Saint Brendan’s Isle, also spelt St Brendan’s Isle, is a phantom island, or mythical island, supposedly situated in the North Atlantic somewhere west of Northern Africa. It is named after the Saint Brendan who founded the Clonfert monastery and monastic school. It is said to have been discovered by the saint and his followers while they were traveling across the ocean, evangelizing to islands. It appeared on numerous maps in Christopher Columbus' time. It is referred to as La isla de San Borondón or isla de Samborombón in Spanish.
It also sparked some controversy because the claim is that Saint Brendan and his brethren made a seven-year voyage to the Americas and back (one version has five years in a leather boat and a second voyage of two years in a wooden boat) in the 6th century (around 530 A.D.). The first mention of the island was in the ninth-century Latin text Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot), placing the island into Irish and European folklore.
In 1976, explorer Tim Severin undertook Saint Brendan’s supposed voyage, using a leather currach, to see if the voyage was possible. His expedition did manage to arrive at Newfoundland following the records of the Latin text, confirming that it was possible to have made a one-way voyage lasting just over a year.
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“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)