Theosophy Wales, UK:- Pages About Wales. Puffin Island / Ynys Seiriol, Anglesey North Wales

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Wales is a Principality within the United Kingdom and has an eastern border with England. The land area is just over 8,000 square miles. Snowdon is the highest mountain at 3,650 feet. The coastline is almost 750 miles long. The population of Wales as at the 2001 census is 2,946,200.

Theosophy Wales is pleased to present

general pages about Wales, Welsh History

and The History of Theosophy in Wales

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Puffin Island /

Ynys Seiriol

Puffin Island / Ynys Seiriol

Off the Anglesey Coast, North Wales

A religious centre from the 6^th to the 16^th century

and now a bird sanctuary

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Puffin Island / Ynys Seiriol is an uninhabited private island and bird sanctuary off the eastern tip of Anglesey, North Wales It was formerly known as Priestholm in English and Ynys Lannog in Welsh.

Puffin Island is formed of Carboniferous limestone, has a highest point of 58 m above sea level with steep cliffs on all sides. It has an area of 0.28 km².

The island is private and landing is not allowed without special permission. Edwin morris who owns Puffin Island paid out £12.4 million pounds for in 1992 and is in process of making the island a rat free zone for the puffins to come back.

The Welsh name of Ynys Seiriol refers to Saint Seiriol, who established a monastic settlement on the island and on Trwyn Du (Penmon Point) on the mainland opposite the island in the 6th century. Seiriol is said to have been buried on the island. A monastery still existed on the island in the late 12th century and was mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis who visited the area in 1188.

He metions a piece of folklore that whenever there was strife within the community of monks a plague of mice would devour all their food. Llywelyn the Great issued two charters in 1221 and 1237 confirming the monks, usually called "canons", in possession of the island and the church and manor of Penmon on the mainland of Anglesey.

The ruins of several ecclesiastical buildings are still visible on the island, including the remains of a 12th century church.

In the early years of the 20^th century a telegraph station was built on the north-eastern tip of the island, which is now disused.

The island is a Special Protection Area (SPA), particularly because of the Great Cormorant colony of over 750 pairs, making it one of the largest colonies in the British Isles. It also has good numbers of Guillemot, Razorbill, Shag and

Kittiwake nesting, and in recent years small numbers of Common Eider and Black

Guillemot.

The Puffins from which the island gets its modern English name bred in considerable numbers at one time, with up to 2,000 pairs recorded. Remains of

processing site can still be seen near the summit of the island, where puffins were 'pickled' and packed for export in the 19th century.

Rats were introduced accidentally to the island, in the late 19th century, and almost wiped out the Puffins. The rats were eradicated in 1998 and the Puffin population has increased.