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In Irish mythology
Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology....
, Mag Mell ("plain of joy") was a mythical realm achievable through death and/or glory (see also Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg

T?r na n?g , , called in English language the Land of Eternal Youth or the Land of the Ever-Young, is the most popular of the Other World in Irish mythology and Celtic mythology, perhaps best known from the myth of Ois?n, one of the few mortals who lived there, and Niamh of the Golden Hair....
 and Ablach). Unlike the underworld
Underworld

In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly the dead souls go....
 in some mythologies, Mag Mell was a pleasurable paradise, identified as either an island far to the west of Ireland or a kingdom beneath the ocean. In its island guise it was visited by various Irish heroes and monks forming the basis of the Adventure Myth or "echtrae" as defined by Myles Dillon in his book Early Irish Literature.






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In Irish mythology
Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology....
, Mag Mell ("plain of joy") was a mythical realm achievable through death and/or glory (see also Tír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg

T?r na n?g , , called in English language the Land of Eternal Youth or the Land of the Ever-Young, is the most popular of the Other World in Irish mythology and Celtic mythology, perhaps best known from the myth of Ois?n, one of the few mortals who lived there, and Niamh of the Golden Hair....
 and Ablach). Unlike the underworld
Underworld

In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly the dead souls go....
 in some mythologies, Mag Mell was a pleasurable paradise, identified as either an island far to the west of Ireland or a kingdom beneath the ocean. In its island guise it was visited by various Irish heroes and monks forming the basis of the Adventure Myth or "echtrae" as defined by Myles Dillon in his book Early Irish Literature. This otherworld is a place where sickness and death do not exist. It is a place of eternal youth and beauty. Here, music, strength, life and all pleasurable pursuits come together in a single place. Here happiness lasts forever, no one wants for food or drink. It is the Irish equivalent of the Greek Elysium
Elysium

In Greek mythology, Elysium was a section of the Greek Underworld . The Elysian Fields, or the Elysian Plains, were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous....
 or the Valhalla
Valhalla

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field F?lkvangr....
 of the Norse.

Legends say its ruler is the Fomorian
Fomorians

In Irish mythology, the Fomorians, Fomors, or Fomori were a semi-divine race who inhabited Ireland in ancient times. They may have once been believed to be the beings who preceded the deity, similar to the Greek Titan ....
 King Tethra
Tethra

In Irish mythology, Tethra of the Fomorians ruled Mag Mell after dying in the Cath Maige Tuireadh....
, or more frequently Manannan mac Lir
Manannán mac Lir

In Celtic mythology, Manann?n mac Lir Manann?n appears in many Celtic mythology and tales, although he only plays a prominent role in some of them....
. Mag Mell's allure extended from the pagan era to Christian times. In later stories, the realm is less an afterlife destination than an Earthly Paradise which adventurers could reach by traveling west from Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, often blown off course by providential tempests while on an inspired mission. They typically explore many other fantastic islands before reaching their destination and returning home (or sailing on). Among these voyagers are St. Brendan, Bran mac Febal (see The Voyage of Bran), and Mael Dúin
Máel Dúin

M?el D?in is the protagonist of Immram Maele D?in or the Voyage of M?el D?in, a Christian tale written in Old Irish language around the end of the first millennium....
.

Irish monks, being celebrated sailors, doubtless inspired such stories and were inspired by them. They reached and colonised any number of faraway islands, and St. Brendan is even speculated to have reached the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
 a thousand years before Columbus.

See also

  • Fortunate Isles
    Fortunate Isles

    In the Fortunate Isles, also called the Isles of the Blessed , heroes and other favored mortals in Greek mythology and Celtic mythology were received by the gods into a blissful paradise....
  • Aericura
  • Aillen
    Aillen

    Aillen or ?illen is a being in Irish mythology. Called "the burner", he is a member of the Tuatha D? Danann who resides in Mag Mell, the underworld....
  • Lyonesse
    Lyonesse

    Lyonesse, Lyoness, or Lyonnesse is a country in Arthurian legend, birthplace of the knight Tristan.In a later tradition, Lyonesse is identified as a Lost lands lying off the Isles of Scilly, to the south-west of Cornwall....
  • Sídhe
    Sídhe

    In Irish mythology, the aos s? are a magical people of immense power, who commanded abilities that rivaled the gods. These creatures were said to live in an alternate existence on the same dimension as humans, only their world was an invisible one....