In Irish tradition, Hy-Brasil is an island believed to lie off the coast of Ireland, appearing only once every seven years and remaining hidden in mist for the rest of the time. Explorers have sought this elusive land for centuries, yet it has never been conclusively found. Did the mysterious island of Hy-Brasil ever truly exist, or was it simply an invention of medieval cartographers?
Traditional tales about Hy-Brasil
Tales of the island of Hy-Brasil appear in a wide range of sources, some originating in Ireland while others are situated in Spain or elsewhere in Europe. Irish tradition, in particular, has preserved numerous centuries-old accounts of people who were mysteriously transported to Hy-Brasil.
In the nineteenth century, the Irish writer Gerald Griffin offered the following description of the legendary island:
“On the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell
A shadowy land has appeared, as they tell:
Men thought it a region of sunshine and rest,
And they called it Hy-Brasil, the isle of the Blest.
From year unto year on the ocean’s blue rim,
The beautiful spectre showed lovely and dim:
The golden clouds curtained the deep where it lay,
And it looked like an Eden away, far away!”
According to this description, Hy-Brasil appeared as a paradise in the western sea. In fact, Griffin explicitly compares it to the biblical Garden of Eden, emphasizing its beauty and sense of perfect harmony. He also reveals that Hy-Brasil was known by another name, the Isle of the Blest, or the Isle of the Blessed.
The origin of the name of this island
The first part of the island’s name, “Hy-Brasil,” is often said to derive from the Irish word “Uí,” a prefix used to indicate someone’s descendants. In Irish tradition, the island is sometimes called “Uí Breasail,” which suggests that it was named after the descendants of a man named Breasail.
Despite the popularity of this explanation, it is almost certainly incorrect. The earliest references to the island appear on European maps rather than in Irish written sources. Scholars have demonstrated that these early depictions originated with a school of cartographers in Genoa, Italy, where the word “brasil” referred to a type of red dye.
This dye could be extracted from certain trees or lichen, and it was a valuable commodity in medieval Europe. As a result, many scholars today believe that the island’s name most likely referred to a supposed source of this red dye rather than to any Irish lineage or ancestral group.
The Porcupine Bank theory
There are numerous theories concerning the true location of this mysterious island. One particularly popular proposal is that Hy-Brasil was in fact Porcupine Bank, a raised area beneath the sea off the western coast of Ireland. At its shallowest point, Porcupine Bank lies about 200 meters (approximately 656 feet) below sea level.
At first glance, it may seem impossible to identify this submerged site with Hy-Brasil. However, several factors suggest it could be a plausible candidate. Geological and biological evidence indicates that Porcupine Bank was once above water, as explorers have discovered the remains of creatures that could not survive permanent submersion.
Some scholars have proposed that Porcupine Bank gradually sank over the course of many centuries. This does not necessarily imply that it was still visible in the medieval period; rather, one theory holds that stories of Hy-Brasil originated in the distant past and were preserved through oral tradition for millennia.
Additionally, Porcupine Bank lies almost precisely where most historical maps placed Hy-Brasil—roughly 120 miles off Ireland’s southwestern coast. This location closely aligns with the island’s supposed position along the 51st parallel, about sixty to seventy leagues from Ireland.
Despite these intriguing correspondences, most scholars today believe that Porcupine Bank submerged many thousands of years ago. Given the immense passage of time involved, it is therefore unlikely that oral tradition could have preserved accurate knowledge of the island’s former existence.
Hy-Brasil in the Azores
Another theory links Hy-Brasil to the Azores, and this connection goes beyond speculation: the name “Brasil Island” was historically applied to one of the islands in the archipelago. The earliest evidence for this usage dates nearly as far back as the first references to Hy-Brasil off Ireland.
The legendary island near Ireland first appears on maps around 1330. Meanwhile, the earliest mention of Brasil Island in the Azores appears in a European account from 1340–1350, and a 1367 map by the Pizzigani brothers also depicts it at this location.
The specific island historically identified as Brasil Island, or Hy-Brasil, is known today as Terceira. Over time, the name “Brasil” was gradually replaced by the Portuguese designation “Terceira,” yet it has not disappeared entirely—a site called Monte Brasil still exists on the island.
Was it the same island?
Terceira in the Azores was certainly known as Brasil Island, or Hy-Brasil, but does this mean it is the same island depicted on maps near Ireland? This is where things get confusing.
We cannot say definitively that the Hy-Brasil depicted near Ireland is identical to Terceira. If one interprets its placement on maps literally, it clearly cannot be. However, it is important to note that its location was not consistently represented. Some maps have placed it further north, off Ireland’s northwest coast, while others identify Hy-Brasil off Brittany, much farther south. Although the Azores might seem too distant to match these depictions, there is a plausible explanation.
Certain medieval maps exaggerated the positions of newly discovered islands. A notable example is Andrea Bianco’s map from 1436, which enlarges parts of the ocean, making islands appear much closer to Europe and Africa than they actually were. This raises an intriguing possibility: could an early map, created shortly after European travelers “rediscovered” the Azores, have magnified that region of the ocean so greatly that the islands appeared much nearer to Europe—and to Ireland—than in reality? While there is no way to confirm this theory, it remains a compelling possibility.
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