Today I watched ancient pagan rituals being performed at St. Bridget's Shrine in Faughart near Dundalk, only nowadays, and for the past 1500 years, these rituals have been Christianised with the reciting of Hail Mary's etc. I wonder how long this has been a place of healing and how old these rituals really are?
St. Bridget's healing waters
Lying out on the eye stone
This pilgrim performed a whole series of rituals while here, the whole time reciting Our Father's, Hail Mary's and Glorias.
Wishing well
The knee stone, where you kneel for cures
While at the waist stone, I saw a pregnant girl being told by her father to wrap her legs around the stone. "It's for pregnant women".
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Because people have been doing it for hundreds of years!"
She also splashed the healing water on her belly, and the whole family, including the babies, had their faces and hair wetted by the healing waters.
The waist stone
The head stone, another curing stone
Reciting prayers with one foot planted on the hoof stone
Shrine to St. Bridget
