Has either Saint Bridget or Brigid the Celtic Goddess been mentioned in any source books. If not they should be because they are a fascinating example of congruence that is rife with story potential.
Brigid is a celtic goddess daughter of Dagda the chief Celtic god. She is often associated with poetry, metalwork, and magic. Very similar to Athena but also possibly a hearth goddess like Hestia.
Brigit of Kildare is a catholic saint who lived during the fifth century. Her hagiography (saintly biography) has her the daughter of a pagan chieftain/king and a pictish slave woman who was baptized by saint Patrick himself while she was pregnant with Brigit. She became a nun travel much and had several miraculous adventures according to the histories. She is patron to among other things poets, scholars, blacksmiths, and cattle. Also there is an eternal flame dedicated to her in Kildare tended by 19 virgins er nuns. Though it's suposedly due to be extinguished mid thirteenth century on the orders of the Archbishop of Dublin because he see it as a pagan practice.
Now in the real world while the catholic church canonizes her and supports her official hagiography asserting Saint Bridget was a real historical personage. However many people point to her similarities to the pagan goddess and assume Saint Bridget was some form syncretism. An incorporation pagan practices into Christian tradition.
Now just imagine what the mythic Europe explanation is. Perhaps feeling the pressure of the rise of Christianity the magical god Brigid decided to disgues herself in a mortal shell as a ploy to learn more of the growing dominion. Unfortunately the woman she chose to carry her was baptized just before Brigit was born into the world. This exposed Brigid to truth of god and overwhelmed her magical nature.
It wasn't till later in life when she joined a group of nuns tending an eternal flame once dedicated to her magical form did she realize who and what she was. Her mortal shell melted away and she once again became a powerful creature of magic. By then she had developed true faith and that would not melt away. Now she is stuck a creature of magic and the divine. Not god, mortal, or saint but a little of each. Or perhaps not.