Derry Girls star to explore truth behind St Brigid in new documentary

One of the stars of hit show Derry Girls has been announced as the presenter of a new RTÉ documentary ahead of St Brigid's Day. 

Fifteen hundred years after Brigid’s death, Siobhán McSweeney - who played beloved character Sister Michael - will seek to unravel the real truth about the elusive goddess, woman and saint, and question her rising popularity in an increasingly secular Ireland. 

During the Finding Brigid programme, McSweeney gathers a 'mnásome' in a stone circle in Galway with Herstory activist Melanie Lynch and poet Laura Murphy, who candidly reveal their motivation behind the Herstory campaign and their mission to make St Brigid’s Day a national holiday. 

Joining the mnásome are sisters Mary Kennedy and Deirdre Ni Chinnéide, who grew up by St Brigid’s Well in Clondalkin and co-wrote the book 'Journey to the Well'. 

Broadcaster Kennedy openly shares the influence she feels Brigid had on her, saying: "I did feel that by researching and by writing about Brigid, I got more of a sense of me as a woman, as an Irish woman, as a woman with Celtic roots and a confidence." 

McSweeney then visits the sacred Brigid’s Well in Kildare with former president Mary McAleese. 

Finding Brigid airs on Tuesday January 31 on RTÉ One at 10.15pm.