There are two great Irish saints named Brendan, and both were abbots. Saint Brendan the Younger, whose feast is May 16, was educated by Saint Ita and Saint Finian. He was the first one ever to make a voyage to the shores of America, the “Land of Promise.” He did this in the sixth century, nine hundred years before Columbus discovered America. He is called “Saint Brendan the Navigator.” He was ninety-four years old when he died. He founded schools and monasteries. He is the patron saint of sailors.
Saint Brendan, from the Manuscriptum translationis germanicae (details)
