A chara - With reference to the letter from Peter O'Neill (July 10th) about Irish links with Brazil, surely the strongest connection between Ireland and Brazil is the very name itself. One well-established tradition of scholarship argues that Brazil (Brazilians spell it Brasil) derives from Hy-Brassil, the ancient isle of the blessed. The search for this imagined land of saints to the west, just beyond the horizon, inspired the mariner monk, St Brendan the Navigator, to set out from Corca Dhuibhne and "discover" America 900 years before Columbus. The name also echoes in the Irish words, bras (strong, ardent); ail (desire); brasail (embrace).
As a surname, Brassil (and its variant spellings) is most commonly found in Co Kerry and is evident in place-names such as Clanbrassil. Similar words are found in ancient Irish manuscripts. "Breasail" is the name used for a pagan demi-god in Hardiman's History of Galway. Another possible derivation is from St Brecan, who shared the Aran islands with St Enda and is sometimes referred to as "Bresal".
A map by Angellinus Dalorto of Genoa (1325) is the earliest chart on which Brasil appears as a large disc of land to the south-west of the Skelligs. On later Italian and Catalan maps the name often reappears. What is clear is that the name Brazil was in active use among Atlantic sea-faring peoples well in advance of Cabral's landfall on April 21st, 1500. The official name given to Portugal's new territories was: Terra de Santa Cruz - Land of The Holy Cross - but this rather heavy-handed christening was a damp squib. Instead, the name Brazil stuck; perhaps because of its melodic tropical sound, but probably because of its more ancient tradition as a name current in the parlance of Atlantic navigators and cartographers to describe this mythical land to the west: a place first "imagined" in Ireland and then "conquered" by Europeans. Certainly the name preceded the country.
Brazilians too are still confused about the origins of their name. Etymologists, with an eye to Alexander von Humboldt's view, trace Brazil to the name of a red dyewood once felled along the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rain forest). There is also a Norman-Breton origin. But both are weaker claims than the Irish origin of Brazil. In this case, it could be said that an Irish Embassy in Brazil is anywhere between 500 and 1,400 years overdue! - Is mise,
Angus Mitchell, North Circular Road, Dublin 1.