Atlantis from a Geographer’s Perspective [319] by Dr. Ulf Erlingsson, a Swedish geographer and geomorphologist, endeavours to identify Ireland as the original Atlantis described by Plato. As an Irishman I would be delighted to support this view, if the evidence was strong enough. Unfortunately, I cannot see Erlingsson’s book advancing the case for an Irish Atlantis. I am willing to accept that the megalithic cultures of Western Europe and North Africa were probably part of a loose confederation of societies that led to a later tale of a mighty empire, as its existence was relayed through the myths of succeeding civilisations. However, to claim that Ireland was the centre of this civilisation is rather fanciful and unsubstantiated by anything other than the fertile imagination of Dr. Erlingsson.

Erlingsson refers to Henry O’Brien’s book, The Round Towers of Ireland^[124] as a sort of precursor of his own. In fact, O’Brien’s book was an attempt to link the Round Towers of Ireland with a pre-Christian period. O’Brien never referred to Plato or Atlantis at all. Now after more than a hundred and fifty years, no evidence to support O’Brien’s claim has been forthcoming. There is a consensus that the Round Towers date from the early part of the first millennium AD, but it must be admitted that with regard to their purpose, some mystery still exists.

The most glaring flaw in Erlingsson’s theory is his arbitrary use of the diagonal dimensions of Ireland in order to shoehorn it into Plato’s dimensions. Using the island’s latitudinal and longtitudinal dimensions, a much smaller figure would have resulted. However, his application of Plato’s 3,000 x 2,000 stadia (550 x 370 km) to the entire island, is dishonest as Plato’s figures only refer to the plain of Atlantis, whereas the Central Plain of Ireland would only occupy a fraction of that area.

Some of my other reasons for dismissing Dr. Erlingsson’s theory are:

1. Ireland is too far north to have produced two crops annually
2. Ireland did not disappear beneath the sea
3. Ireland has always been somewhat short of elephants
4. Ireland does not have hot springs
5. There is no evidence of any harbour in the immediate vicinity of Tara or Newgrange.
6. There is no evidence of any cultural links between prehistoric Ireland and the eastern limits of the Atlantis confederation in Tyrrhenia and Libya.
7. Conventional archaeology indicates that Ireland did not have dressed stone structures until around 5^th Century AD.

Obviously, Erlingsson must realise that he is on a loser with Ireland, as he now seems to have shifted his attention more fully to the Dogger Bank in the North Sea.

My final gripe with the book, or should I say booklet, as it contains just a hundred pages, is that it lacks an index, an irritating omission that a number of authors reviewed here have been guilty of.