Llanfaes

The current settlement of Llanfaes was originally known as Llan Ffagan Fach ("Church" or "Monastery of Fagan the Little") in honour of a Ffagan who founded a church at the site. Saint Fagan was supposed to have been a 2nd-century apostle among the Welsh and is also commemorated at St. Fagan's in Cardiff. The present name doesn't refer to a saint, but instead is simply Welsh for the "Church" or "Monastery in the Meadow". Although both towns are pronounced Llanfaes in Welsh, the British government distinguishes an identically named settlement in Glamorgan by spelling it Llanmaes. However, the town on Anglesey has also historically been known by that spelling as well. An unofficial Welsh variant is Llan-faes with a hyphen. == History ==

In the medieval kingdom of Gwynedd, Llanfaes functioned as the royal demesne () and seat of local governance for the commote of Dindaethwy in cantref Rhosyr King Cynan Dindaethwy maintained his royal court () in the town around the turn of the 9th century, but he was killed amid a protracted struggle against a rival named Hywel. Following Cynan's death, there was a major Battle of Llanmaes () recorded in all the Welsh annals. Various sources conjecture that the battle marked an invasion by Mercians, Wessaxons, or Vikings, but the original sources simply do not record the combatants. A wooden fortress – square with a round tower at each corner – was constructed at the site by the Normans Hugh the Wolf of Chester and Hugh the Red of Shrewsbury during their 1098 invasion. During the Battle of Anglesey Sound between the Two Hughs and King Magnus Barefoot of Norway, Magnus was said to have personally shot Hugh the Red through the eye with an arrow before discovering whom he was fighting and withdrawing back to the north. Llanmaes was still (or again) a maerdref during the 12th and 13th centuries, when its royal estates encompassed 780 acres. A stream powered a mill there and it was the northernmost ferry across the Menai Strait separating Anglesey from the mainland. The town also had a leper colony to its north. It also held two annual fairs and maintained a herring fishery. before being removed along with the monastery's other furnishings to St. Mary's and St. Nicholas's in Beaumaris. The fortress first established by the Normans was held during the English Civil War by Sir Thomas Cheadle on behalf of the Parliament, but was taken from him by Col. John Robinson in 1645 or '46. ==Notable people==

Plaid Cymru politician Carmen Smith grew up on a council estate in Llanfaes, and took the designation Baroness Smith of Llanfaes, of Llanfaes in the County of Ynys Môn when introduced as a life peer in the House of Lords in 2024. ==See also==