Brendan, son of Finlogue, was born at Fenit, near Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland, towards the end of the fifth century. A local bishop, St. Erc. claimed him as his special charge when he was only a year old. After a year, he was put in fosterage with St. Ita at her monastery in Killeedy, for five years. Then Erc continued his education from the age of six until he was ready for ordination. Eventually, Brendan expressed the desire to travel through Ireland to meet some other holy men. Erc let him go but implored him to return to him for his ordination. He studied under St. Finian at Clonard, St. Jalath at Tuam, and St. Enda of Arran. Then Erc ordained him a priest at Tralee.
Fired by the description of a monk called Barrind, who claimed to have voyaged out into the Atlantic Ocean and visited a beautiful place which he called “The Land of Promise of the Saints”, Brendan developed a desire to visit this far-off land himself. First of all, he sailed to Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland, where he met St. Columba. Then he returned to Kerry, where he and a group of monks prepared to embark on the voyage which has been described as St. Brendan’s “Odyssey” – the prime travelogue of the Middle Ages. According to the “Navagatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis”, Brendan and a group of monks ended up voyaging for seven years, encountering many wonders, and visiting many lands and islands, including the Orkneys, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and possibly Newfoundland. One of his companions on this journey was St. Malo, who ultimately settled in Brittany, in the area of the city now bearing his name.
Through the ages, there has been a great deal of discussion about whether or not such a voyage actually happened – or even if it was possible. This would mean that the Irish reached the Americas four centuries before the Vikings. In fact, when the Vikings first reached Iceland, they found evidence that Irish monks had been there before them.
It is also a fact that Christopher Columbus was educated at the University of Pavia, the precursor of which was the flourishing liberal arts school founded by the Emperor Lothaire “under the superintendence” of the Irish bishop, astronomer, and author of a cosmography, Dungal, about 825. And in 1492, Columbus sailed to Galway to search out the traditions and records of Brendan – a fact recorded in the National Archives of Madrid, according to George Little, together with the names of Irishmen on the roster of the Santa Maria on the voyage to America.
In May of 1976, after a great deal of preparation and the creation out of leather of a boat fashioned to St. Brendan’s specifications, Tim Severin and three others set out from the same place in Kerry that Brendan began his voyage and made the entire trip to Newfoundland, proving that such a voyage is possible. The main problem remains that, if Brendan and his companions actually made it to America, there is no archaeological evidence discovered thus far.
After the monks returned to Ireland, Brendan founded a monastery at Ardfert. Shortly afterwards, he journeyed both to Wales and to Brittany. After this, he visited St. Brigid at Kildare. It was not until he was 77 that Brendan founded his celebrated monastery at Clonfert in 557. He died on May 16, 577, while visiting his sister Brega, who was abbess of Annaghdown, a convent he had founded for her. His body was returned to Clonfert Cathedral and buried there.
Because of the depredations of the Vikings, the Normans, the Reformation, and Oliver Cromwell’s army, most Irish medieval monasteries are now in ruins, and the shrines of the founders were either taken or emptied. Generally, the only still-existing relics of Irish saints are those which had been transferred to Europe before the Reformation. They were widely honored and their relics can be found, especially in the Low Countries, where many Irish saints traveled and evangelized. There are several churches in Brittany dedicated to St. Brendan (Brandan). At the church in Tregrom, there is a monolithic burial vault – which may be Carolingian – and has been called both the “tomb of St. Brendan” and the (now petrified) boat in which he and his Irish monks journeyed. In Bruges, Belgium, relics, paintings, and stained glass windows of St. Brendan can be found in the convent of the Poterie (“Our Lady of the Pottery” founded at the chapel of the old potters guild in 1276 and always – even to this day - a hospice for the care of elderly women. It is currently also a monastery and a museum.) More recently, our relic comes from the chapel of the Orsini-Pignatelli Family, a ducal family in Gravina di Puglia. It originally came to them from a branch of their family in France. It arrived at the Shrine of All Saints in March of 2022.
