Bardsey Island, Gwynedd Genealogy

WalesCounty of Gwynedd Bardsey Island

Bardsey Island (Welsh: Ynys Enlli), the legendary "Island of 20,000 saints", lies 1.9 miles (3.1 km) off the Llŷn Peninsula in the County of Gwynedd.[1]

The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", although its English name refers to the "Island of the Bards",[2] or possibly the island of the Viking chieftain, "Barda".

It is 0.6 miles (1.0 km) wide and 1.0 mile (1.6 km) long. The north east rises steeply from the sea to a height of 548 feet (167 m) at Mynydd Enlli,[3] while the western plain is low and relatively flat cultivated farmland; to the south the island narrows to an isthmus, connecting to a peninsula.[4]

Since 1974 it has been included in the community of Aberdaron.[5] It is about 440 acres (180 ha) in extent (about 2 square km). It is the fourth largest offshore island in Wales.

History
The island has been an important religious site since Saint Cadfan built a monastery in 516.[6] In medieval times it was a major centre of pilgrimage and, by 1212, belonged to the Augustinian Canons Regular.[7] The monastery was dissolved and its buildings demolished by Henry VIII in 1537,[8] but the island remains an attraction for pilgrims to this day.[8]

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Vision of Britain - Bardsey Island