[2] The age of twenty years was that required by the Irish Church to making the monastic vows. (Synod St. Patric. ch. 17.)
[3] Kildare got its name from there being a very high oak tree near St. Bridget's habitation. Kil signifying cell—Dura, oak tree.
[4] Cogitosus Vita St. Brigida.
[5] Dr. Lanigan, ch. 9, sect. 5, Eccles. Hist. Ireland.
[6] "Nennidh was a student, perhaps at Kildare, when St. Bridget happening one day to be with some of her nuns near the monastery, saw him running very fast and in an unbecoming manner. Having sent for and inquired of him whither he was running in such haste, he replied, as if in jest, To the Kingdom of Heaven. Whereupon the saint gravely said, I wish I deserved to run along with you to-day to that Kingdom, pray for me that I may reach it. Affected by these words, the young man besought her to recommend him to God that he might pursue a steady course towards Heaven. She promptly acquiesced, and the consequence was his commencement from that moment of a life of perfection."—Dr. Lanigan, 9 ch. 5 section, Eccles. History.