St Brendan (484-577) in North America

From a montain monastary Brendan gazed out across the western ocean looking for a glimpse of distant lands. Some say he saw them revealed in a vision after fasting for 40 days. He and his band of brothers set out on a seven year journey in a Carrach or Coracle. A boat made from wood and leather coated in animal fat. They drifted free at the mercy of the wind, the whim of the waves and the will of God.

In the 1970’s a National Geographic expedition proved that not only was the voyage possible but that the explorers encountered many of the things Brendan did. Adding credence to a story dismissed by modernity as myth.

It is believed Brendan's voyage took him to the northern Isles of Scotland, the Faeroe islands, Greenland, Iceland and eventually Newfoundland. Many locations in these countries are named after Brendan.

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