Artwork commissioned to help safeguard colloquial Welsh place names

People visiting the National Eisteddfod will have the opportunity to see a special piece of art commissioned by Cyngor Gwynedd as part of a project to ensure that traditional Welsh place names are never forgotten.

As part of Cyngor Gwynedd’s Native Welsh Names project, workshops were held with local children to collect colloquial names for locations and features within Gwynedd’s communities.

The names were recorded on a digital map and now the Council has commissioned a piece of artwork entitled ‘Enwau Lleol Llŷn’ (‘Local Llŷn Names’) showing some of the placenames, by artist Sioned Glyn especially for the Llŷn ac Eifionydd National Eisteddfod.

Sioned Glyn was born in Gorseinion and grew up in Cardiff before settling in Bangor.

She has been teaching Art and Photography at Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, Caernarfon for more than 30 years.

Diversity

Meirion McIntyre Huws, Cyngor Gwynedd’s Welsh Language Promotion Project Manager, said: “The purpose of the digital map and the artwork is to give an opportunity to show the diversity of our language and to record some of those informal names. Although they are a part of our history and local dialect, they will never otherwise appear on an official map.

“There will be an opportunity for the public to contribute names to the digital map in the Cyngor Gwynedd tent on the Thursday of the Eisteddfod. So, if you are interested in the subject and know some old colloquial names, come and see us.”

The picture and the map will be on display as part of A Welsh Gwynedd day at the Council’s stall on the Eisteddfod Maes, on Thursday 10 August.

For details of all the stall’s activities throughout the week, visit the Council’s website www.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/NationalEisteddfod

After the Eisteddfod, the artwork will become part of Cyngor Gwynedd’s permanent art collection and will be exhibited in suitable locations.