Upon the arrival of Christianity, the much loved Goddess, Bride became St Bridget, who took over the jurisdiction of Bride's shrine at Kildare by becoming the Abbess of the newly formed christian convent.
The original shrine was tended by 'the daughters of fire', who ensured that the flames, which burned in Bride's honour would never go out, a custom that was tranferred into christian tradition. The abbey's fire burned for a thousand years; it never died and never increased in ashes, a fact that was witnessed by Gerald of Wales in the twelfth century who described it in his writings.
Each night for 19 nights, a nun would stoke and watch the fire through the night, whilst on the 20th night the nun would leave logs beside it and say, 'Bridget, guard your fire, this is your night,' she would then leave the room and in the morning the logs would be gone and the fire would be burning brightly.
In the 13th century the papal envoy ordered that the fire be extinguished, but so enraged was the public that it was reinstated and continued to burn until the reformation under Henry v111.
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