St. Brennan and the Blarney Stone
Much mystery surrounds the travels of St. Brennan, the 7th century Catholic Missionary. He and his hardy crew of 60 are given credit for discovering North America.
Embarking from Ireland, they sailed due West, and several weeks later they were amazed to discover a large land mass. Artifacts have been found testiying to their exploration of Maine and Nova Scotia. At that time it was believed that the world was flat and that if you sailed far enough West, you risked capsizing in a huge waterfall. Thus discovering North America was interpreted as a sign from God that they had found a land route which could lead to Heaven.
The Irish had a strong belief in "deasel" (pursuing the setting sun was good fortune). Little is known what happened to these adventurers in the intervening years when St. Brennan returned to Ireland and passed on at age 92, however.
Evidence shows that "deasel" governed their explorations. Wandering as far West as possible, they arrived at the Pacific Ocean. Following the coast, they would occasionally veer inland. Eventually they found themselves on the Baja California peninsula. Ultimately they wound up at the tip of Baja with water to the East, South, and West (three sides). Upon climbing the highest mountain, it was learned that the mountain had three peaks like the Holy Trinity, and so they called this mountain Trinity Mountain. This confirmed their sense that their torturous travels had been guided by the hand of God. They were convinced that they were as close as possible on earth to the gates of Heaven.
Evidence of their presence is fragmentary. In the 16th century, Spanish Missionaries were greeted by "copper-headed" Indians who spoke a strange dialect. Descendants of the adventurers that accompanied the Irish Missionaries, their language is believed to have been Gaelic influenced.
In late 2000 DNA tests showed that Northern Europeans were some of the earliest settlers of the Americas. This shattered the belief that all of the original settlers came across the "land-bridge" from Asia.
Further reminders of the Irish seafarers are the stones located on Trinity Mountain inscribed in an obscure language. For centuries these writings were thought to be of Indian origin. However, several decades ago an archeologist identified the writings as Gaelic. The words on one stone were deciphered as:
BA CHOIR DO GACH EINNE TEACHT GO DTI AN AIT COISRITHE SED MAS MAITHLEO DUC AGUS TURAS ROIM MAITHIUNAS FAILTE O DHIA
"Let all men who desire to enter the Heavenly Kingdom come to this sacred place in preparation. God forgives and welcomes all."
One of the stones is embedded in a wall of Castillo Blarney. It was soon recognized that the stone was the North America Blarney Stone, similar to the famous original Blarney Stone at the Blarney Castle in Ireland. People who have kissed or embraced the Cabo Blarney Stone swear it gave them the gift of eloquence, made their lives more harmonious, and made people more responsive to them.
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