25 Facts About Saint Brendan

Saint Brendan is referred to as Brendan the Navigator, Brendan the Voyager, Brendan the Anchorite, Brendan the Bold.

Saint Brendan is mainly known for his legendary voyage to find the “Isle of the Blessed” which is sometimes referred to as “Saint Brendan's Island”.

The earliest mention of Brendan is in the Vita Sancti Columbae of Adamnan written between AD 679 and 704.

Saint Brendan was born in AD 484 in Tralee, in County Kerry, in the province of Munster, in the south-west of Ireland.

Saint Brendan was born among the Altraige, an Irish clan originally centred around Tralee Bay, to parents called Finnlug and Cara.

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Saint Brendan was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert by Erc of Slane, and was originally to be called "Mobhi" but signs and portents attending his birth and baptism led to him being christened 'Broen-finn' or 'fair-drop'.

Saint Brendan is considered one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland", one of those said to have been tutored by the great teacher, Finnian of Clonard.

Saint Brendan visited Hinba, an island off the Scottish coast, where he is said to have met Columcille.

Between AD 512 and 530 Saint Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and Shanakeel, at the foot of Mount Brandon.

Saint Brendan encountered a sea monster, an adventure he shared with his contemporary Columcille.

Saint Brendan complies a group of 14 monks who pray together with him in his community to leave with him on his journey.

One of the first islands that Saint Brendan and his companions come across is an unnamed uninhabited island.

Saint Brendan's voyages were one of the most remarkable and enduring of European legends.

The narrative of Saint Brendan's voyage, developed during this time, shares some characteristics with immram.

The journey began as a punishment by an angel who saw that Saint Brendan did not believe in the truth of a book of the miracles of creation and saw Brandaen throw it into a fire.

The English poem the Life of Saint Brendan Brandan is a later derivation from the Dutch version.

Belief in the existence of Saint Brendan's Island was almost completely abandoned when a new theory arose that the Irish were the first Europeans to encounter the Americas.

The Saint Brendan Society celebrates the belief that Brendan was the first European to reach North America.

Saint Brendan travelled to Wales and the holy island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland; returning to Ireland, he founded a monastery in Annaghdown, where he spent the rest of his life.

Saint Brendan founded a convent at Annaghdown for his sister Briga.

Saint Brendan then journeyed to Wales and studied under Gildas at Llancarfan, and thence to Iona, for he is said to have left traces of his apostolic zeal at Kil-brandon and Kil-brennan Sound.

Saint Brendan died c AD 577 in Annaghdown, while visiting his sister Briga.

Saint Brendan is a patron saint of boatmen, mariners, travelers, elderly adventurers, and whales, and of portaging canoes.

Saint Brendan's most celebrated foundation was Clonfert Cathedral, in the year 563, over which he appointed Moinenn as Prior and Head Master.

The Normans and the many settlers that followed the Norman invasion brought into Sicily the tradition of Saint Brendan; there are very old papers of the 13th century written in Sicily that refer to him; in 1799 the countryside surrounding Bronte became the British "Duchy of Horatio Nelson".

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