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A woven rush cross with four arms and a square centre.
Also known as: Saint Brigid's cross, Rush cross
A cross plaited from rushes with a distinctive woven square at its middle and four tied arms. Made in Ireland on 1 February for Saint Brigid's day and hung over doorways, in a practice that continues and is now an official public holiday.
A cross plaited from rushes or straw, with a woven square at the centre and four arms each bound at the end, made in Ireland and hung in homes and outbuildings.
Ireland
Made on or around 1 February, Saint Brigid's day, and hung over a door or in the rafters, traditionally for protection of the house and its livestock from fire and harm through the coming year.
Ireland
Frequently described as continuing a pre-Christian festival of Imbolc, since the date and the name overlap with an earlier goddess Brigid. The continuity is plausible and much asserted; the direct evidence for the cross itself being pre-Christian is thin.
A widely repeated continuity claim. The festival overlap is documented; the antiquity of this specific object is not.
A cross woven from rushes with a tight square of interlaced stems at the centre and four straight arms of bound stalks tied at their ends.