Broadcast October 30, 2006 on CBC Radio IDEAS
Let the brothers and sisters now sing of the holy life of Brendan;
In an old melody let it be kept in song.
Let him pray that we may be saved as we sail upon this sea.
Let him quickly aid the fallen oppressed with burdensome sin.
Saint Brendan: Regarded as one of Ireland's most important saints, Brendan was born in what is now County Kerry in 484 A.D. At a time when the Celtic church was poorly organised, he founded many abbeys and monasteries, including one in County Galway where he died in about 577 A.D.
He is also known as Brendan the Navigator because of the many voyages he made around the British Isles and to the coast of Brittany. But his most famous journey is one veiled in mystery and the mist of legend. It was chronicled in Latin as early as the 9th century in Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abatis. It became a medieval best-seller, of sorts, and Columbus is said to have read it before he embarked on his own trans-Atlantic voyage.
According to the text, Brendan built a boat of ox-hides tanned with oak bark stretched over an ash frame - not unlike the currachs still made in County Kerry today. With provisions for a voyage of 40 days, he set off westward with 17 other monks.
Magical islands: On his way he encountered magical islands, conversed with talking birds, saw floating pillars of crystal and breakfasted on the back of a whale. Finally he discovered the Isle of the Blest which he reported was an eternal paradise.
"…A young man of resplendent features, and very handsome aspect, came to them, and joyfully embracing and addressing each of them by his own name, said: 'Peace be with you, brothers… This is the land you have sought after for so long a time; but you could not hitherto find it, because Christ our Lord wished, first to display to you His divers mysteries in this immense ocean. Return now to the land of your birth… for the days of your earthly pilgrimage must draw to a close, when you may rest in peace among your saintly brethren."
(Navigatio Sancti Brenani Abatis)
Spiritual voyage or a real one? Some scholars insist that the saint described a purely spiritual voyage. Others suggest he could have made a real journey across the Atlantic to North America. In 1976 a British navigation scholar set out to determine if the voyage of Brendan and his fellow monks was possible. Tim Severin constructed a carrach using the same material as described in the ancient text. He charted a route similar to one Lief Erikson would have taken in the 10th century. It would pass close to Iceland and Greenland with a probable landfall at Newfoundland (St. Brendan's Isle).
Newfoundland: Severin and his crew encountered towering icebergs, isles of chattering birds and friendly whales which swam under their boat. In June 1977 they landed in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, near the community known as St. Brendan's. It may not prove that the Saint made the same journey but it certainly proves it was possible.
The Promised Land of the Saints: real or imaginary? In the program, Newfoundland producer Chris Brookes sets out in a boat of his own for what he calls "a radio archeology project, excavating the chronicle of Saint Brendan in the 21st century with the help of Marcel Proust and modern sound recording equipment."
Paradise, Newfoundland
of the Promised Land of the Saints
For millennia, the Atlantic ocean tantalised the European imagination with visions of what might lie on the other side.
Map of the world, 1225 A.D.
Click to hear The Promised Land
Produced for the CBC by Battery Radio.
Voices heard in the program:
Patrick Kelly
Scott Walden
Peter Picco
Wayne Johnston
Tim Severin
Des Ryan
Andrea Peddle
Alex Ransby
Shane O'Dea
James Tuck
Berni Stapleton reads from the John O'Meara translation of Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abatis.
Music from Shawn Davey's suite The Brendan Voyage is performed by uilean piper Liam O'Flynn. Susie Arioli sings the Irving Mills/Edgar Sampson/Benny Goodman tune If Dreams Come True.
Special thanks to Zoe Irving, and to the Irish-Nfld Partnership for research assistancee.
If you would like further information about the events mentioned in this feature here is a
Suggested Reading List:
THE BRENDAN VOYAGE by Tim Severin, Modern Library 2000.
THE VOYAGE OF ST BRENDAN translated by John O'Meara with illustrations by Daniel De'Angeli (Four Courts Press 1994)
Online:
Irish Monks and St. Brendan's Voyage
Patron Saints Index: St. Brendan
St. Brendan'd Island, Bonavista Bay, Nfld.
This is a partial listing of research resources.