I understand the opening sentence is a rhetorical flourish... but it is also astoundingly wrong. > This year, on Imbolc – a Gaelic tradition that sees Ireland

I understand the opening sentence is a rhetorical flourish... but it is also astoundingly wrong. > This year, on Imbolc – a Gaelic tradition that sees Ireland celebrate the patron saint Brigid, a Celtic goddess... Imbolc is a celebration of the Goddess Brigid, which very few Irish celebrate. The feast day for Saint Brigid is on the same day, and is celebrated more widely. While she was possibly a Christianised version of the goddess, she is probably a real person who was later given the characteristics of the Goddess by her hagiographers and by confused lay people. Apparently the tradition continues. > ...who allegedly had 7th-century lesbian romances and carried out the first abortion on the island... I don't think that the 'allegedly' is a strong enough qualifier here. It's a relatively modern interpretation of a piece of hagiography (rather than a text considered to be more historical). Historically, neither has been asserted by the Catholic church or by scholars generally. And finally... The goddess clearly existed much earlier than the 7th century, so assuming they're talking about the saint... she lived from the middle of the fifth century to the first part of the sixth. The book about her was written in the 7th. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid_of_Kildare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid_of_Kildare