form, as too is Llanedarn (which he spells with a final “e” – “Llanedarne”) because it is a colloquial form. “The spellings "Llanedeyrn" and "Llanedarne" are alike erroneous; the first is founded on mistaken etymology, the second a barbarism.” There are other places in Wales named after the Celtic saint Edern (such as the village of Edern, in Gwynedd, formerly spelt Edeyrn), and Bodedern (“dwelling / church (of) Edern”) in Anglesey. There are villages too in western Brittany with his name - one named Edern in both Breton and French, and another called in Breton Lannedern (Lannédern in French), an exact equivalent of Cardiff's Llanedern / Llanedeyrn. There is also a village Plouedern (Breton) / Plouédern (French) (“parish (of) Edern”). History The village name is believed to refer to a 6th-century prince and Celtic saint named St Edeyrn or Edern. During the 6th century, St Edeyrn and a fellow monk, St Isan, were given the task of spreading the faith and establishing places of worship. The first location chosen by the two monks was Llanishen. This name commemorates St Isan (Llan + Isan) and the other St Edeyrn (Llan means church or parish in the Welsh language). St Edeyrn was reputed to have travelled widely, and as a result there are churches in North and South Wales dedicated to his memory. St Edeyrn gathered together a community of about 300 that lived and worshipped in the Llanedeyrn area. The original Norman-style church dating back to 1123 exists only as stonework remnants beneath restoration work completed in 1888; the church today is a simple structure with a tower and six bells. Adjacent to this church is a public house called the Unicorn. The building dates to the 14th century and was converted in the late 18th century. Nearby in Pen-y-Groes (Welsh: Pen-y-groes) a Calvinistic Methodist school room and chapel was built in 1840. Comprising only a few buildings, Llanedeyrn became part of Cardiff in 1889. In the late 1960s, Cardiff Council decided to build low cost social housing in Llanedeyrn, with an estimated 3,500 homes to be erected for 12,000 poor people (2,000 homes owned by the city council and 1,500 private homes). The first of the estates in the area was opened in 1968. The council provided prefabricated and terraced houses, and many two-, three- and multi-storey blocks of flats were constructed. In 1974 the Maelfa shopping centre was built