order, this is indeed a strong expression 
which serves to show very clearly what a wonderful 
place Bridget secured for herself in the hearts and 
minds of the Irish people but also of the Irish ecclesi- 
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