The snowdrops are opening at Lichfield Cathedral andin Stony Stratford churchyard, but is this the start of Spring?

Snowdrops and some daffodils at the south-east corner of Lichfield Cathedral today (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I have spent most of today in Lichfield on one of my self-guided retreats, stopping first in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital for a short time of quiet reflection, prayer and thanksgiving, and then following the daily cycle of prayer in Lichfield Cathedral, including the mid-day Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Michael Ipgrave, Evening Prayer led by the Canon Chancellor, Canon Gregory Platten at the end of the day, and spending time too at the Exhibition of Icons by the traditional Byzantine iconographer Hanna-Leena Ward, which opened last Friday (30 January 2026) and continues for three weeks until Friday 19 February.

There has been time too for walks around Minster Pool and Stowe Pool, around the Cathedral Close and in Erasmus Darwin’s herb garden, and along Beacon Street to Cross in Hand Lane and the Hedgehog Vintage Inn.

There is a snap of bitter cold weather across the country, with low temperatures that have somtimes hover below zero at night time, rainfall almost every day and night, and predictions (if not threats) that snow is returning to some parts in the days of come.

Perhaps I am getting off lightly, compared to the incessant floods in recent days and weeks throughout Co Wexford. But weather like this also has its beautiful moments and benefits too, and the sight of the snowdrops today in the grounds of Lichfield Cathedral and in the churchyard at Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church in Stony Stratford at the weekend are sure signs that Spring has arrived.

Why, it even felt like there was an extra promise of Spring with the full moon last night.

As I walked around Lichfield today, I was still wrapped up warmly against the biting cold and the rain. But the snowdrops are beginning to burst through the soil, and some daffodils are opening up too beside the snowdrops at the east end of the cathedral, beside Peter Walker’s statue of Saint Chad.

Snowdrops and some daffodils at the south-east corner of Lichfield Cathedral today (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

For most of the northern hemispher,e the spring months are usually March, April and May, and according to the meteorological calendar Spring begins on 1 March , and so by this definition spring starts on 1 March, the day before Saint Chad's Day (2 March).

But for most Irish people, Spring traditionally begins on Saint Brigid’s Day, which fell yesterday [1 February]. It is a tradition that has been handed on in Ireland to everyone who learned at school how the blind Gaelic poet and bard from Galway, Antoine Ó Raifteirí (1784-1835), wrote in his poem Cill Aodáin:

Anois teacht an Earraigh
beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde
ardóigh mé mo sheol.
Go Coillte Mach rachad
ní stopfaidh me choíche
Go seasfaidh mé síos
i lár Chondae Mhaigh Eo.

Now with the springtime
the days will grow longer
and after Saint Brigid’s day
my sail I’ll let go.
I put my mind to it,
and I never will linger
’til I find myself back
in mid County Mayo.

Saint Brigid depicted in a window by Evie Hone in Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Loughrea, Co Galway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The celebrations of Saint Brigid of Kildare, one of the three patron saints of Ireland, continued in Ireland today (2 February), with an extra bank holiday for the first Monday in February. Once February begins in Ireland, people enjoy saying things like, ‘There’s a grand stretch in the evenings.’

Meanwhile, Saint George’s Church in Wolverton is finasling preparations to celebrate Snowdrop Sunday next Sunday (8 February 2026) from 11 am to 12:30, with volunteers offering hot drinks, activities and information about the splendid snowdrops in Saint George’s churchyard.

But, despite the poetry, despite the longer evenings, despite the full moon, and despite the snowdrops and the daffodils, it is still cold on my daily walks in the rain here in Stony Stratford. Has Spring truly arrived?

Conor Farrell, who studied physics with astronomy at Dublin City University, works with Astronomy Ireland. He wrote for the Journal back in 2014: ‘If you’re a meteorologist, Spring begins on 1 March. If you’re an astronomer, it’s 1 February (or a week-ish later if you’re particularly pedantic). I’m an astronomer, so I have no doubt that spring has well and truly sprung and the lambs are frolicking in the fields as we speak. Ahem.’

So, if I am going to be particularly pedantic astronomically, although I still have to learn the names of those stars and constellations, then since yesterday, 1 February, Saint Brigid’s Day, Spring has arrived in both Stony Stratford and Lichfield and in Ireland.

Snowdrops in the churchyard at Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)