The Voyage of Saint Brendan

Introduction

Saint Brendan, a legendary Irish saint, was born in 484 AD in South West Ireland. He took sixty saints along with him on a journey across the Atlantic in a search of Paradise and in a mission to evangelize the natives of the visiting islands.

Saint Brendan was baptized by Saint Erc near Ardfert, at Tubrid. He was educated by for a period of five years by Saint Eta. He undertook further study under the supervision of Saint Erc, who conferred him the title of Priest in 512 AD. Then he sallied forth for his illustrious voyage of seven years in the quest for the Land of Delight.

The ninth century Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator describes his historical journey to the Island of the Blessed. Some other stories tell about his journey with sixty other saints in search for the Americas, perhaps in 530 AD. One story tells about his adventures during a journey to an isle completely covered with vegetation. He encountered a notorious sea creature while on a trip accompanied by St. Columbus. An isle transformed itself into a monster called Jascon, when St. Brendan walked over it.

As a genre, The Voyage of St. Brendan matches the literary works of that time, typical to Ireland, called Immram. The story describes a hero's adventures in a boat. There appear to be a number of similarities with The 'Voyage of Bran' which was written much earlier.

The voyage by St Brendan, if based on reality, is of great significance. Ireland has had the misfortune of regularly being hunted down by the Viking raids prior to the beginning of nineteenth century. It is a remarkable story about a remarkable man.