Brendan the Navigator

Brendan was born in AD 484 in Tralee, in County Kerry, in the province of Munster, in the south-west of Ireland.[5]

He was born among the Altraige, an Irish clan originally centred around Tralee Bay, to parents called Finnlug and Cara. Tradition has it that he was born in the Kilfenora/Fenit area on the North side of the bay. He was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert by Erc of Slane,[6] and was originally to be called "Mobhí" but signs and portents attending his birth and baptism led to him being christened 'Broen-finn' or 'fair-drop'. For five years he was both educated and given in fosterage to St. Íte of Killeedy, "The Brigid of Munster". When he was six he was sent to Jarlath's monastery school at Tuam to further his education. 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.[7]

At age 26, Brendan was ordained a priest by Erc.[8] Afterward, he founded a number of monasteries. Brendan's first voyage took him to the Aran Islands, where he founded a monastery. He also visited Hinba (Argyll), an island off the Scottish coast, where he is said to have met Columcille. On the same voyage he travelled to Wales and finally to Brittany, on the northern coast of France.

Between AD 512 and 530 Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and Shanakeel (Seana Cill, usually translated as the "Old Church"), at the foot of Mount Brandon. From there he is supposed to have embarked on his famous seven-year voyage bound for Paradise. The old Irish calendars assigned a feast for the "egressio familiae Sancti Brendani".[2]

Brendan is primarily renowned for his legendary journey to the Isle of the Blessed as described in the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) of the ninth century. Many versions exist that narrate how he set out on the Atlantic Ocean with sixteen monks (although other versions record fourteen monks and three unbelievers who joined in the last minute) to search for the Garden of Eden. One of these companions is said to have been Malo.[9] The voyage is dated to AD 512–530, before his travel to the island of Great Britain. On his trip, Brendan is supposed to have seen Saint Brendan's Island, a blessed island covered with vegetation. He also encountered a sea monster, an adventure he shared with his contemporary Columcille. The most commonly illustrated adventure is his landing on an island which turned out to be a giant sea monster named "Jasconius".

The earliest extant version of the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) was recorded c. AD 900. There are over 100 manuscripts of the narrative throughout Europe and many translations. The Navigatio is plainly a Christian narrative, but also narrates natural phenomena and fantastical events and places, which appealed to a broad audience. The Navigatio contains many parallels and inter-textual references to Bran and The Voyage of Máel Dúin.

On the Kerry coast, Brendan built a currach-like boat of wattle, covered it with hides tanned in oak bark and softened with butter, and set up a mast and a sail. He and a small group of monks fasted for 40 days, and after a prayer on the shore, embarked in the name of the Most Holy Trinity.[10] The narrative is characterized by much literary licence, e. g., it refers to Hell where "great demons threw down lumps of fiery slag from an island with rivers of gold fire" and also to "great crystal pillars". Many speculate that these are references to volcanic activity around Iceland and to icebergs.[11]

Synopsis

The journey of Brendan first begins when he meets with Saint Barinthus. Saint Barinthus describes The Promised Land for Saints (Terra Repromissionis Sanctorum). As Saint Barinthus describes his journey to this island, Brendan decides to also visit this island because it was described as a place of those who lived a certain lifestyle and embraced true faith of Christianity. Brendan assembles a group of fourteen monks who pray together with him in his community to leave with him on his journey. Before departing, Brendan and the fourteen monks fast at three-day intervals for forty nights and set out on the voyage that was described to him by Saint Barinthus. They first embark towards Saint Edna, which is an island. After Brendan and the fourteen monks build a small boat for their journey, three people join after Brendan already chose his companions. These three extras will not return to Ireland, which is prophesied by Brendan because, according to him, this is now an unholy number.[12]

For a period of seven years, Brendan and his students travel the seas and come across various locations while searching for the Promised Land. One of the first islands that Brendan and his companions come across is an unnamed uninhabited island. It is on this island that the first of the three extra monks who accompanied Brendan on his travels dies. After the death of their companion, Brendan and his men leave and continue their journey to the Island of Sheep. After a short stay on the Island of Sheep, Brendan and his crew land on the back of a giant fish named Jasconius, which they believe to be an island. But once they light a fire, the island starts to move revealing its true nature.[13] Other places that Brendan and his companions arrive at include the Island of Birds, the Island of Ailbe inhabited by a community of silent monks, and the Island of Strong Men. In some accounts, it is on the Island of Strong Men where the second of the 3 extra people remains instead of continuing his journey with Brendan and his men. The third is dragged away by demons.[12]

After travelling for seven years, visiting some of the same places over and over again, they finally arrive in the Promised Land for Saints. They are welcomed and allowed to enter briefly. Awed by what they have seen, they return to Ireland rejoicing.[14]

Sculpture of St Brendan, The Square Bantry, County Cork

The Navigatio fits in with a then-popular literary genre, peculiar to Ireland, denominated an immram. Irish immrama flourished during the seventh and eighth centuries. Typically, an immram is a tale that describes the hero's series of seafaring adventures. Some of these immrams involved the search for, and visits to, Tír na nÓg, an island far to the west, beyond the edges of the world map. There appear to be similarities with The Voyage of Bran written much earlier. In the Navigatio, this style of storytelling meshed with a religious ascetic tradition in which Irish monks travel alone in boats, the same way their desert brothers isolated themselves in caves.

