Meirionnydd
| Meirionnydd | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Merionethshire |
|
 |
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| Population | |
| • 1971 | 29,531 |
| • 1992 (estimate) | 32,900 |
| History | |
| • Created | 1974 |
| • Abolished | 1996 |
| • Succeeded by | Gwynedd |
| Status | District |
| • HQ | Dolgellau |
Coordinates: 52°45′29″N 3°50′06″W / 52.758°N 3.835°W
Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a cantref, a district and, as Merionethshire, a county.
Meirionnydd (Meirion, with -ydd as a Welsh suffix of land, literally Land adjoined to Meirion) was a sub-kingdom of Gwynedd, founded according to legend by Meirion (or Marianus), a grandson of Cunedda, a warrior-prince who brought his family to Wales from the 'Old North' (northern England and southern Scotland today), probably in the early 5th century. His dynasty seems to have ruled there for the next four hundred years. The kingdom lay between the River Mawddach and the River Dovey, spreading in a north-easterly direction.
The ancient name of the cantref was Cantref Orddwy (or "the cantref of the Ordovices"). The familiar name coming from Meiron's kingdom.
The cantref of Meirionnydd held the presumed boundaries of the previous kingdom but now as a fief of the Kingdom of Gwynedd where it continued to enjoy long spells of relative independence. It was divided into the commotes of Ystumanner (administered from Castell y Bere at Llanfihangel-y-Pennant) and Talybont (possibly centred on Llanegryn where there is a mound). It was abolished in 1284 following the Statute of Rhuddlan and reorganised with the addition of some neighbouring cantrefi to form the county of Merionethshire.
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