Memorable World History/Authors

Was Irish Monk Brendan the First to Discover America?

Brendan of Clonfert (c. AD 484 –c. 577) (Irish: Naomh Bréanainn or Naomh Breandán; Latin:Brendanus; Icelandic: (heilagur) Brandanus), also referred to as"Brendán moccu Altae" (Brendan of the FosterlingFolk), called "the Navigator", "the Voyager","the Anchorite", and "the Bold", isone of the early Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostlesof Ireland. He is primarily renowned for his legendary quest to the"Isle of the Blessed", also denominated "SaintBrendan's Island". The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis("Voyage of Saint Brendan") can be described as animmram, i. e., Irish navigational narrative.

Saint Brendan's feast day is celebratedon 16 May by Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians.

Sources

There is very little secure informationconcerning Brendan's life, although at least the approximate dates ofhis birth and death, and accounts of some events in his life, arefound in Irish annals and genealogies. The earliest mention ofBrendan is in the Vita Sancti Columbae (Life of Saint Columba) ofAdamnan written between AD 679 and 704. The earliest mention of himas a seafarer appears in the Martyrology of Tallaght of the ninthcentury.

The principal works regarding Brendanand his legend are a "Life of Brendan" in severalLatin (Vita Brendani) and Irish versions (Betha Brenainn) and thebetter known Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of SaintBrendan the Abbot). Unfortunately, the versions of the Vita and theNavigatio provide little reliable information of his life andtravels; they do, however, attest to the development of devotion tohim in the centuries after his death. An additional problem is thatthe precise relationship between the Vita and the Navigatiotraditions is uncertain.

The date when the Vita tradition beganis uncertain. The earliest surviving copies are no earlier than theend of the twelfth century, but scholars suggest that a version ofthe Vita was composed before AD 1000. The Navigatio was probablywritten earlier than the Vita, perhaps in the second half of theeighth century. Aengus the Culdee, in his Litany, composed in theend of the eighth century, invoked "the sixty who accompaniedSt. Brendan in his quest for the Land of Promise".

Any attempt to reconstruct the facts ofthe life of Brendan or to understand the nature of his legend must bebased principally on Irish annals and genealogies and on the variousversions of the Vita Brendani.

Early life

Brendan was born in AD 484 in Tralee,in County Kerry, in the province of Munster, in the south-west ofIreland. He was born among the Altraige, a tribe originally centeredaround Tralee Bay, to parents called Finnlug and Cara. Tradition hasit that he was born in the Kilfenora/Fenit area on the North side ofthe bay. He was baptized at Tubrid, near Ardfert by Erc of Slane, andwas originally to be called "Mobhí" but signs andportents attending his birth and baptism led to him being christened'Broen-finn' or 'fair-drop'. For five years he waseducated under Íte of Killeedy, "the Brigid of Munster".When he was six he was sent to Jarlath's monastery school at Tuamto further his education. Brendan is considered one of the "TwelveApostles of Ireland", one of those said to have been tutoredby the great teacher, Finnian of Clonard.

Foundations

At the age of twenty-six, Brendan wasordained a priest by Erc. Afterwards, he founded a number ofmonasteries. Brendan's first voyage took him to the Aran Islands,where he founded a monastery. He also visited Hinba (Argyll), anisland off of Scotland where he is said to have met Columcille. Onthe same voyage he traveled to Wales and finally to Brittany, on thenorthern coast of France. Between AD 512 and 530 Brendan builtmonastic cells at Ardfert, and Shanakeel (Seana Cill, usuallytranslated as the "Old Church"), at the foot ofMount Brandon. From there he is supposed to have embarked on hisfamous voyage of 7 years for Paradise. The old Irish calendarsassigned a feast for the "egressio familiae Sancti Brendani"