Brendan's voyages were one of the most remarkable and enduring of European legends. With many of the facts of Brendan's journeys coming from the Navigatio, it has been difficult for scholars to distinguish fact and folklore. The narrative of Brendan's voyage, developed during this time, shares some characteristics with immram. Like an immram, the Navigatio tells the story of Brendan, who, with some companion monks, sets out to find the terra repromissionis sanctorum, ("Promised Land of the Saints"), i. e., the Earthly Paradise.[15]

Jude S. Mackley holds that efforts to identify possible, actual locations referenced in the Navigatio distract from the author's purpose of presenting a legend of "salvation, monastic obedience and the faith required to undertake such a pilgrimage."[14]

Scholars debate whether the Navigatio influenced The Voyage of Máel Dúin or vice versa. Jude Mackley suggests that an early Navigatio influenced an equally early Mael Duin and that inter-borrowing continued as the traditions developed. The Navigatio adapts the immram traditions to a Christian context.[14]

A principal similarity between Mael Duin and the Navigatio is the introduction in both of 3 additional passengers. Mael Dúin is joined by his foster brothers, and Brendan by 3 additional monks. Both additions upset the equilibrium of the voyages, and only when the additional persons are no longer on board can each voyage be completed.[14]

The Anglo-Norman Voyage of Saint Brendan is the earliest surviving narrative text of Anglo-Norman literature. It was probably translated around 1121 by a cleric called Benedeit at the commission of Adeliza of Louvain, the second wife of Henry I of England. In its use of octosyllabic couplets to recount a quest narrative drawn from Celtic sources, it has been described as a precursor of later Old French romances. Benedeit's version of the legend was itself retranslated several times into Latin prose and verse.[16][17]

One of the earliest extant written versions of Brendan's legend is the Dutch De Reis van Sinte Brandaen (Mediaeval Dutch for The Voyage of Saint Brendan) of the twelfth century. Scholars believe it is derived from a now lost Middle High German text combined with Gaelic elements from Ireland and that it combines Christian and fairy tale elements. De Reis van Sinte Brandaen describes "Brandaen", a monk from Galway, and his voyage around the world for 9 years. The journey began as a punishment by an angel who saw that Brendan did not believe in the truth of a book of the miracles of creation and saw Brandaen throw it into a fire. The angel tells him that truth has been destroyed. On his journeys Brandaen encounters the wonders and horrors of the world, such as Judas Iscariot frozen on one side and burning on the other; people with swine heads, dog legs, and wolf teeth carrying bows and arrows; and an enormous fish that encircles Brandaen's ship by holding its tail in its mouth. The English poem the Life of Saint Brandan is a later derivation from the Dutch version.[18]

Faroese stamp depicting Saint Brendan, taking up the version that the island he discovered was in the Faroe Islands.

While the narrative is often assumed to be a religious allegory, there has been considerable discussion as to whether the legends are based on fact. There have been many interpretations of the possible geographical location of Saint Brendan's Island. Various pre-Columbian sea charts indicated it everywhere from the southern part of Ireland to the Canary Islands, Faroes, or Azores; to the island of Madeira; to a point 60 degrees west of the first meridian and very near the equator.

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

There is no reliable evidence to indicate that Brendan ever reached Greenland or the Americas.[19] The Saint Brendan Society celebrates the belief that Brendan was the first European to reach North America. Tim Severin demonstrated that it is possible for a leather-clad boat such as the one described in the Navigatio to reach North America.[20][21][22][23] Severin's film The Brendan Voyage of 1978, which documented his team's feat, inspired the Irish composer Shaun Davey to write his orchestral suite "The Brendan Voyage".

The Navigatio was known widely in Europe throughout the Middle Ages.[24] Maps of Christopher Columbus’ time often included an island denominated Saint Brendan's Isle that was placed in the western Atlantic Ocean. Paul Chapman argues that Christopher Columbus learned from the Navigatio that the currents and winds would favor westbound travel by a southerly route from the Canary Islands, and eastbound on the return trip by a more northerly route, and hence followed this itinerary on all of his voyages.[25]

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.[26] He also founded a convent at Annaghdown for his sister Briga.[8] Having established the bishopric of Ardfert, Brendan proceeded to Thomond, and founded a monastery at Inis-da-druim (currently Coney Island), in the present parish of Killadysert, County Clare, c. AD 550. He 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 (near Oban) and Kil-brennan Sound. After a mission of three years in Britain he returned to Ireland, and evangelized further in various parts of Leinster, especially at Dysart, County Kilkenny, Killeney near Durrow (Tubberboe Irish: Tóbar Bó, meaning 'Well of the cow'),[27] and Brandon Hill. He established churches at Inchiquin, County Galway, and Inishglora, County Mayo, and founded Clonfert in Galway c. AD 557. He died c. AD 577 in Annaghdown, while visiting his sister Briga. Fearing that after his death his devotees might take his remains as relics, Brendan had previously arranged to have his body secretly returned to the monastery he founded in Clonfert, concealed in a luggage cart. He was interred in Clonfert Cathedral.

In the Sicilian town of Bronte there is a church dedicated to Saint Brendan, whose name in the local dialect is "San Brandanu". Since 1574, the "Chiesa di San Blandano" ("Church of Saint Brendan") replaced a chapel with such name that existed previously in the same location. The reasons for dedicating a church to Saint Brendan are still unknown and probably untraceable. 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 Brontë became the British "Duchy of Horatio Nelson". The town of Drogheda is twinned with Bronte.[32][33]