I came across these links in the course of researching St. Gertrude for my sculpture and Anachron™.
(I’ve always been the type who gets “lost” in a reference book while looking up something else.)
In the 15 years since, many new and excellent sites have appeared. These are just a few personal favorites.
Hope you find them as interesting and informative as I did.
Updating this web site is not easy, and not my main occupation, so my apologies for any that are not up-to-date.
And suggestions are always welcome! Just submit them below. pb.
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Learn more about Gertrude and her family at these links:
Biographical info from the Catholic Encyclopedia and from Wikipedia and from SQPN
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Gertrude is patron of those seeking lodging because her monastery was known for its hospitality to travelers and pilgrims, especially the Irish missionaries.
See our Celtic Connections Pages for information on some of those Irish monks, including St. Fiacre.
Lodging for those with animal companions: hotels, motels, B&Bs, campsites, beaches, resorts and more
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(also see our St. Fiacre links)
St. Gertrude is patron saint of gardeners and herbalists because fine weather on her feast day means it’s time for planting.
Keeping cats OUT of the garden. Cats love gardens (with good reason), but there are plenty of reasons to deny entrance. We have lots of “free-range” cats around the studio and even though it’s nice to see them basking in the sun in the rose garden, I’d rather they didn’t do their hunting and scratching and spraying there! Frankly, they are very lucky I’m sympathetic. And their humans need to realize not everyone is.
Lots of good Q&A here. And more great gardening tips for the “cat-owned”.
How does catnip work? (if you’ve ever wondered.)
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St. Gertrude’s patronage of cats is most likely because water from her well and bread baked in her oven was believed to repel rodents. (That’s why “Humane pest control is included below as an alternative to prayers to St. Gertrude)
Please take a look at our pin boards for lots of links.
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Note: That’s huMANE (although controlling human pests is certainly an idea worth pursuing.)
Crittercontrol specializes in humane solutions that are low-?impact on the environment but highly effective on the pest.
Cruelty-?Free Mouse Traps and other pest controls
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In France, on St. Agatha’s Day, women were supposed to refrain from working. Those who were caught doing chores were said to be confronted by an angry cat, who was St. Agatha in disguise. (Thanks to one of our patrons for that info.)
Marc Gunn, of the great Brobdingnagian Bards now has several musical Irish Cat CD’s. So be sure to raise a glass to Gertrude in the pub on St. Paddy’s Day with one of his songs!
