16 May: St Brendan the Navigator

Today is the feast day of St Brendan the Navigator. Here are 10 things you may not know about him.

1. St Brendan is the second most popular saint in Ireland after St Patrick.
2. He is the patron of boatmen; divers; mariners; sailors; travellers; Whales;  and the Dioceses of Clonfert and Kerry.
3. Brendan was born around 486 in Ciarraighe Luachra near Tralee Bay in County Kerry, Ireland. Some historians believe he was born into a noble family. According to legend, shining angels gathered above the house on the day he was born.
4. His parents intended to name him "Mobhí" but signs and portents they allegedly witnessed made them change their minds and call him 'Broen-finn' or 'fair-drop' instead. He was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert by Saint Erc, who was then bishop of Kerry.
5. He was fostered at one year old to St. Ita of Killeedy, a female mystic. She looked after him until he was six and became his lifelong friend. At six, he was sent to St. Erc to continue his education. Brendan's tutors also included St. Jarlath in Tuam, St. Enda in the Aran Islands, St. Ninian in Whithorn, Galloway, St. Finian and St. Gildas in Wales. He was ordained as a priest when he was 26.
6. For the next 60 years or so, Brendan devoted himself to missionary work and founding abbeys and monasteries throughout Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and France. He founded a convent at Annagdhdown, County Galway, and made his sister, Brig, the abbess.
7. He was at least 80 when he made the legendary sea voyage he is most famous for. While meditating in the chapel one day, he had a vision of Hy-Brasil, the legendary Land of Promise, and knew he had to go there. He built a thirty-six-foot curragh (a boat made from animal skins stretched over a wooden frame), fasted for forty days, then set out with a crew of at least twelve men from Dingle Bay.
8. Most of what we know about Brendan's journey comes from a tale called Navigato Sancti Brendani (Brendan's Voyage), which was written by an Irish monk in the ninth or tenth century. It was written in the style of an immram, a genre specific to Ireland at that time, in which a hero would embark upon fantastic seafaring adventures. A fantastic tale it certainly was. According to it, on his trip, Brendan met St. Patrick (who'd died long before he was born) and Judas Iscariot. At one point they land on an island which turns out to be a giant whale called Jasconius, which they only realise when they try to light a Fire on its back. The whale is forgiving, however, and allows them to hold Easter Mass on his back for the next seven years.
9. Other things the Navigato mentions sound fantastic but could be simply the interpretation of something perfectly natural by people who'd never seen it before. "Floating crystal palaces" could be Icebergs; "mountains in the sea spouting fire" could be volcanoes, "sea monsters with catlike heads and horns emanating from their mouths" could be walruses and "grapes as big as apples" could be Oranges or Grapefruit. If there is any truth in the story, the things Brendan saw suggest he got as far as Iceland and the Canary Islands and possibly as far as North America, Jamaica, or the Bahamas.
10. In 1976, an explorer called Tim Severin set out to discover whether it would have been possible to travel that far in a curragh. He built a curragh as Brendan would have done, and named it Brendan after the saint. After spending the winter in Iceland, Severin landed in Newfoundland in June 1977 - proving that such a journey was indeed possible.

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

Amazon (Paperback)

Amazon Kindle

Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two