Wikipedia: An immram (
/ˈɪmrəm/; plural immrama; Irish: iomramh, pronounced
[ˈʊmˠɾˠəw], voyage) is a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the
Otherworld (see
Tír na nÓg and
Mag Mell). Written in the Christian era and essentially Christian in aspect, they preserve elements of Irish mythology.
The immrama are identifiable by their focus on the exploits of the heroes during their search for the Otherworld, located in these cases in the islands far to the west of Ireland. The hero sets out on his voyage for the sake of adventure or to fulfill his destiny, and generally stops on other fantastic islands before reaching his destination. He may or may not be able to return home again.
Immram were first recorded as early as the 7th century by monks and
scholars who fled Continental Europe before the barbarian invaders of
the fifth century. These monks carried the learning of Western Europe
and became the vanguard of the Christianizing of Europe. On this account it is expected that Immram have their origins in
pre-existing Christian voyage literature, pre-existing Celtic legends,
or classical stories the monks would have known. The origins of these
stories are attributed to three sources of preexisting stories: Irish
myths, Christian genres, and Classic Stories
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