Fired by the description of a monk called Barrind, who claimed to have voyaged out into the Atlantic Ocean and visited a beautiful place which he called “The Land of Promise of the Saints”, Brendan developed a desire to visit this far-off land himself. First of all, he sailed to Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland, where he met St. Columba. Then he returned to Kerry, where he and a group of monks prepared to embark on the voyage which has been described as St. Brendan’s “Odyssey” – the prime travelogue of the Middle Ages. According to the “Navagatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis”, Brendan and a group of monks ended up voyaging for seven years, encountering many wonders, and visiting many lands and islands, including the Orkneys, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and possibly Newfoundland. One of his companions on this journey was St. Malo, who ultimately settled in Brittany, in the area of the city now bearing his name.
Through the ages, there has been a great deal of discussion about whether or not such a voyage actually happened – or even if it was possible. This would mean that the Irish reached the Americas four centuries before the Vikings. In fact, when the Vikings first reached Iceland, they found evidence that Irish monks had been there before them.
It is also a fact that Christopher Columbus was educated at the University of Pavia, the precursor of which was the flourishing liberal arts school founded by the Emperor Lothaire “under the superintendence” of the Irish bishop, astronomer, and author of a cosmography, Dungal, about 825. And in 1492, Columbus sailed to Galway to search out the traditions and records of Brendan – a fact recorded in the National Archives of Madrid, according to George Little, together with the names of Irishmen on the roster of the Santa Maria on the voyage to America.
In May of 1976, after a great deal of preparation and the creation out of leather of a boat fashioned to St. Brendan’s specifications, Tim Severin and three others set out from the same place in Kerry that Brendan began his voyage and made the entire trip to Newfoundland, proving that such a voyage is possible. The main problem remains that, if Brendan and his companions actually made it to America, there is no archaeological evidence discovered thus far.
After the monks returned to Ireland, Brendan founded a monastery at Ardfert. Shortly afterwards, he journeyed both to Wales and to Brittany. After this, he visited St. Brigid at Kildare. It was not until he was 77 that Brendan founded his celebrated monastery at Clonfert in 557. He died on May 16, 577, while visiting his sister Brega, who was abbess of Annaghdown, a convent he had founded for her. His body was returned to Clonfert Cathedral and buried there.
Because of the depredations of the Vikings, the Normans, the Reformation, and Oliver Cromwell’s army, most Irish medieval monasteries are now in ruins, and the shrines of the founders were either taken or emptied. Generally, the only still-existing relics of Irish saints are those which had been transferred to Europe before the Reformation. They were widely honored and their relics can be found, especially in the Low Countries, where many Irish saints traveled and evangelized. There are several churches in Brittany dedicated to St. Brendan (Brandan). At the church in Tregrom, there is a monolithic burial vault – which may be Carolingian – and has been called both the “tomb of St. Brendan” and the (now petrified) boat in which he and his Irish monks journeyed. In Bruges, Belgium, relics, paintings, and stained glass windows of St. Brendan can be found in the convent of the Poterie (“Our Lady of the Pottery” founded at the chapel of the old potters guild in 1276 and always – even to this day - a hospice for the care of elderly women. It is currently also a monastery and a museum.) More recently, our relic comes from the chapel of the Orsini-Pignatelli Family, a ducal family in Gravina di Puglia. It originally came to them from a branch of their family in France. It arrived at the Shrine of All Saints in March of 2022.
BRENDAN THE NAVIGATOR
The relic is a portion of St. Brendan’s cranium. According to its document of certification, it was earlier sealed July 13, 1782, by Felix Brunart, the last bishop of Bruges before the diocese was suppressed because of the French Revolution. It was more recently certified by Archbishop Andre’ Charvaz of Genoa on March 7, 1867.
Source: Little, George A., “Brendan the Navigator” (Dublin: M H Gill and Son, LTD, 1946).
Eystein Erlandsen, Archbishop of Nidaros, Norway
The relic is a portion of St. Brendan’s cranium. According to its document of certification, it was earlier sealed July 13, 1782, by Felix Brunart, the last bishop of Bruges before the diocese was suppressed because of the French Revolution. It was more recently certified by Archbishop Andre’ Charvaz of Genoa on March 7, 1867.
Source: Little, George A., “Brendan the Navigator” (Dublin: M H Gill and Son, LTD, 1946).
Eystein Erlandsen, Archbishop of Nidaros, Norway
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