15 Euros Saint Brigid

Issued to mark the inauguration of Brigid's Day as a public holiday in Ireland — officially added to the calendar in 2023, the first new public holiday in decades — this coin is a direct product of a sustained feminist reclamation campaign that lobbied for years to have the feast day of the country's female patron saint recognized alongside St. Patrick's. The political pressure behind it was considerable and not without controversy in a secularizing Republic still renegotiating its relationship with the Catholic Church.

Struck by the Royal Mint on behalf of the Central Bank, as is standard for Irish collector issues of this specification.