Brigid decided to make her home in Kildare.  She wished to build a convent there and set out to find the perfect site.  Eventually, she found a place that would be ideal for her new convent.  However, the land belonged to the King of Leinster.

Brigid met the King of Leinster and a band of horsemen returning from a hunt, she approached the king and told him she needed land.  He asked her how much she needed and Brigid replied that all she asked for was the amount her cloak would cover.

Amused by this strange request, the king agreed and she laid her cloak on the ground.  To his amazement, the cloak grew and spread until cover the rich, green acres we know today as The Curragh of Kildare.  This area is also know as St. Brigid's Pasture.

St. Brigid and the mystery of the cloak
When St. Brendan heard about St. Brigid he decided to visit her.  When St. Brendan got to her house St. Brigid was looking after sheep.

St. Brigid went home and she took off her cloak and placed it into a beam of sunshine.  The cloak is said to have hung on the sunbeam as if it were hanging upon a hook.

When St. Brendan saw what happened he told his servant to do the same thing.  St. Brendan's cloak fell to the floor three times and Brendan got very angry.  His Cloak stayed up however the fourth time he tried.

The Legend
There is a legend associated with the origin of St. Brigid's crosses.  Brigid was called to the bedside of a dying chieftain.  She sat by him to keep watch over him for his final hours.

While siting by the dying man, Brigid picked up some rushed from the floor and began to weave them into a cross.  The sick man asked her what she was making and Brigid began to explain the story of Jesus to him.
Before he died, the chieftain had become a Christian.

St. Brigid's Cross
A St. Brigid's cross is usually made from rushes or less often, straw.  It is traditionally believed that the cross protects the home from fire.  St. Brigid's crosses are often made on the 1st of February and sprinkled with holy water.

In some traditions, the cross from the previous year is taken down and burnt, and then replaced by the new one.  St. Brigid's crosses were often kept under the rafter