Imbolc or Imbolg (Irish pronunciation: [ə ˈmˠɔlˠəɡ]), also called Saint Brigid's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Bríde; Scottish Gaelic: Là Fhèill Brìghde; Manx: Laa'l Breeshey), is a Gaelic traditional festival on 1 February. It marks the beginning of spring and is the feast day of Saint Brigid, Ireland's patroness saint. Historically, its many folk traditions were widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Imbolc falls about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain.
Imbolc is mentioned in early Irish literature, although less often than the other seasonal festivals. Historians suggest that Imbolc was originally a pre-Christian (or pagan) festival associated with the lambing season, the coming of spring, and possibly the goddess Brigid, proposing that the saint and her feast day might be Christianizations. A feast of Saint Brigid was first mentioned in the Middle Ages, but its customs were not recorded in detail until the early modern era. In recent centuries, Brigid's crosses have been woven on St Brigid's Day and hung over doors and windows to protect against fire, illness, and evil. People also made a doll of Brigid (a Brídeóg), which was paraded around the community by girls, sometimes accompanied by 'strawboys'. Brigid was said to visit one's home on St Brigid's Eve. To receive her blessings, people would make a bed for Brigid, leave her food and drink, and set items of clothing outside for her to bless. Holy wells would be visited, a special meal would be had, and the day was traditionally linked with weather lore.
Although many of its traditions died out in the 20th century, it is still observed by some Christians as a religious holiday and by some non-Christians as a cultural one, and its customs have been revived in some places. Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Imbolc as a religious holiday. Since 2023, "Imbolc/St Brigid's Day" has been an annual public holiday in Ireland.
The etymology of Imbolc or Imbolg is unclear. A common explanation is that it comes from the Old Irish i mbolc (Modern Irish: i mbolg), meaning 'in the belly', and refers to the pregnancy of ewes at this time of year. Joseph Vendryes derived it from Old Irish imb- (intensive prefix) and folc ('wash, cleanse'), linking it to folcaim ('to wash/cleanse oneself') and suggesting it referred to a ritual cleansing. Eric P. Hamp derives it from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning both 'milk' and 'cleansing'. The early 10th century Cormac's Glossary has an entry for Oímelc, calling it the beginning of spring and deriving it from oí-melg ('ewe milk'), explaining it as "the time that sheep's milk comes". However, linguists believe this is a folk etymology; the writer's respelling of the word to give it an understandable origin.
The 12th century Book of Leinster version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge ('Cattle Raid of Cooley') indicates that Imbolc (spelt imolg and imbuilg) is three months after the 1 November festival of Samhain. In the Stowe version, a 14th century modernisation of the same text, Imbolc is changed to Fél Brigde (St Brigid's Feast), which suggests that St Brigid's Day replaced or absorbed Imbolc.
Another Old Irish poem about the Táin in the Metrical Dindshenchas says: "iar n-imbulc, ba garb a ngeilt", which Edward Gwynn translates "after Candlemas, rough was their herding". Candlemas is the Christian holy day which falls on 2 February and is known in Irish as Lá Fhéile Muire na gCoinneal, 'feast day of Mary of the Candles'.
In a 17th century manuscript of the story Agallamh na Seanórach, Imbolc is spelled Iomfhoilcc.
Peter O'Connell's Irish-English dictionary (1843) identifies Oimelc or Imbulc with Féil Brighde, the Feast of Saint Brigid.
Historians such as Ronald Hutton and Dáithí Ó hÓgáin argue that Imbolc must have pre-Christian origins. It is suggested that Imbolc originally marked the onset of the lambing season, the arrival of fresh sheep milk after a period of food shortage, and the beginning of preparations for the spring sowing. Joseph Vendryes and Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h suggested that it may have also been a purification festival, similar to the ancient Roman festival Februa or Lupercalia, which took place at the same time of year.
Some scholars argue that the date of Imbolc was significant in Ireland since the Neolithic. A few passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the times of Imbolc and Samhain. This includes the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara, and Cairn L at Slieve na Calliagh. Frank Prendergast argues that this alignment is so rare that it is a product of chance.
Hutton writes that Imbolc must have been "important enough for its date to be dedicated subsequently to Brigid … the Mother Saint of Ireland". Cogitosus, writing in the late 7th century, is the first to mention a feast day of Saint Brigid being observed in Kildare on 1 February. Brigid is said to have lived in the 6th century AD, and founded the important monastery of Kildare. She became the focus of a major cult. However, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, there are few secular historical facts about her, and her early hagiographies "are mainly anecdotes and miracle stories, some of which are deeply rooted in Irish pagan folklore". It has been suggested by some authors that Saint Brigid is based on the goddess Brigid, or that she was a real person and some of the lore of the goddess was transferred to her. Like the saint, the goddess is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, blacksmithing, and domesticated animals, according to Cormac's Glossary and Lebor Gabála Érenn. It is suggested that Imbolc, which celebrates the start of lambing, was linked with Brigid in her role as a fertility goddess. Hutton says that the goddess might have already been linked to Imbolc and this was continued by making it the saint's feast day (see Interpretatio Christiana). Or it could be that Imbolc's association with milk drew the saint to it, because of a legend that she had been the wet-nurse of Jesus Christ.
Prominent folklorist Seán Ó Súilleabháin wrote: "The main significance of the Feast of St. Brigid would seem to be that it was a Christianisation of one of the focal points of the agricultural year in Ireland, the starting point of preparations for the spring sowing. Every manifestation of the cult of the saint (or of the deity she replaced) is bound up in some way with food production".
The festival of Imbolc is mentioned in several early Irish manuscripts, but they say very little about its original rites and customs. Imbolc was one of four main seasonal festivals in Gaelic Ireland, along with Beltane (1 May), Lughnasadh (1 August) and Samhain (1 November). The tale Tochmarc Emire, which survives in a 10th-century version, names Imbolc as one of four seasonal festivals, and says it is "when the ewes are milked at spring's beginning". This linking of Imbolc with the arrival of lambs and sheep's milk probably reflected farming customs that ensured lambs were born before calves. In late winter/early spring, sheep could survive better than cows on the sparse vegetation, and farmers sought to resume milking as soon as possible due to their dwindling stores. As a seasonal festival, the timing of Imbolc might originally have been more fluid and linked to the onset of lambing and the blooming of blackthorn.
The Hibernica Minora includes an Old Irish poem about the four seasonal festivals. Translated by Kuno Meyer (1894), it says, "Tasting of each food according to order, this is what is proper at Imbolc: washing the hands, the feet, the head". This suggests ritual cleansing.
From the 18th century to the mid-20th century, many St Brigid's Day traditions were recorded by folklorists and other writers. They tell us how it was celebrated then and shed light on how it may have been celebrated in the past.
In Ireland, Brigid's crosses (pictured) are traditionally made on St Brigid's Day. A Brigid's cross usually consists of rushes woven into a four-armed equilateral cross, although there were also three-armed crosses. They are traditionally hung over doors, windows, and stables to welcome Brigid and for protection against fire, lightning, illness, and evil spirits. The crosses are generally left until the next St Brigid's Day. In western Connacht, people made a Crios Bríde (Bríd's girdle); a great ring of rushes with a cross woven in the middle. Young boys would carry it around the village, inviting people to step through it and be blessed.