What will you do with the extra day available in 2024? In the Ireland of bygone days, 29 February had a special significance for unmarried women as it was their opportunity to propose to a man rather than have to wait for the man’s proposal.
It’s said that the tradition began in the fifth century when St Brigid complained to St Patrick that women had to wait far too long for men to propose. St Patrick then decreed that women could propose once every four years on 29 February.
The ‘decree’ became part of Irish folklore and even into the early twentieth century it was taken seriously by some people who were anxious to be betrothed by the time Lent came round. In the southwest of Ireland, in particular, those who remained single in February could find their names on the Skellig Lists. These printed ballads were named after Skellig Michael, a tiny island off the coast of County Kerry, which was regarded by some as a last chance saloon for the unattached.
Ironically, a leap year was also seen as an unlucky year to get married, so even those who managed to snag a fiancé had to wait for the walk up the aisle.
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