_When_ and by _whom_ the Isle of Holyhead was first peopled is involved in obscurity; to us in this age, this part of its history is a profound secret; all that is, therefore, said on that subject must be mere conjecture. Antiquarians and historians have exercised their ingenuity with respect to the origin of the name of the town. On this subject there are various opinions. It was regarded as peculiarly sacred, in consequence of its being the place of interment of pious people, and thence called Holy Island. Some suppose the place was called Holy-head, from the great number of chapels or places of religious worship that were in it. Others assert that its most ancient name was _Llan y Gwyddel_; and they say that the word _Llan_ probably signifies the Irishman’s beach or shore, and not church, as generally accepted, for the shore is called in this parish, and no where else in Wales, _Llan y Mor_, instead of _Glan y Mor_; and in support of this supposition, our histories make frequent mention of the Irish rovers landing here, and of their incursions into several parts of the Island of Mona, or Anglesey, and also raising some rude fortifications to protect their shipping. At the present time there are places near Holyhead called _Porth y Gwyddyl_, (Irishman’s port); _Pentre Gwyddyl_, (Irishman’s village, or hamlet); _Cytiau’r Gwyddelod_, (Irishman’s cottages.) Again it is conjectured, that Holyhead, like most Welsh towns, dates its origin from an early Saint; and there are also the usual stories of miraculous arrivals, especially as relates to one St. Fraid, (Bride) an Irish Saintess, who, it is said, sailed from Ireland on a sod of green turf, which, on her landing, became a firm hillock, and upon which she built her chapel. And one of the old Bards founds the name of the Island as springing from this mysterious lady, which he chronicles in the following couplet:— Swift o’er the sea the floating island fled, While glorious rays illum’d her HOLY HEAD.