Middle Mouse ( - ''Patrick's island'') is an uninhabited

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

situated off the north

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. It is notable as the northernmost point of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The island measures a maximum of , with a maximum area of 3.7

acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

and has a maximum altitude of above sea level. It is one of a chain of three islands off the north of

, the others being Ynys Amlwch and Maen y Bugail. Local legend has it that

St Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints being Brigid of Kildare and Columba ...

was shipwrecked there, giving rise to its Welsh name. He then swam ashore and eventually founded the nearby church of

Llanbadrig Llanbadrig is a village and community (Wales), community (and former Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward) in Anglesey, Wales. The parish includes the township of Clygyrog, Tregynrig and the port of Cemaes (pronou ...

in about 440 AD, believed to be the oldest Christian site in Wales. Middle Mouse is a favoured place for

cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

, guillemots and

razorbills The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis''). Historic ...

. For visiting

scuba divers Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scuba'' is an acronym for ...

the attractions are steep underwater cliffs that drop away to with abundant marine life. There is very little protection from the fierce tidal flow, so accurate timing for

slack water Slack tide or slack water is the short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and there is no movement either way in the tidal stream. It occurs before the direction of the tidal stream reverses. Slack water c ...

is required. During the 19th century the island was used as a navigational aid to ships sailing into

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Any vessel that passed the island without signalling, and waiting for, a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

was liable to incur a fine. The S.S. ''Liverpool'', following a collision with a ship named ''Laplata'', was

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

ed near Middle Mouse in 1863. She had on board a shipment of tin ingots. In 2005, the island was put up for sale as part of a estate.

References

External links

* Islands of Anglesey Uninhabited islands of Wales Llanbadrig {{Anglesey-geo-stub