Hy-Brasil, the Phantom Island
For centuries, maps showed a round island off the west coast of Ireland that no one could find.
What was reported
Hy-Brasil, from the Irish Í Bhreasail, appeared on maps from 1325 as a round island, often split by a channel, in the Atlantic west of Ireland. Irish legends said it was hidden in mist and could be seen only once every seven years.
It stayed on some charts into the 1800s, and there were stories of sightings and even of landings.
Explanations offered
There's no island there, only deep ocean, though a shallower area called the Porcupine Bank lies to the west. The island probably came from legend and from mapmakers copying each other's mistakes, helped by mirages and cloud banks on the horizon.
- When
- On maps from 1325
- Where
- North Atlantic, west of Ireland
- Witnesses
- Mapmakers and sailors
- Status
- Never existed
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