February 1 marks the feast of St. Brigid in Ireland, a day most people in the country grew up with as the second most-important "Irish" saint’s day, with time spent in school making St Brigid’s crosses from reeds or rushes pulled from the fields that very morning.

In more urban areas, where rushes were not so easily found, poor paper substitutes were the order of the day. They were hung over doors and windows for protection against fire, lightning, illness and evil spirits. 

St. Patrick’s Day, on 17 March, celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, with an associated national holiday, parades and a general greening around the world. Brigid, however, had no secular equivalent until 2022, when a new bank holiday was introduced to mark the survivors, victims and frontline workers of the coronavirus outbreak.