Beautiful Ancient Irish Legend Of The Blessing Of The Bees – Ancient Tradition Revived In Ireland Again

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - The Blessing of the Bees is a ceremony practiced in modern Ireland in October every year. The tradition dates back to the early Christian days and is rooted in an ancient legend describing how bees came to Ireland.

Timoleague Friary, County Cork, Ireland. Image credit. Aaro Koskinen - Public Domain

The power and importance of bees were known to many ancient civilizations. Egyptian hieroglyphs describe how to use beehives. On the walls of the Egyptian sun temple of Ni-user-re at Abusir, which dates from around 2400 B.C, we find the earliest known reference to bee-keeping. Scientists think this ancient Egyptian interest in bee-keeping most probably evolved due to the popular belief that the bee originated from the Sun god, Ra.

Ancient Irish manuscripts reveal bees were sacred animals, and they were brought to the country from Wales in the 5th century by a Saint named Modomnóc.

St. Modomnóc of Ossory, a disciple of St. David of Wales and a member of the O'Neill royal family, died around 550, and his feast day is February 13.

The ancient legend tells St. Modomnóc was a caretaker of bees in a monastery in Wales. When he was ordered to return to his home country Ireland, he was followed to the port by his loyal bees.

The saint brought the swarm with him to Wexford, where they settled and spread throughout the rest of Ireland.

Legend tells the bees followed St. Modomnóc to Ireland. Credit: Public Domain

Another legend tells the bees tried to follow St. Modomnóc three times before being accepted by their keeper. Both of these features pertaining to the bees — that of following their master with a sense of affection and loyalty and that of devotedly abandoning their home after the loss of their keeper — are recurring motifs that can be witnessed in many folktales and legends concerning the bee.

The Blessing of the Bees tradition has been revived in Ireland again. The ceremony has its renaissance moment in Dublin at the end of September, and people hope the famous ceremony centuries ago will be kept alive.

"At one point, nearly every house in Ireland would have had access to a beehive, as it would have been the only source of a sweetener and wax would have been used for candles. It's the first time I've heard it done in modern Ireland. There's a lot of folklore attached to the bees, so it's nice to keep that going," Tidy Towns committee member Gerard Meaney.

A little girl asks a bee for some honey. Illustration by the artist known as A.L.O.E (1821-1893) from the 1871 book Favorite Picture Book for The Nursery. Credit: Public Domain

There is currently only one hive in the North Dublin church, but the community hoped to get more in 2018, and Gerard Meaney thinks the Blessing Of The Bees ceremony should be an annual celebration.

The hives would be closed up until the springtime. The ancient tradition is known in other countries as well. For example, in Bulgaria, the Orthodox Church has a special day dedicated to the Blessing of honey, bees, and beehives.   On February 10 each year, St. Haralambos is commemorated, and honey is blessed.

Updated on August 15, 2022

Written by - Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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