Clodagh Finn: After life of St Brigid, women still hope for a miracle

When half a million women march on Washington to voice their fears about women’s rights, maybe it’s time to recall the story of the Irish saint who once ‘miraculously’ ended a pregnancy, says Clodagh Finn.

The story isn’t often retold but St Brigid, the Irish saint who ushers in spring this Wednesday, once miraculously ended a pregnancy in fifth-century Ireland.

In an account of her life, Cogitosus describes how the saint met “a certain woman who, after taking a vow of virginity, had lapsed through weakness into youthful desire of pleasure, and her womb swelled with child”.