Ireland's Mysterious Lands and Sunken Cities

Book excerpt: The Emerald Isle of Ireland has inspired a vast number of legends about lost or sunken lands and cities. These legends predate Roman and Christian influences. This book examines the intriguing nature of these legends and reviews anthropological and geological evidence supporting them. Was these indeed a Tir-fo-Thuin, the Land Under Wave, a combination of the dead and a paradise? Reviewed in Ireland of the Welcomes , Vol. 50, No. 6, November - December 2001, p.54 by Mary OSullivan Stories of sunken cities, monasteries, churches and royal palaces are scattered hither and yon across the broad landscape of Irish folklore. The fishermen of Lough Neagh believe that their huge lake conceals the proud remains of palaces and temples more firmly than the inhabitants of Scotland accept the existence of the Lough Ness monster. Hy Brazil or Hy Breasail, the legendary sunken paradise island is, of course, somewhere off the western seaboard, and thanks to its frequent reappearances on the surface, it persists on maps into the sixteenth century. The great Thomas Westropp reports personal sightings, one evening after sunset in 1887 off the Clare coast and again in 1910, this time on the Mayo coast! There are persistent stories of the image of a stately city clearly visible set in the sky above Galway bay, usually during spells of warm calm sunny weather`Come over next summer with an open mind. You never know your luck!