Holy Island ( cy, Ynys Gybi, 'the island of (Saint) Cybi') is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

() on the western side of the larger

Isle of Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island, ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, from which it is separated by the Cymyran Strait. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of standing stones,

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...

s, and other religious sites on the small island. The alternative English name of the island is Holyhead Island. According to the 2011 UK Census, the population was 13,659, of which 11,431 (84%) lived in the largest town, Holyhead.

History

Holyhead, the Mountain and the Breakwater

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s invaded Anglesey following the end of Roman rule in

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

Cunedda Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' ( 5th century), was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the Royal dynasty of Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of western Europe. Name The name ''Cunedda'' (spelled ''Cuned ...

first began warfare against the Irish but ultimately Cadwallon Lawhir defeated the Irish on Holy Island.

Natural features

There are a variety of natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s on the island including mudflats, dunes,

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es, and

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

es. Practically nothing is left of the oak forest that covered almost all of the island before the arrival of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

farmers. The western side of the island is taken up mainly by

Holyhead Mountain Holyhead Mountain (''Mynydd Twr'' in Welsh: from ''(pen)twr'', meaning "tower") is the highest mountain on Holy Island, Anglesey, and the highest in the county of Anglesey, north Wales. It lies about two miles west of the town of Holyhead, and s ...

, an area of maritime heather moor, which is the highest peak in the county at . Just off the coast by the mountain are located two islands North Stack and

South Stack South Stack ( cy, Ynys Lawd) is an island situated just off Holy Island on the northwest coast of Anglesey, Wales. Geology South Stack is an island known as a sea stack. It was formed by the wave erosion of sedimentary rocks that once conn ...

, upon the latter stands a lighthouse. Whilst most of the coastline is rocky there are sandy beaches at Trearddur Bay and Penrhos Country Park. Due to the rocky nature the island has seen more of its fair share of

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

through the years. The coastal zone between the island and the mainland of Anglesey is a large site of special scientific interest – Beddmanarch–Cymyran.

Transport

Holy Island, Anglesey 1-250,000 OS map 2010

Holy Island is connected to Anglesey by two road links. The first, the Stanley Embankment, is made up of causeways carrying the A5 and A55. The second is the much older original link, Four Mile Bridge. The Stanley Embankment also carries the North Wales Coast Line which terminates at the island's only railway station, in Holyhead. The

Port of Holyhead 300px, Just inside the 'New' harbour at Holyhead port., alt=Port of Holyhead From geograph.org.uk 8 October 2007 The Port of Holyhead ( cy, Porthladd Caergybi) is a commercial and ferry port in Anglesey, Wales, handling more than 2 million pass ...

has passenger and freight ferries which travel to

Dublin Port Dublin Port ( ga, Calafort Átha Cliath) is the seaport of Dublin, Ireland, of both historical and contemporary economic importance. Approximatively two-thirds of Ireland's port traffic travels via the port, which is by far the busiest on the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Buses from the island run to

Amlwch Amlwch (; ) is a port town and community in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead and to Menai Bridge. As well as Amlwch town and Amlwch Port, other settlements within t ...

Llangefni Llangefni (meaning "church on the River Cefni", ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Llangefni's population as 5,116 people, ma ...

and Bangor amongst other places. Around of the Anglesey Coastal Path is on Holy Island. National Cycle Route 5 and National Cycle Route 8 traverse the island. The nearest airport is

Anglesey Airport Anglesey Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Ynys Môn) is an airport owned by the Isle of Anglesey County Council on land leased from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. The airport is situated at Llanfair-yn-Neubwll in Anglesey, Wales. The leased ...

a few miles away on the Anglesey mainland and provides daily flights to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. The nearest major airport is

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated ...

, away.

Sport & Tourism

There are three

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

teams in the

Welsh football league system The Welsh football league system (or pyramid) is a series of football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them. While most Welsh clubs play in the Welsh pyramid and most clubs in that pyramid are Welsh, five Welsh clubs play ...

on the island, Holyhead Hotspur, Caergybi and Trearddur Bay. The New Oval ground is home to the Ynys Môn football team and hosted the finals of the

2019 Inter Games Football Tournament The 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament was an association football tournament which was held between 15 and 22 June 2019 in Anglesey, Wales. It was organised due to the hosts of the 2019 Island Games, Gibraltar being unable to run a tournament d ...

. There is also a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

side and a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

. Holyhead Park contains

lawn bowling Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

greens, three public

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

courts and a

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

. Like the rest of Anglesey, owing to its exposed location in the Irish Sea, surfing is popular. Many people staying on Holy Island do so short term whilst waiting for the ferries to

. As such the largest hotels (

Travelodge Travelodge (formerly TraveLodge) refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and several countries in Asia. However, ma ...

and

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

) are located close to the A5/A55 roads. Centred in Holyhead but dotted around the island (especially Trearddur Bay and Rhoscolyn) are quite a number of smaller

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

hotels and

caravan parks A recreational vehicle park (RV park) or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as "sites" or "campsites". They are also referred to as campgrounds, though a tru ...

for people who may wish to stay longer. Attractions in the area include South Stack Lighthouse and the RSPB reserve close by, the Breakwater Country Park, the RNLI museum and walks up

Schools and Governance

There are six

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s and one secondary school, Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi, which lays claim to being the first Comprehensive school in England & Wales.

Tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

can be found at Bangor University, some away on the Welsh mainland. Along with the rest of Anglesey Holy Island is part of the Ynys Môn UK Parliament constituency and the Ynys Môn Senedd constituency. At a local level it is run by

Isle of Anglesey County Council The Isle of Anglesey County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn) is the local authority for the county of Anglesey, one of the principal areas of Wales. Since 2022 the council has 35 councillors who represent 11 multi-member electoral wards. Hi ...

. Holy Island returns 6 of the 30 councillors to the county council, 3 for Caergybi (Holyhead town centre and surrounds) and 3 for Ynys Gybi (the southern extremes of Holyhead town and the more rural south). Holyhead Town Council is made up of seven electoral wards who return 16 councillors and appoint a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and deputy mayor annually.

References

External links

Holy Island protected site
{{Islands of Anglesey