To celebrate the historic birth of a former Prince of Wales within the mediaeval manor of Coleshill, now part of the modern day village of Bagillt, a commemorative plaque will be unveiled upon the outside wall of the Upper Shippe Inn public house. the forthcoming event is open to all members of the public On SUNDAY, JULY 25th , 2010. The plaque will be unveiled at 2pm by Mr Dafydd Wigley the honory president of Plaid Cymru, Also in attendance will be the popular "Cambria" Drum band . After the unveiling, a complimentary buffet will be provided by the management of the Upper Shippe public house. Bagillt.
Asteroid named after ‘the shield of Wales’
A campaign to commemorate a medieval prince of Wales has met with success on a heavenly scale. The Dafydd AP Llywelyn Committee submitted their proposal to name minor planet 18349 after Dafydd to the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN), the official body of astronomers appointed by the International Astronomical Union to give names to newly-discovered objects in the Solar System. The Dafydd AP Llywelyn Committee, which aims to erect a memorial in Flintshire to Dafydd II AP Llywelyn near his birthplace in Bagillt, Flintshire, were delighted to discover that the CSBN approved the name ‘Dafydd’ for the asteroid at a meeting in February.
‘We chose asteroid 18349 because it was discovered in 1990, 750 years to the day after Dafydd signed his earliest surviving charter as prince at Coleshill in Bagillt,’ said committee chairman Dr. Craig Jones. ‘That aside, Dafydd’s celestial namesake is a very ordinary chunk of rock orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupite R. However, we are delighted that Dafydd’s name will be remem bered in this way.’
The son of Llywelyn the Great and princess Siwan (Joan), Dafydd ruled Wales from 1240 to 1246, and was responsible for revising Welsh law, establishing diplomatic ties between Wales and France, and defeating Henry III of England in battle during Henry's invasion of Wales in 1245. Two elegies were written about him on his death, and the writer of the medieval chronicle Brut Y Tywysogyon described him as ‘tarian Cymru’, the shield of Wales.
‘The CSBN’s rules ask for asteroid names anything up to sixteen letters long,’ explained Dr. Jones. ‘So we initially submitted Dafydd’s full name, but they accepted ‘Dafydd’ instead. Perhaps they thought astronomers would have trouble with the ‘ll’ in ‘Llywelyn’!9
Dr. Jones added that the asteroid was in a stable orbit, and that there was no chance of it colliding with Earth at any time in the future.
The Pwyllgor Dafydd AP Llywelyn Committee is currently engaged in fund-raising activities towards the erection of a monument to Dafydd. For more information, contact (note anti-spam device in address):
Dafyddapllywelyn_at AOL.Com
Monument to the Medieval Prince of Wales, Dafydd 11 ap Llyweln
On Friday 19th October 2007 a public meeting will be held at Capel Penbryn, Holywell to discuss the erection of a monument in Flintshire to the medieval prince of Wales, Dafydd II ap Llywelyn.
Dafydd was prince of Wales from 1240 to 1246, and was born at Castell Hen Blas near Coleshill in Flintshire. Son of Llywelyn the Great, in his short reign he sent ambassadors to the king of France and the Pope, and withstood an invasion of Wales by Henry III in 1245. He was described by Welsh writers of the time as Tarian Cymru – 'the shield of Wales'.
The idea of raising a memorial was first mooted by Dr. Craig Owen Jones and David Owen Jones, both from Flintshire, who held a meeting at the Mold Eisteddfod last August to discuss the idea.
'Dafydd was the only native prince of Wales to be born outside Gwynedd. Yet because his father and successor ruled for such a long time, Dafydd has been ignored somewhat, and few people in Flintshire are aware of the fact that we have claim to a head of state,' said Dr. Jones.' As places such as Conwy, Cardiff and Machynlleth have monuments to princes, we felt it was time for Dafydd to have one too.'
The meeting will see the formation of a committee to raise monies for a monument, and is open to all, beginning at 7pm.
Latest Monument Update:
DAFYDD AP LLYWELYN COMMITTEE
Formed last autumn, the committee continues to raise funds and plan for the erection of a monument to Dafydd ap Llywelyn, prince of Wales from 1240 to 1246. The committee has most recently contacted the papurau bro (community newspapers) across Wales to raise the profile of the campaign, and donations are starting to come in.
It is the opinion of the committee that any monument erected in Flintshire - Dafydd was born at Castell Hen Blas, Bagillt, and is known to have spent much of his time - should be the product of local craftsmen and companies, and, to this end, several local companies and businesses have been contacted with a view to eleciting their support. Bagillt Community Council have responded positively to the campaign, and the committee were glad to welcome representatives of the council to recent meetings. With support for the project continuing to grow both in Flintshire and across Wales, we are confident that the county will soon be able to boast a fine memorial to one of Wales' unsung heroes!
Dafydd ap Llywelyn Committee