Nagnata () or Magnata () is a town noted on the co-ordinate map of the 2nd century AD

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

n scholar

Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...

in the territory of the Nagnatae (Ναγνᾶται). It is located in northwest

Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...

between the mouths of the rivers Ravius (Ῥαουίος), perhaps the Erne, and Libnius (Λιβνίος), perhaps the Moy.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' This is the only town noted on the Irish west, southern or northern coast. Surviving manuscripts of Ptolemy's Geography refers to the towns Hibernis (Teamhair'Erann/ Tara), Rhaeba (Cruchain/ Rathcroghan) and Magnata (

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

) as "ἐπίσημος" (''episēmos''), an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word meaning "eminent" or "distinguished". Much of his work was based on the now lost geography of

Marinus of Tyre Marinus of Tyre (, ''Marînos ho Týrios''; 70–130) was a List of Graeco-Roman geographers, geographer, Cartography, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography and provided the underpinnings of Claudius Ptolemy's i ...

. As there were no proper urban centres in early Ireland and as Ptolemy's information was derived indirectly through traders, it is likely that the places which he calls "cities" were ancient places of assembly and hence trade. It is the only written evidence for knowledge or contact between the northwest of Ireland and the classical world in the European

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. That Phoenician and Greek ships had reached Ireland, possibly as early as the 6th century BC, is known from a now-lost merchants' handbook: the Massaliote Periplus, describing the sea routes used by traders from

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

and Tartessus in their journeys from

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

to Britain and the "Sacred Isle" of Ireland. Evidence for earlier contact may be an Irish lunate spearhead from the 10th century BC which was found in the harbour of

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

in southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Historical opinions

The majority of early commentators placed Nagnata in modern

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

(Camden 1607, James Ware 1654, Samuel Lewis 1837, Martin 1910); Other opinions include

Ballina, County Mayo Ballina ( ; ) is a town in north County Mayo, Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountains to the east and the Nephin Beg Ra ...

(

William Orpen Major (United Kingdom), Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who mainly worked in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portrai ...

1894);

Westport, County Mayo Westport (, historically anglicised as ''Cahernamart'') is a town in County Mayo in Republic of Ireland, Ireland.Westport Before 1800 by Michael Kelly published in Cathair Na Mart 2019 It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the ...

(Stempel 2002); Achill Island (Ilkins 1996, 2005);

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

(Hardiman 1820, Lewis 1837); on Erris Head Co. Mayo (Mac an Bhaird 1991,93).

Modern research

Research by R. Darcy and William Flynn in 2008 at Oklahoma State University after correcting for various distortions in Ptolemy's co-ordinate system, identified Nagnata firmly in the vicinity of the modern

town. The river Libnius they associate with the River Moy. The place of assembly known to international traders would therefore seem to be most likely a coastal location somewhere between Ballisodare and

Drumcliff Drumcliff or Drumcliffe () is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. It is north of Sligo, Sligo town on the N15 road (Ireland), N15 road on a low gravel ridge between the mountain of Ben Bulben and Drumcliff Bay. It is on the Drumcliff River, o ...

, both ancient gathering points within a five-mile radius of the modern Sligo town.

References

{{Ptolemy's Ireland Ancient Ireland Towns and villages in County Sligo Ancient Greek geography