Analysis: Connections to Brigit, spring, cattle and animal husbandry show why so much of the material around Imbolc has become conflated over the centuries
By Kelly Fitzgerald, UCD
Imbolc or Imbolg (amongst many spellings of the term) is often referred to as the calendar custom which was an earlier Irish, pre-Christian or pagan festival that was celebrated on the first day of spring. It is often seen that St Brigit's Day replaced Imbolg and that Brigit’s Day is the only Christian name given to a Celtic Quarter Day. The three other days in the year include Béaltaine on the first of May, Lúnasa at the beginning of August and finally Samahin at the end of October beginning of November.
Imbolg may also be seen to have been replaced in the Christian calendar by Candlemas, a date also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter. Candlemas Day is another name for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord when 40 days after his birth, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for the rites of purification and dedication: After Candlemas rough was their herding.
The earliest medieval sources are trying to figure it out themselves
The Irish term for milking, bliged, can be seen to derive from the earlier term mligid and it has been put forward that the term Imbolg is based on that term. Often a cited source for information on some of the oldest traditions in Ireland, Cormac's Glossary is usually ascribed to Cormac mac Cuilennáin (d. 908), king-bishop of Cashel and its entries list a large number of old and rare words, including names from Irish literature.
Here, we find that earlier analysis of the term has found the term for 'sheep’ incorporated into the meaning of imbolg. It has been that is to say this is the time when sheep bring forth milk, that is to say, hence to milk.
Modern academic scholars have so far failed to reconcile lexically the supposed constituent elements of oimelc (imbolc/ imbolg). It has been suggested to not contain two words, but one single word for ‘milking.’ Etymologiae (Etymology) is the best known work by Saint Isidore of Seville (circa 560-636), a scholar and theologian considered the last of the great Latin Church Fathers. It takes its name from a method of teaching that proceeds by explaining the origins and meaning of each word related to a topic. Influence from Isidore’s Etymologiae may have brought in the connection with sheep into the Irish analysis.
We cannot deny the significance of the recognising the coming of spring
The 'Coligny Calendar', dating from the end of the second century C.E, was discovered in Coligny, France, and is now on display in the Palais des Arts Gallo-Roman museum in Lyon. It dates from the end of the second century. The calendar was originally a single huge plate, but survives only in fragments and is inscribed in Gaulish with Latin characters and Roman numerals. The Coligny calendar may possibly refer to the time from January into February as a month of horses or livestock, otherwise animal husbandry and from February until March continues on with attention to the animal world with the month of the stag.
References to imbolg in early Irish literature refer to it as ‘after the feast of Brigit’ or ‘until the beginning of spring’, clearly separating it from the actual saint’s day on the first of February. It has been suggested that the lack of inclusion of a term such as imbolg in the Stowe recension of the Táin may be due to the fact that the term was outdated or unfamiliar in the 15th century when the manuscript was transcribed. The term Iomfhoilcc is found in a 17th century manuscript of Agallamh na Seanórach and may be seen to have taken on to refer to the Irish word folc – ‘to clean or wash’
Referring back to the Christian feast of purification or Candlemas on February 2nd or after the feast of Brigit, when we think of candles, literally the wording found in Candlemas 'the mass of candles', we often think of the feast day of St. Blaise. On February 3rd, the Church recalls a miracle cure associated with him and celebrates the blessing of the throats with candles. St. Blaise said that anyone who lit a candle in his memory would be free of infection, thus candles are used in the traditional throat blessing.
A later version of Tochmarc Emire - ‘The wooing of Emer’, a tale in the Ulster cycle - connects imbolg to the beginning of spring: …that I shall fight without harm to myself from Samain, i.e., the end of summer. For two divisions were formerly on the year, viz., summer from Beltaine (the first of May), and winter from Samuin to Beltaine. Or sainfuin, viz., suain (sounds), for it is then that gentle voices sound, viz., sám-son 'gentle sound'. To Oimolc, i.e., the beginning of spring, viz., different (ime) is its wet (folc), viz the wet of spring, and the wet of winter. Or, oi-melc, viz., oi, in the language of poetry, is a name for sheep, whence oibá (sheep's death) is named, ut dicitur coinbá (dog's death), echbá (horse's death), duineba (men's death), as bath is a name for 'death'. Oi-melc, then, is the time in which the sheep come out and are milked, whence oisc (a ewe), i.e., oisc viz., barren sheep.
Connections to Brigit, spring, cattle and animal husbandry may demonstrate why so much of this material has become conflated over the centuries. From the very beginning, we cannot move away from the fact that the material we have at hand may not be treated as unbiased sources.
The earliest medieval sources are trying to figure it out themselves. Brigit’s associations to the milking of cattle, her role as ‘Mary of the Gaels’ and becoming an actual manifestion of bright lights connected to candlelight cannot be discounted in how the folk imagination recognises the importance of such matters at this time of year. The folk narrative may not have felt the need to keep all matters separately, as we may wish they had, but we cannot deny the significance of the recognising the coming of spring. The cold, long winter may not be over, but we will get there, eventually!
The author would like to thank the many scholars that have worked on Imbolg over the years that have contributed greatly towards this piece
Dr Kelly Fitzgerald is Head of the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore and assistant director of the Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute at UCD.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
