The Brendan Voyage (1976–1977)

Tim Severin (1940 - ) is a British explorer, historian and writer. Severin is noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures.

It is theorized by some scholars, that the Latin texts of Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (The Voyage of St. Brendan the Abbot) dating back to at least 800 AD tell the story of Brendan's (c. 489–583) seven-year voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to a new land and his return. Convinced that the legend was based in historical truth, in 1976 Severin built a replica of Brendan's currach. Handcrafted using traditional tools, the 36-foot (11 m), two masted boat was built of Irish ash and oak, hand-lashed together with nearly two miles (3 km) of leather thong, wrapped with 49 traditionally tanned ox hides, and sealed with wool grease.
Between May 1976 and June 1977, Severin and his crew sailed the Brendan 4,500 miles (7,200 km) from Ireland to Peckford Island, Newfoundland, stopping at the Hebrides and Iceland en route. He considered that his recreation of the voyage helped to identify the bases for many of the legendary elements of the story: the "Island of Sheep", the "Paradise of Birds", "Crystal Towers", "mountains that hurled rocks at voyagers", and the "Promised Land". Severin's account of the expedition, The Brendan Voyage, became an international best seller, translated into 16 languages.
The boat is now featured at the Craggaunowen open-air museum in County Clare, Ireland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Severin#The_Sindbad_Voyage_(1980%E2%80%931981)

Ogham (᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋ᚜)

 Ogham is an alphabet that appears on monumental inscriptions dating from the 4th to the 6th century AD, and in manuscripts dating from the 6th to the 9th century. It was used mainly to write Primitive and Old Irish, and also to write Old Welsh, Pictish and Latin. It was inscribed on stone monuments throughout Ireland, particuarly Kerry, Cork and Waterford, and in England, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales, particularly in Pembrokeshire in south Wales. https://www.omniglot.com/writing/ogham.htm

Around 400 A.D., inspired by the Latin alphabet, the Irish came up with their own form of writing, in which Roman letters were replaced by symbols that were far easier to engrave on wood or stone. Known as Ogham script, named after a Celtic god of language, it employed a series of simple parallel lines to represent the same sounds as the individual Roman letters.

From around 450, the Irish settlers sometimes inscribed Latin monuments with additional Ogham words so that their own people could read them. Consequently, both Latin and Ogham inscriptions are often found on the same stone, as they are here. It is from slight variations in Ogham script that inscriptions can be dated.”

The Gaelic language employed sounds that were unlike anything in the Latin language, especially the vowels, and so Ogham script used a series of dots or notches to represent them. The Gaelic and Brythonic languages were still similar enough for the Irish and Britons to understand each other, but there were differences that made writing difficult. “When the Irish first settled in Wales, their stone, as they are here. It is from slight variations in Ogham script that inscriptions can be dated.” [1]

Since Tim Severin demonstrated that the journey to North America could have been made in the sixth century, various researchers have found what they believe to be early Irish inscriptions in the northeastern United States. Markings inscribed on rocks found in Virginia and New England were identified as Ogham script, the form of writing developed in Ireland by the fifth century14 .However, although initially considered to have been made by members of the Brendan expedition, or by other Irish explorers who followed them, the date of these inscriptions has not been reliably determined. Without attendant human remains that could be carbon-dated, or datable historical artifacts, there is no way of knowing exactly when the inscriptions were made.[1]

[1] Phillips, Graham. Merlin and the Discovery of Avalon in the New Worl . Inner Traditions/Bear & Company.

The indigenous population of New England were the Beothuk, who inhabited the area for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. Originating in Maine, they were a fishing culture who produced a surprisingly seaworthy catamaran capable of carrying up to fifty people. ...

Archaeological excavations at Akranes and Ingólfshöfði in Iceland have unearthed ancient Beothuk burial sites dating from as early as 1000 B.C. and as late as the seventh century A.D. ...

The British who first encountered these Indians in America in the sixteenth century describe how they used red ocher, an earthen dye, to adorn their bodies for burial and before going into battle. A number of archaeological sites in Norway, dating from the first to third centuries A.D., have uncovered quantities of red ocher_[3], which scientific analysis has determined could have come only from New England. _[2]

 ^[2]Phillips, Graham. Merlin and the Discovery of Avalon in the New World (pp. 157-158). Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. Kindle Edition.

Disappearance of the Beothuk

_[3]In Newfoundland its use is most often associated with the Beothuk, whose use of red ochre led them to be referred to as "Red Indians" by the first Europeans to Newfoundland.[ Ingeborg Marshall, The Beothuk of Newfoundland: A Vanished People, Breakwater Books, 1989, p.5.]