Ireland not lost kingdom of Atlantis, says expert

A Swedish academic's theory that the Emerald Isle is the real lost kingdom of Atlantis was rubbished today by the National Museum of Ireland.

In a book to be published next month, Dr Ulf Erlingsson claims he has found proof that Ireland is the long-lost island of legend described by Greek philosopher Plato in 370 BC.

Dr Erlingsson, from Uppsala University, was in Ireland earlier this month plugging his book , Atlantis from a Geographer's Perspective: Mapping the Fairy Land. During his three-day stay he visited Newgrange and Knowth passage tombs in Co Meath.

He claims these tombs are linked to the ancient temples of Poseidon and the Ancestors in Atlantis. He also said the nearby Hill of Tara was the seat of the ancient kings of Atlantis.

However, the National Museum of Ireland said today there was "no archaeological evidence" for the Swede's claims.

"We can say that we know of no archaeological evidence which would support Mr Erlingsson's theory," museum director Dr Patrick Wallace said.

He accepted, however, that museum staff "were not in a position to assess" the geological basis of the claims.

Dr Erlingsson says the geography of Atlantis matches Ireland perfectly as it is 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and broadest over the middle. He said Ireland is also the only island in the Atlantic with a central plain surrounded by mountains.

Atlantis, Plato wrote, was an island in the Atlantic Ocean where an advanced civilisation developed some 11,500 years ago until it was hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster and sank beneath the waves.

Dr Erlingsson believes the idea that Atlantis sank came from the fate of Dogger Bank, an isolated shoal in the North Sea, which was sunk by a huge flood wave around 6100 BC.

Additional reporting: PA, Guardian Service