Llanilar () is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, Wales, about southeast of

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

. It is the eponym of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Ilar. The population at the 2011 census was 1,085. The community includes Rhos-y-garth.

Name

Welsh placenames The place-names of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Ancient Rome, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significan ...

, many smaller communities are named for their parish ('' llan''), having grown up around the local church. This town's name honours its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

, although it is disputed whether that is the church's presumed founder Ilar ( Welsh for " Hilary"), listed as a member of Cadfan's mission and a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

but now almost totally forgotten, or the more famous Hilary who was bishop of

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and is still celebrated by the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

churches in Wales.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. III, pp. 299 f
Chas. Clark (London), 1908. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 25 Nov 2014. (The confusion is not helped by Edward Williams's numerous forgeries which he included in the '' Iolo Manuscripts''.) Llanilar - geograph

History and amenities

There is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

site just to the east. The present village was built along the southern side of the scenic

River Ystwyth The River Ystwyth (; ; ) is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. The length of the main river is . Its catchment area covers . Its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the west slopes of Plynlimon on the border of Cere ...

and contains a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, Nonconformist chapel,

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, GP Surgery, and garage. The village post office is now closed but a mobile van visits several times during the week. St Hilary's Church (') has a large square tower, chancel, nave, and porch. In the porch is a hollowed stone for holding holy water and, above the door, there is an ancient beam with carved heads and animals inscribed with the words ''J.S. W.W.A. Church Wardens, 1683.'' Meyrick, Samuel Rush. (1907) ''The History of Cardiganshire''. Stephen Collard. pg. 284. Under the name "Church of St Ilar", it is a

grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Llanilar railway station on the line from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth opened in 1867 and closed in 1964 following severe flooding in the Llanilar area. Llanilar Football Club play at Castle Hill Park in the village.

Notable people

Saint Ilar A Saint Ilar (; or 'Stanton, Richard. ''A Menology of England and Wales: Or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries'', p. 703. ...

(6th C. AD), a putative

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

missionary and martyr * John Jones (1700–1770), clergyman and

controversialist Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

* Evan Lewis (1818–1901), clergyman, Dean of Bangor Cathedral from 1884 * Dai Jones MBE (1943–2022), a Welsh broadcaster who lived and farmed in Llanilar

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanilar and surrounding area: Llanilar Health Centre
{{authority control Villages in Ceredigion