Ynys Enlli — 'Island in the Currents', known in English as Bardsey Island — lies two miles off the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in north Wales, separated from the mainland by a notoriously treacherous sound. For centuries it was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Britain: tradition held that three pilgrimages to Bardsey were equal in merit to one to Rome, and that anyone who died on the island, having lived a holy life there, was guaranteed never to go to hell. The island became known as 'the island of 20,000 saints', supposedly the burial place of that many monks and holy men over the centuries.
The story
A separate strand of legend ties Bardsey to the Arthurian cycle. One tradition holds that Merlin sleeps in a glass cave somewhere on or beneath the island, guarding the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain until the day he is needed again. Another identifies Ynys Enlli itself as the true Avalon — the island to which the mortally wounded King Arthur was carried after his last battle — offering a distinctly Welsh rival to the more famous Glastonbury identification.
Whether as a saints' graveyard, Merlin's resting place, or Arthur's Avalon, Ynys Enlli's isolation and the danger of crossing its sound have long given the island an otherworldly reputation. Visit Wales and other modern guides still promote these layered legends as part of Enlli's appeal, and a working lighthouse and small farming community remain its only year-round residents today.