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Pádraig

(17 March)

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His family lived in France

Kidnapped to Ireland,

He spent sustaining, growing years

The best that can be done

In captivity

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One day he was told by God

To leave, to walk down

To the boat

And on the boat

And leave

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Once back in France,

Reunited more or less,

He heard the calling to return

Actually, a note

From the bishop

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He had no place in mainland

Europe anymore

Where no one knew him

Or his snake-free ways

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He evangelized,

And his message

Did not curse

The culture, the truth

And the symbols

In its age

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He used what was there,

The shamrock

As Brigid uses straw

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Ireland, through

Reason and through art,

Converted

Or co-merged, the ancient

With less ancient

While the bishop

And God smiled

To make arrangements

Somewhere else for what

Might have been

Indigenous serpents

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C L Couch

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By Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33260482

Tullow Church of the Most Holy Rosary, South Transept Window

Detail of the glass door that extends the stained glass window of the Immaculata above it to the floor, depicting Brigid’s Cross and oak leaves. No signature was found on the window.

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