#63 - St. Brigid w/ Dr Niamh Wycherley
Fri Jan 30 2026
She’s the patron saint of poets, healers, and blacksmiths. Her feast day marks the start of spring, but is St. Brigid of Ireland a Christian saint, a pagan goddess reborn, or a powerful symbol we’ve shaped over centuries? To help us unravel this mystery, we’re joined by historian Dr. Niamh Wycherley. We’ll dig into the earliest evidence, decode the famous legends, and ask what Brigid’s complex legacy tells us about Irish spirituality—past and present. This is an exploration of how one extraordinary figure can hold so many worlds within her story.
Dr Niamh Wycherley is Assistant Professor in Maynooth University. She hosts The Medieval Irish History Podcast and is the Principal Investigator of the Research project 'Power and Patronage in Medieval Ireland: Clonard from the sixth to twelfth centuries' and contributes regularly to RTÉ Brainstorm and television programmes such as the RTÉ 1 documentary Finding Brigid (with Siobhán McSweeney) and was historical consultant on RTÉ's Blindboy: the Land of Slaves and Scholars.
If you would like to support the podcast, please Buy us a Coffee, share the episode on social media or drop us a message to purchase one of our Coffee Tumblrs.
Instagram: @soulbrewpodcast
Facebook: @soulbrewpodcast
Tik Tok: @soulbrewpodcast
X/ Twitter: @soulrewpodcast
Email: soulbrewpodcast@gmail.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More
She’s the patron saint of poets, healers, and blacksmiths. Her feast day marks the start of spring, but is St. Brigid of Ireland a Christian saint, a pagan goddess reborn, or a powerful symbol we’ve shaped over centuries? To help us unravel this mystery, we’re joined by historian Dr. Niamh Wycherley. We’ll dig into the earliest evidence, decode the famous legends, and ask what Brigid’s complex legacy tells us about Irish spirituality—past and present. This is an exploration of how one extraordinary figure can hold so many worlds within her story. Dr Niamh Wycherley is Assistant Professor in Maynooth University. She hosts The Medieval Irish History Podcast and is the Principal Investigator of the Research project 'Power and Patronage in Medieval Ireland: Clonard from the sixth to twelfth centuries' and contributes regularly to RTÉ Brainstorm and television programmes such as the RTÉ 1 documentary Finding Brigid (with Siobhán McSweeney) and was historical consultant on RTÉ's Blindboy: the Land of Slaves and Scholars. If you would like to support the podcast, please Buy us a Coffee, share the episode on social media or drop us a message to purchase one of our Coffee Tumblrs. Instagram: @soulbrewpodcast Facebook: @soulbrewpodcast Tik Tok: @soulbrewpodcast X/ Twitter: @soulrewpodcast Email: soulbrewpodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.