St Ishmael's is a village and community

Community (Wales)

A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....

 close to the harbour of Milford Haven

Milford Haven (harbour)

Milford Haven Waterway is a natural harbour in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. The Haven is a ria or drowned valley flooded at the end of the last Ice Age. formed by the Pembroke River and the Daugleddau estuary, and winds west to the sea...

 in Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

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The community comprises most of the parish of St. Ishmael's and had a population of 490 at the 2001 census. The ward includes the communities of Herbrandston

Herbrandston

Herbrandston is a large coastal village on the north side of the River Cleddau, in southern Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated to the west of Milford Haven and Hakin, and lies to the east of St Ishmael's. The village has a population of 1,523, 15% of which is Welsh speaking. Before 1960 and the...

, Dale

Dale, Pembrokeshire

Dale is a small village and community in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, located on the Dale Peninsula which forms the northern side of the entrance to Milford Haven estuary. The village has 205 inhabitants according to the 2001 census.-History:...

 and Marloes and St. Brides

Marloes

Marloes is a village in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It is situated on the Marloes Peninsula 7 miles west of the port of Milford Haven and forms the westernmost tip of the southern shore of St Brides Bay. It is within part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park...

, and had a population of 490 in 2001, with 13.6% Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 speakers. There were only 3.8% Welsh speakers in 1891 and 1901.

The parish church of the local Saint Ismael is outside the village, hidden in a small valley near the Haven. In the Age of the Saints, it may have been the seat of the bishop of the cantref of Rhos

Roose (hundred)

The Hundred of Roose was a hundred in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 and was essentially identical to the pre-Norman cantref of Rhos. It derives its Welsh name from its position nearly surrounded by water, bounded east by the tidal Western Cleddau, south by Milford...

. With the Norman conquest, St Ishmael's became part of the Lordship of Haverfordwest

Haverfordwest

Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales and serves as the County's principal commercial and administrative centre. Haverfordwest is the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire, with a population of 13,367 in 2001; though its community boundaries make it the second most populous...

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The South, West and East of the parish is bordered by the milford haven estuary with numerous important birdlife and marine fauna and forna as which are all contained within the pembrokeshire coast path. The north boundary is mainly farmland used for both grazing and arable purposes.
Prince Charles' first footsteps on welsh soil were at the lovely Lindsway bay, to the south of the village with the royal yacht anchored off the beach.