If you’ve seen the 2010 romantic comedy “Leap Year” with Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, you may have an idea where this blog post is headed. For those who might have skipped that particular flick, the story revolves around the Irish tradition of women proposing to men on Leap Day, Feb. 29.
While conducting research for this blog, I came across a lot of information I didn’t know about the origins of the Leap Year – involving crop seasons, Julius Cesar, Pope Gregory XIII and a lot of math. Although this brought us to Leap Year and the luck and tradition surrounding the extra day, we thought it best to leave the full breakdown to the Smithsonian Institute. Since 2024 is a Leap Year, and we’re only a few days away from Feb. 29, we’ve been thinking about the history behind the tradition.
What does a Leap Year have to do with weddings?
In Ireland, a piece of folklore started a tradition encouraging marriage proposals. The idea is that each Leap Year, on Feb. 29, women (in heterosexual relationships) turn the tables and propose to their sweethearts. Though, in modern relationships, this is less of a stigma, centuries ago a woman proposing to a man was seldom. The catalyst for the tradition stems from a tale about two of the country’s patron saints – Brigid and Patrick.
According to legend, St. Brigid of Kildare – the patron saint of Ireland, dairymaids, midwives and Irish nuns, among others – sought out St. Patrick to address a problem that had been brought to her attention. St. Brigid argued for the church’s blessing to allow women to propose to men. St. Patrick was not in agreement, but after some negotiation – and a barter from seven to four – St. Patrick agreed that a woman could propose on only one day every four years.
Depending on who’s telling the story, St. Brigid then bent down on one knee and proposed to St. Patrick right then and there. The story continues that he politely declined and gave her presents of silk to soften the rejection.** We would be remiss if we did not note that while doing research on the topic we found notes stating St. Brigid was born and St. Patrick died both around the middle of the 5th century. Catholic.org specifically has St. Brigid’s birth year as 451 and St. Patrick’s death year as 461, which would have put their potential meeting when Brigid was a child. While there are no definitive records dating back that far, and even fewer pieces of written history on St. Brigid, it was thought that St. Patrick would have been significantly older than the nun – some even mention him performing her baptism – therefore, there is very little to back the idea that she would even be in a position to propose to the saint.
No matter what actually occurred, following the lore, a tradition sprang of Irish women proposing to men each Leap Year.
Whether or not you believe in the luck of the day, and no matter what your relationship may look like, proposing on Leap Day during a Leap Year is sure to give you a story to tell well into your wedded life, no matter who does the actual proposing.
We say, take the leap and pop the big question!
**Another story we found, with no real backing, is that an Irish monk brought the tradition to Scotland in the 13th century. It is said that in 1288 Queen Margaret of Scotland made a law of the land stating women could propose during the Leap Year and if they were refused they were owed a fine of either a kiss, a silk gown or gloves.
