“Brendan Tours” was incorporated in California in 1969 by Michael Keady, Jim Murphy and Bill Lawless Brendan Tours’ first tours were to Europe and the South Pacific, adding new destinations throughout much of the 1970s and 80s.Brendan introduced its first Africa tours in 1974, South and Central America tours in 1984, and Eastern Europe, US and Canada tours in the late 80s. In the early to mid 1990s, we increased the number of vacation options in these destinations and added the Caribbean to our offerings. The first decade of the new millennium presented numerous opportunities which allowed Brendan to expand into Asia and to introduce “Brendan Gold,” an upscale selection of tours. In January 2002, we changed our name from “Brendan Tours” to “Brendan Worldwide Vacations” to better reflect the travel services we offer. In 2006, The Travel Corporation purchased the company and renamed it “Brendan Vacations,” but we have always been affectionately known to the trade simply as “Brendan.”

St. Brendan Our company is named after Saint Brendan of Clonfert who is Patron Saint of Travelers. He is well known for his legendary journeys. Brendan's reputation as a traveler rests on the Navigatio Sancti Brendani, an account written by an Irish monk in the ninth or tenth century. More than 100 Medieval Latin manuscripts of this Voyage of Saint Brendan still exist, and there are versions in Middle English, French, German, Italian, Flemish and other languages.