The pentagonal bipyramidal single-ion magnets (SIMs) are among the most attractive prototypes of high-performance single-molecule magnets (SMMs). Here, a fluorescence-active phosphine oxide ligand CyPh2PO (=cyclohexyl(diphenyl)phosphine oxide) was introduced into [Dy(CyPh2PO)2(H2O)5]Br3⋅2 (CyPh2PO)⋅EtOH⋅3 H2O, and combined dynamic magnetic measurement, optical characterization, ab initio calculation, and magneto-optical correlation of this high-performance pseudo- D5 h DyIII SIM with large Ueff (508(2) K) and high magnetic hysteresis temperature (19 K) were performed. This work provides a deeper insight into the rational design of promising molecular magnets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]