In the 6th century, there was an Irish monk named Saint Brendan. Brendan supposedly sailed to North America on a currach — a wood-framed boat covered with animal skin. His alleged journey is detailed in the ancient annals of Ireland. The Irish monk St. Brendan was born around 484 at Church Hill, on the north shore of Tralee Bay in Co Kerry, Ireland. He had an exceptionally long life – 93 when he died in County Galway – as well as an exciting and event-filled one.
Ireland's national saint Patrick is believed to have died about forty years before Brendan was born, but while Patrick is now world-renowned, it was Brendan who was best known abroad for nearly seven centuries.
