The life and adventures of Ireland’s Saint Brendan the Navigator

The life and adventures – real, mystical and mythical  — of Ireland’s Saint Brendan the Navigator… the first to discover North America??

Join us at The H.A.R.P. Museum at the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley on Thursday May 11 7:00 PM, as Michael Hoke gives a talk about the life and adventures — real, mystical and mythical — of Ireland’s Saint Brendan the Navigator.

Ask most Americans who discovered North America first and you likely hear it was either Christopher Columbus or Leif Erikson. Ask an Irishman and you will probably hear it was an abbot from Ireland named Brendan predating Columbus by a millennium. While it has been documented that Brendan sailed to the Hebrides and Faroe Islands north of Scotland, it is his reputed adventures west in the North Atlantic towards Iceland, Greenland, and perhaps Newfoundland that continue to be debated to this day.

Sailing in a boat made of wattle and oiled leather, Brendan and fourteen monks encounter sights and beasts never before witnessed while searching for the “Blessed Isles” or the “Promised Land of the Saints.” The notes regarding his exploits would be later used by Christopher Columbus on his voyages west in the Atlantic. Brendan’s Feast Day is May 16 and he is the patron saint of sailors and travelers.

You can attend this presentation at the H.A.R.P. Museum located on the second floor of the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley, 623 Columbia St, Utica. All are welcome to attend this program and the museum is wheelchair accessible. There is no charge for this event, but attendees are asked to register on EventBrite, at https://bit.ly/3Vtb6PB.