Brendan Foley

Brendan Foley is an Irish writer, film producer and director.

He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has written feature scripts for producers and studios in UK, Hollywood, Canada, Denmark, South Africa and Thailand. He wrote and produced the 2005 action-thriller Johnny Was, starring Vinnie Jones, Eriq La Salle and Patrick Bergin. The film won awards including Audience Awards and Best Feature Awards from six film festivals .

He wrote, produced and directed thriller The Riddle in 2006, starring Derek Jacobi, Vinnie Jones and Vanessa Redgrave. In September 2007, The Riddle became the world's first feature film to be released as a DVD premiere by a national newspaper. The UK's Mail on Sunday bought UK DVD rights and distributed 2.6 million copies, making the film one of the most widely watched independent films in the UK.

His book Under The Wire, a World War II POW escape drama, which he wrote along with its subject, pilot William Ash, which was published by Random House, London and St Martin's Press, New York in 2005 and 2006. It became a best-seller, reaching number one on Amazon UK's history and biography charts. His next book, Archerfield, a novel, published in January 2015, covers 15,000 years of history in one square mile of Scotland.

Brendan

Saint Brendan of Clonfert or Bréanainn of Clonfert (c. 484 – c. 577) (Irish: Naomh Breandán; Latin: Brendanus; Icelandic: (heilagur) Brandanus) called "the Navigator", "the Voyager", or "the Bold" is one of the early Irish monastic saints. He is chiefly renowned for his legendary quest to the "Isle of the Blessed," also called Saint Brendan's Island. The Voyage of Saint Brendan could be called an immram (Irish navigational story). He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.

Saint Brendan's feast day is celebrated on 16 May by the Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians.

Sources

There is very little secure information concerning Brendan's life, although at least the approximate dates of his birth and death, and accounts of some events in his life, are found in the Irish annals and genealogies. The first mention of Brendan occurs in Adamnan's Vita Sancti Columbae, written between 679 and 704. The first notice of him as a seafarer appears in the ninth century Martyrology of Tallaght.

Brendan (disambiguation)

Brendan may refer to:

People

Other uses

See also

Brendan (given name)

Brendan is an Irish masculine given name in the English language. It is derived from the Gaelic name Breandán, which is in turn derived from the earlier Old Irish Brénainn. The mediaeval Latin form of the name, Brendanus, has also influenced the modern English and Irish forms. Variant spellings of Brendan are Brendon and Brenden. In some cases it is possible that the given name Brandon is also a variant of Brendan. A variant spelling of the Irish Breandán is Breanndán

Etymology

The English Brendan is an Anglicised form of the Irish Breandán. This Irish name is derived from the Old Irish Brénainn. This Old Irish personal name, (pronounced [br'ēn-in'], is derived from a borrowing of the Welsh language word breenhín, meaning "a prince". Both the English form, Brendan, and the modern Irish form, Breandán, are based upon the mediaeval Latin form Brendanus. According to one old Irish text there are 17 saints with the name. When used in an Irish sentence it can take the form Bhreandán e.g. A Bhreandán or ..do Bhreandán. Variation of the Irish Breandán are Breanndán, Bhreandán and Bhreandáin.