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How to make a Saint Brigid's Cross

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Saint Brigid's Day is celebrated in Ireland and across the world on February 1st. The feast day of this popular saint sees her traditional cross hung, carrying on a beautiful yet simple tradition, marking the festival of Imbolc which dates back to pre-Christian Ireland.

The reeds were traditionally gathered on the eve of her festival and after a feast families would gather together to weave their Saint Brigid's crosses. The reeds would then be left out overnight where it was said that they would receive the blessing of this Kildare saint. 

The only female patron saint of Ireland, born in 430 in Leinster, unlike her contemporary Saint Patrick, she left no significant historical record but her identity and legacy and importance to Ireland - particularly the women of Ireland - has been reclaimed massively in the past number of years, especially since the 1,500th anniversary of her death in 2023.

In addition to the shamrock and the Celtic harp, the Saint Brigid's cross is a symbol of Ireland. Woven out of straw or rushes, its shape can vary greatly. The National Museum of Ireland identifies many basic categories of cross including a diamond which can be subdivided into single or multiple; four or three arms; a wheel type; interlaced type; traditional Latin crosses made from straw or rush or even bare wooden crosses in Greek or Latin style bound with straw.

Hanging a Saint Brigid's cross to honour the Patroness of Ireland from the rafters in a home was believed to bring the protection and blessing of the saint for the remainder of the year and the practice of crafting Brigid's crosses goes back as far as the 17th century. It continues to the present day and has had a huge revival in recent years. Many people now leave their crosses up all year.

So how do you make your own? There are many online tutorials but the first thing to do is to source simple rushes or reeds and if this proves difficult, straw is perfect or the nearest material you can find. Some people even use fabric pipe cleaners or chenille stems in different colours. 

Here's your ten step guide to make your own Saint Brigid's Cross:

1. Start with 16 pieces of straw with equal width and length.
2. Hold one piece of straw upright.
3. Then fold a second piece of straw in half and wrap it around the first piece in the middle.
4. Making sure the piece is wrapped tight, rotate it, so that the second piece is pointing upwards.
5. Next, fold a third piece of straw in half and wrap it around the second piece (copy what you did in step 3).
6. Rotate your cross anti-clockwise again, so that newest piece of straw is pointing upwards.
7. Then, repeating what you did in step 5, take a fourth piece of straw, fold it in half and wrap it around all the pieces of straw that are pointing upwards.
8. Your next step is to rotate it anti-clockwise once again and then repeat the previous step once again with a new piece of straw.
9. Keep going and continue to follow these steps repeatedly, adding new pieces of straw. Keep going until you run out of pieces of straw. If you want a wider width then continue.
10. Then get some elastic bands and wrap the pieces of straw pointing each way together, so you have four ends pointing in different directions making a successful cross shape.

Happy Saint Brigid's Day 2025.