The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan (Irish and Scottish Gaelic: fine) in Ireland and Scotland.
The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan (Irish and Scottish Gaelic: fine) in Ireland and Scotland.
Baile an Fheirtéaraigh (Irish, meaning 'Ferriter's Townland' [ˈbˠalʲ ənʲ ɛɾʲˈtʲeːɾˠiː]) unofficially anglicised as Ballyferriter, or also known as An Buailtín, is a Gaeltacht village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is in the west of the Corca Dhuibhne (Dingle) peninsula and according to the 2002 census, about 75% of the town's population speak the Irish language on a daily basis. The village is named after the Norman-Irish Feiritéar family who settled in Ard na Caithne in the late medieval period. The last Chief of the Name was the seventeenth-century Bard and leader Piaras Feiritéar who was executed. The older Irish name for the village An B[h]uailtín ('the little dairy place') is still used locally.
The village lies at the base of Croaghmarhin Hill near Cuan Ard na Caithne (formerly also called Smerwick Harbour) on the Dingle Peninsula, on the R559 regional road which loops around the west of the peninsula, beginning and ending in Dingle Town. It has three pubs and one hotel. It also has a school, church, museum, Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne, the offices of the local co-op (Comharchumann Forbartha Chorca Dhuibhne) and a Garda station.
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Saint Brigid of Ireland (Irish: Naomh Bríd; Classical Irish: Brighid; Latin: Brigida; c. 451 – c. 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiographies, she was an abbess who founded the important abbey of Kildare (Cill Dara), as well as several other convents of nuns. There are few documented historical facts about her, and her hagiographies are mainly anecdotes and miracle tales, some of which are rooted in pagan folklore. They say Brigid was the daughter of an Irish clan chief and an enslaved Christian woman, and was fostered in a druid's household before becoming a consecrated virgin. She is patroness of many things, including poetry, learning, healing, protection, blacksmithing, livestock, and dairy production. In her honour, a perpetual fire was kept burning at Kildare for centuries.
Some historians suggest that Brigid is a Christianisation of the Celtic goddess Brigid. The saint's feast day is 1 February, and traditionally it involves weaving Brigid's crosses and many other folk customs. It was originally a pre-Christian festival called Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring. Since 2023, it has been a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland. This feast day is shared by Dar Lugdach, who tradition says was her student, close companion, and successor.