A 6th cent. Irish monk sailed to America?

Michele Gama Sosa, Grunge, 3/19/23; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Statue of St. Brendan, County Kerry, Ireland (© Phil Darby/Shutterstock)

 

The Legend of the 6th century Irish monk who may have sailed to America

In elementary school, we were indoctrinated to accept that Columbus "sailed the ocean blue" and discovered America in 1492.

Later, we were told that in fact, Norse explorers made it to America at least four centuries earlier.

But what we don't learn is the possibility that someone else had already beaten the Norse to America 500 years before that. [For one thing, Buddhist missionaries from Afghanistan led by Chinese monk, as published by the American Edward Payson Vining in 1895].

Irish legend tells that a monk named St. Brendan the Navigator sailed west to a legendary land sometime in the 6th century AD, enduring sea monsters [dragons?], volcanoes, and storms to reach a mythical, promised land that has been identified as everything from Africa to a metaphor for paradise.

Among the more likely candidates, however, is North America. St. Brendan's journey has evoked fascination among enthusiasts and scholars, who debate its veracity to this day.

With a combination of archeological evidence, modern-day attempts to recreate the voyage, and Norse stories about the Americas, the evidence suggests that St. Brendan's voyage should not be discarded.

Here is the legend of the Irishman who may have "discovered" America.

Mobhi: The man who became Brendan

Portrait of Saint Brendan Portrait of Saint Brendan © Ary Renan/Wikimedia Commons

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The man who would become St. Brendan was born in 484 AD in a place called Fenit in County Kerry, Ireland. Now, according to St. Brendan's Catholic Church, his name was originally Mobhi.

 

But the Ireland of the 5th century AD was rapidly changing. More

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