St. Brigid, the compassionate, sensible female patron saint of Ireland, gets a lot less recognition than St. Patrick
- Written by Lisa Bitel, Professor of History & Religion, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

On March 17, the world celebrates the feast day of St. Patrick, a zealous British bishop of the fifth century who became famous for spreading Christianity in Ireland. Patrick is Ireland’s main patron saint.
But as a medie...