The origin of the place name was justified by
Gaspar Frutuoso as originating from the abundance of natural
fenal that grew in the fields;
fenais is
Portuguese word for fenal. Writing in the
Saudades da Terra referred: :''"...the place of Fenais, in the 'courtyard' of the city of Ponta Delgada, there said, with letter changed and corrupted, to there being much fenal"''. Its parochial church, dedicated to
Our Lady of Light (in 1756) was constructed over the ruins of an older episode. The church was identified by Queen D.
Maria I in the celebration marking the defeat between forces of D. António, Prior of Crato and Philip II of Spain in 1582. ==Geography==