Anglesey - The island of the Druids Ynys Môn The Isle of Anglesey is situated off the north-west coast of Wales near the beautiful Snowdonia mountain range. It is separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait, which is spanned by two picturesque bridges, the Menai Bridge and the Britannia Bridge. Anglesey was known as Mam Cymru (Mother of Wales) during the middle ages because its fertile fields formed the breadbasket for the north of Wales. The name Anglesey is thought to have come from a Viking place name. In old Norse the -ey ending indicates an island named after a particular person (cf. Bardsey, Orkney, Ramsey, etc.). Anglesey is probably derived from Ongls ey, Ongls island. Who Ongl was we have no idea. ¹ Almost invisible to any modern traveler, the north-west of Wales remains an island. There are several islands, in fact. In bygone days, it was a natural barrier. Furthermore, the mountain chain of the Snowdonia National Park forms a virtual wall that shields the first of these two islands, Anglesey, from the rest of mainland Britain. Reaching altitudes of up to 3000 feet, it provides spectacular scenery, so much so that it is difficult to perceive Anglesey as an island, even though the Menai Strait makes it as such. And contrary to what the landscape of Snowdonia would suggest, Anglesey is very to relatively flat, making it an ideal location for agriculture. A second island, west off Anglesey, is Holy Island, with Holyhead being its most important town. It is an interesting name, suggesting that at some point the sacred nature of the island was not in doubt. Anglesey is known as the “Mother of Wales”: it is considered to be its centre, though geographically, it is anything but. Anglesey, in Gaelic “Ynys Mon”, is derived from the Roman Mona – hence the name Menai Strait for the stretch of water that separates it from mainland Britain. Its name in Celtic times, before the Roman invasion, is not known. For the Romans, however, “Mona” was the island of the Celts and their priests, the druids. The druids controlled the trade in gold that passed through Wales on its way from the Wicklow Hills in Ireland to the east and thence over the North Sea to Europe. Being in charge of this key economic trade made them a natural target. ² Sources: ¹ anglesey-history.co.uk; ² Anglesey: Druid’s Island by Philip Coppens Images: Map of Wales - Isle of Anglesey; Church Island – Anglesey, Wales; beach – Anglesey
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:56:25 +0000
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