Saint Brendan the Navigator, Patron Saint

Saint Brendan the Navigator was born in the year 460 in Tralee, Ireland. Anybody who likes to sail or travel should pray to Saint Brendan because he is their patron saint. Saint Brendan’s sister was also very religious and a saint as well, her name was Brig. Brendan’s religious knowledge was taught to him by Saint Ita of Killeedy in his youth.

Once Saint Brendan was of sufficient age, he started a monastery of his own because it had been his dream since his childhood. Open doing this Brendan gained many followers who wanted to be taught the ways of God by him. This flattered him and also caused him make several other monasteries in the area because his one was getting so overcrowded. Brendan’s most renowned monastery is in Clonfert. This monastery is still intact today.

Brendan’s travels tie him to the creation of many monasteries in Ireland and Scotland too. Many of these monasteries fall next to or near to the Shannon River. Brendan met other important religious figures in his journeys such as Saint Columba, and Saint Malo.

Saint Brendan is best known for his supposed travels to the Americas with a group of other Irish monks. Their journey is said to pre-date Columbus’s, and while their have been numerous disagreements on the topic, it is true that nobody will truly ever know who got there first. Both the men’s accomplishments are impressive either way.

On Mount Brandon, it is said that Saint Brendan saw apparitions of the Promised Land. He got a crew together to sail towards the land he had seen. Their journey was a unsuccessful, but they were not unnerved by their failure. The men left for a second excursion to find the Promised Land. The never found it but ended up on an epic quest. The men are said to have traveled through Greenland, Iceland, and many other places as well.

During his long travels Brendan also ended up meeting Saint Patrick. Their are also stories of Brendan riding on the backs of whales and battling sea monsters. Brendan would later return back to Ireland to run his monasteries again. He would spend the rest of his life there, and would pass away in the year 578.

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