Saint Brendan and the Voyage Before Columbus is a an exciting picture book that introduces children and their parents to the story of Brendan's voyage to the land of Tir-na-n-Og, a voyage so fantastic that many people believed it was only a legend. Born in Ireland in 484, Brendan was schooled in the ways of the sun and the seas and the sky. As a monk, Brendan learned about the land of Tir-na-n-Og, the Promised Land of the Saints, and one day he set out in a sailboat called a curragh to find it. On his journey he and his fellow voyagers encountered a whale, several islands, an iceberg, and a volcano, before finally reaching beautiful Tir-na-n-Og, where "painted saints" (Native Americans) greeted him in peace. Brendan returned home with the understanding that his adventures, good and bad, had brought him closer to God.