TPO 67

The reading and the lecture talk about whether Brendan and his crew had reached North America during their voyage. The author of the article feels that this is absolutely true. However, the lecturer in the article disputes the claims made in the article. His position is that evidence is not strong enough to prove this statement.

According to the reading, the written stories make references to places Brendan and his crew have visited. To be more specific, features of islands discussed in Brendan’s stories are similar to island locations. The specific argument is challenged by the lecturer. He claims that sheep appear in other islands apart from the one mentioned in Brendan’s stories. Therefore, the evidence is not conclusive.

Secondly, the passages suggests that boat at Brendan’s time were well-constructed to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. It goes on to say that researchers proved the boat’s feasibility by only using materials and techniques from Brendan’s time. However, the lecturer disputes this by mentioning that methods used for researchers to build boats were not methods to build curraghs. In fact, boats duplicated were larger and powerful to navigate in the sea.

Last but not least, the passage provides a theory that old markings in some locations of North America may be related to Brendan’s voyage. In contrast, the author contends that although some markings resembled Irish alphabet, real ogham did not contain pictures.