The Phantom Island That's Only Visible Every 7 Years (Hy-Brasil)
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2022-12-04

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Ireland’s Phantom Island of Atlantis, Only Visible Every 7 Years (Hy-Brasil) 

This is a map of Ireland and Europe today. This is Abraham Ortelius' map of Ireland and Europe from 1595. Do you notice anything different about these maps? Although there may be a few differences, the main focus of today is this mysterious island depicted just off the coast of Ireland in the 1595 map, spelt Brafil. 

Although this island has various spellings down through history, it is known most commonly as Hy-Brasil, an island that is said to lie just to the west of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean. The name is said to come from an Irish name (Uí Breasail) meaning "descendants (i.e., clan) of Bresail," an ancient clan of Ireland, whose name may come from a word meaning beauty or mighty, or it may mean the High  King of the world.  

One of the strange things about this island is that it appeared in numerous maps. As far back as 1325, nautical maps identified an island called Bracile just west of Ireland. The island appeared in countless maps under slightly different names for centuries, including in Abraham Ortelius' map of Europe in 1595. It is often depicted as being circular with a river running east-west across it’s diameter. By 1865, it was referred to as Brasil Rock on many maps. 

Stories and myths about the island abound. One is that the island is shrouded in clouds of mist and it can only be seen for one day every seven years, but it can’t be reached. It has been described as a place where saints lived or where an advanced civilization dwelt. 

Is this island purely a phantom mythical island however, or is there any seed of truth to it? In the 15th century, expeditions left Bristol is search of the island. A letter written by the Spanish diplomat, Pedro de Ayala, who was employed by Ferdinand II of Aragon, stated that the 1497 expedition by the Italian explorer John Cabot found land "discovered in the past by the men from Bristol who found Brasil." Numerous other expeditions left in search of the island, but returned months later with nothing to show. 

In the 17th century, a Captain John Nisbet claimed to have seen the island when on a journey from France to Ireland, noting that Hy-Brasil was inhabited by large black rabbits and a magician who lived in a stone castle, yet this story turned out to be an invention of Richard Head, an Irish author and playwright. A sighting of the island was described as late as 1872 by Robert O’Flaherty and T.J. Westropp, with Westropp claiming that he brought his family with him. 

What is interesting is that Hy-Brasil has been linked to the Porcupine Bank, an area of the Irish shelf that broadly the location where Hy-Brasil was depicted in maps. Could this be where the seed of truth lies? Did explorers and navigators know that there was something in this general area, and someone decided to draw an island one day? The Porcupine Bank is a relatively raised area of seabed, around 200m below sea level at its highest. 

The island is sometimes referred to as Ireland’s Atlantis, an island that was home to a great civilization that was swallowed by the sea, as described by the Athenian philosopher, Plato, in his book Timaeus, published around 360 BC. This will be the subject of my next video… 

Sources:

Porcupine Bank - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcupine_Bank 

Brasil (mythical island) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasil_(mythical_island) 

Hy-Brasil: The Legendary Phantom Island of Ireland https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/hy-brasil-legendary-phantom-island-ireland-003608 

Hy Brasil, Hy Brazil, Hy Breasil, Hy Breasail, Hy Breasal, Hy Brasil - A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, James MacKillop https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198609674.001.0001/acref-9780198609674-e-2739 

Irish Central - Does a mythical island really exist off the coast of Ireland? https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/hy-brasil-irelands-disappearing-island 

#atlantis #history #ireland