Spring is definitely in the air now that St Brigid’s Day has passed

THE ‘biddies’ were out over the weekend in some rural areas, keeping alive an age-old custom that marks the coming of spring while schoolchildren here and there have been making St Brigid’s crosses in honour of the saint whose feast day is February 1.

Most people accept February 1 as the first day of spring, although Met Eireann and weather scientists in general believe March 1 to be date. Farmers, however, nearly all go with the former date, given that that the first stirrings of natural rebirth are evident as days lengthen in late January.

Grass is staring to grow again, daffodils are shooting up and hardy garden plants, such as rhubarb, are sprouting leaves, even though the earth is still cold and wet.