Today is 1st February, which is celebrated as the feast of St Brigid in Ireland.

Not only is St Brigid a patron saint of Ireland, she is also considered to be a patron saint of water - and beer. Among countless stories about St Brigid - who is believed to have lived in Kildare in the fifth century - is one that says she was working at a leper colony when they ran out of beer.

This was a serious business when water was not necessarily clean to drink and could cause serious illness and death. Fermented beer was purer and a necessary alternative to risking life and limb, and it is said that Brigid turned the lepers dirty bathwater into beer for clerics visiting the colony.

There is even a tale of the saint providing 18 churches with enough beer to last from Holy Thursday to the end of Easter, from a single barrel. Whether legend or not, St Brigid's connection with water lives on, with holy wells dedicated to the saint found throughout Ireland.

A 10th century poem celebrates St Brigid's beer making and imagines her in heaven. The final verse goes:

"I'd sit with the men, the women and God
There by the lake of beer.
We'd be drinking good health forever
And every drop would be a prayer."