When it was decided to build a tidal dyke at the beginning of the nineteenth century between Ty Gwyn Y Gamlas and Pont Y Glyn, Yr Ynys ceased to be an island. Now, there is flat dry land to the south of that island, and that is now agricultural land. The only things that exist today to convey that there was an island there are the names, such as Yr Ynys, Gwrachynys, Rhyd Goch and the famous Lasynys where Ellis Wynne The Sleeping Bard used to live.

On the raised ground above Afon Dwyryd across the river, more or less from Portmeirion, stands Llanfihangel y Traethau Church, in a quiet, lovely spot. In its cemetery many residents of the area are resting, including a large number of sailors and naval captains which convey the close relationship there used to be between the area and the sea.

At one time Eisingrug was an extremely busy area. It is located on the upper road between Harlech and Maentwrog before the lower road was built. There is a junction here, and as Eisingrug is located at the top of a very steep hill, it was an ideal place to have a mill on the banks of the Moel y Glo river. Lower down was the smithy, a wool factory and a fulling mill. There are no traces of them anymore, but the flour mill building is still there.

Over the road to the mill is Bryn y Felin, which was the home of Gwyneth Vaughan author of "O Gorlannau'r Defaid" and "Plant y Gorthrwm". There were also two chapels here - the Calvinist Methodist chapel, Peniel Chapel 1903 and Zion Chapel. 

Llandecwyn is the name given to the parish which is an area that extends from sea level up to the Rhinogydd mountains.

At one time there were three chapels and a church within the parish. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century there were a large number of farms in the area supporting many large families affording employment to a significant number of servants and maids. Many of the men worked on the boats on Afon Dwyryd, using the river to transport slate down to Ynys Cyngar and loaded on to sailing ships to be transported world-wide. Others worked at the quarries in the Ffestiniog area.
There are now only a handful of farms in the area and the population is mainly in the Cilfor area and the Bryn Eithin housing estate. There are also a handful of houses in Bryn y Bwa Bach but many of those have now become holiday homes or have been bought by people who are not local.

Glanywern is a small hamlet with one street of four houses located at a junction with other individual houses facing west, sheltered from the east by a steep, wood covered slope. One road - the A496 leads through the village of Yr Ynys in the direction of Harlech along the flat coastal area while the other - the B4573 passes Glyn Cywarch mansion - which is the home of Lord Harlech. Within a mile or so it passes Lasynys, the former home of Y Bardd Cwsg, (The Sleeping Bard) Ellis Wynne, one of Wales' most prominent writers. The road then rises gradually, a narrow, winding road to reach the upper part of Harlech.