Related imageToday is St Brigids day and it piqued my interest as some of the parishes of the Isle of Man are named after Celtic saints, some of them little known today in the rest of the world.

We have seventeen parishes in the Isle of Man and one of them is Bride, so named after the Irish saint, Brigid.  Bride Church is a pretty church in the north of  the island and like all of our parish churches has some of the crosses or grave markers that the Isle of Man has become renowned for.  Thor’s cross detailed here is one of them.

The island was littered with these grave markers made during the time of Celts and Vikings living together and on some of them it shows the fusion of the two cultures and traditions. We are so lucky that they have now been collected up and placed in the parish church nearest to where they are found.    brigid_bn

http://www.kandle.ie/st-brigids-day-1st-feb-2009