This may look like the strangest map you have ever seen but, in fact, it is the oldest known map of the island of Great Britain and the island of Ireland, under its Latinised name Hibernia.
Who made It?
Though published in 1486, the map dates far earlier to the time of Claudius Ptolemy around 150 AD (and even this map is a revision of an even earlier one by Marinus of Tyre). Ptolemy was tasked with creating an atlas of what was then the Roman Empire and this was the result.
The map is the earliest surviving geographical record of Cymru and is one of the many maps held at Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru | The National Library of Wales.
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DIGITAL Welsh Histories Magazine – November 2025
Niklas is the founder, owner, manager, editor, writer, video creator, voice over artist, and so forth, of Welsh Histories. He is passionate about the preservation of Welsh culture; the rejuvenation of the Welsh language and the promotion of Welsh history. Niklas currently resides in Pune, Maharashtra, with his beloved wife.