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The relics of Irish saint Brigid have returned to their homeland after nearly 1,000 years.
Hundreds of people gathered in Kildare on Sunday morning for a special church service to commemorate the historic event.
The homecoming event, which included a procession to the church, was held in what is believed to be the 1,500th anniversary of St. Brigid’s death.
A famous peacemaker, Brigid was buried next to the high altar in Kildare’s Abbey Church, and her tomb became a shrine for pilgrims.
Some 300 years later, during the Viking raids on Ireland, her body was moved to Downpatrick Cathedral in what is now Northern Ireland for safekeeping. There they were buried in unmarked graves alongside St. Patrick and St. Columba.
Over the ensuing centuries, the location of the tomb was apparently lost.
According to Christian history, in 1185 the Bishop of Down prayed to God to show him the location of the relics of three saints, and a light shone on one spot on the floor of the church, leading to the rediscovery of the remains. It is said that they were connected.
The relic remained as a church shrine for the next 400 years, until it was destroyed by Henry VIII’s appointee, Sir Leonard Grey.
Although the basilica was destroyed, the relics were apparently preserved and were said to have been spirited away on the continent.According to legend, three Irish knights took the fragments of St. Brigid’s bones to the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal. It is said that he took it back to a small town called Lumial.
Its relics are still venerated today in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Lumial.
Some of the artifacts were brought back to Ireland in the 1930s by Sister Brigidine of Tallow, County Carlow. It will now be moved to St Brigid’s Parish Church in Kildare, where it will be placed in a specially designed shrine.
Sunday’s event saw local residents accompany the relic in a procession from the Solas Bride Center in Taree, on the outskirts of Kildare, to the church, where a special mass was held.
The ceremony took place ahead of Ireland’s St. Brigid’s Day on February 1st.
Brigidine sister Rita Minahen, who is based in Kildare, said the homecoming was a special day for the town.
“This means a lot because without her there would be no Kildare. Kildare owes its existence to St Bridget,” she told the PA news agency.
“She is very special and synonymous with Kildare because the town developed around the abbey and the hinterland.”
David Mongay, chairman of Kildare tourism board Into Kildare, said it was a “hugely momentous occasion”.
“This is the return of St Brigid’s relics after more than 1,000 years. She will finally be able to return to rest in her home town of Kildare,” he told PA.
Mongay predicted that tourism in the region would be greatly boosted.
“As a tourist organization, if you think of Santiago de Compostela and the great Camino in northern Spain, where all roads lead to Santiago, the Head of St. James, the relic of St. “It is the final stop on the pilgrimage route to meet St. Brigid,” he said.
Mr Mongay joked that the relic might also bring good luck to the county’s Gaelic football team.
“We could win the All-Ireland now,” he said.
Two years ago, the Irish government announced that the country’s new public holiday would be named after St. Brigid.
It falls on the nearest Monday after St. Bridget’s Day.