Brendan, Saint, d. 577?, Irish abbot of Clonfert, Co. Galway. A popular medieval story told how he traveled westward to wonderful islands—an Irish version of a widespread legend. His feast is May 16. A perhaps different St. Brendan (d. 573) was a friend of St. Columba Columba, Saint (kəlŭm`bə), or Saint Columcille
..... Click the link for more information. and founder of the monastery at Birr. The name is often written Brandon.

Brendan, Saint

(born 484/486, Tralee, Ire.—died 578, Annaghdown, County Galway; feast day May 16) Celtic saint and hero of legendary Atlantic voyages. Educated by St. Ita at her school in southwestern Ireland, he became a monk and priest and was put in charge of the abbey at Ardfert. He later founded monasteries in Ireland and Scotland, notably Clonfert (561). A famous traveler, he voyaged to the Hebrides and perhaps to Wales and Brittany. He was immortalized in Voyage of Brendan, an Irish epic translated into Latin in the 10th century that told of his journey to a “Promised Land of Saints,” and St. Brendan's Island was long sought by explorers.