80 Is The New 20

As we were going up and down and around the Skellig Ring,

 which included the beautiful island of Valencia,

we came across the sign to St Brendan’s Well. We drove down the rough track as far as we could and tramped through the bog BECAUSE, St Brendan is the guy who discovered Canada. That’s his story and we’re sticking to it.

The legend we’ve been told is that St.Brendan, the Navigator, set out one day in his little, leather coracle and ended up in Newfoundland long before the Vikings arrived.

I’ve always imagined this young monk being sent out to catch fish for the evening meal and coming back 3 years later with incredible tales of the new land and the abbott saying “Never mind all that, Brendan. Where’s the fish?”

However, we’ve learned that Brendan was 80 when he set out and he had 60 others with him. That’s one crowded coracle. He died in 577 at the age of 94 having navigated his way around most of the known and unknown world. What a guy.

Oh, there was a perfectly good path to the well. The bog tramping had not been necessary.

And, oh, what do you notice about the distance sign?