Llanaelhaearn
| Llanaelhaearn | |
|---|---|
 St Aelhaearn's |
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 Llanaelhaearn
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| Llanaelhaearn shown within Gwynedd | |
| Population | 1,117 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SH384448 |
| Community |
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| Principal area | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CAERNARFON |
| Postcode district | LL54 |
| Dialling code | 01758 |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | |
| Welsh Assembly | |
Llanaelhaearn is a village and community on the Llŷn Peninsula in the county of Gwynedd, Wales. The community includes the village of Trefor and has a population of 1,067, increasing to 1,117 at the 2011 Census.
In Welsh placenames, many smaller communities are named for their parish (llan), having grown up around the local church. This town's name honours its patron saint and supposed founder Aelhaiarn (lit. "Iron Eyebrows"), although it was long known by the corrupted name Llanhaiarn, leading locals to suppose there had once been a "Saint Elern" instead. (A nearby estate known as Elernion—i.e., "St. Elern's"—is thought to have a similar origin.)
The settlement is traditionally credited to its patron saint, a disciple of Saint Beuno, who was supposed to have been resurrected nearby. Both Aelhaiarn and Beuno were noble monks from Powys who came north under the patronage of King Cadfan of Gwynedd. They settled in the area of Clynnog and Llanaelhaearn after Cadfan's son Cadwallon reneged on a promised grant elsewhere; his cousin, shamed by his behaviour, made good on his promises by donating his own land for their monastery. The nearby Afon Erch includes a stone whose petrosomatoglyph is traditionally taken to represent the marks of the kneeling Saint Beuno, worn through during his nightly visits to pray in the middle of the stream.
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Wikipedia