Saint Ilid is a semi-legendary

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

of Wales. He has at times been identified as

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea () is a Biblical figure who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion. Three of the four Biblical Canon, canonical Gospels identify him as a member of the Sanhedrin, while the ...

, perhaps because he is referred to as a "man of Israel" and to have been born

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Moreover, he is said to have returned from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with ''Caratacus'',

Saint Cyllin Cyllin was a legendary, and possibly historical British king of the 1st century AD, early Christian saint and the last pendragon of Great Britain. His existence is based on very limited evidence. Richard Williams Morgan claimed that a reference to ...

and

Eigen Eigen may refer to: People with the given name *, Japanese sport shooter *, Japanese professional wrestler * Frauke Eigen (born 1969) German photographer, photojournalist and artist * Manfred Eigen (1927–2019), German biophysicist * Michael Ei ...

and formed a religious college of twelve named ''Cor Eurgain'' (the choir of Eurgain), suggesting the early entry of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

into

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. He may be commemorated in the village

Llanilid Llanilid is a small settlement of in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan. Llanilid is part of the community of Llanharan along with the villages of Bryncae, Brynna, Ynysmaerdy, Peterston ...

. According to Thomas Morgan, Llanilid follows the tradition of Welsh place names attached to a parish in taking its title from the saint to whom the local church is dedicated. In Llanilid the local church is St. Ilid & St Curig's church, and Morgan states that this relates to Ilid a person who introduced Christianity to Wales in the 1st century. This research may be connected to that of famed literary forger

Iolo Morganwg Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg (; 10March 174718December 1826), was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg" From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia''. R ...

, who produced elaborate tales of Ilid going as far as stating that it was the Welsh names of

. Morgan relates that " Llan" – "Ilid", refers to the 'parish of St Ilid'. This has been challenged by R. W. D. Fenn, who, after studying the ''

Book of Llandaff The Book of Llandaff (; , ', or '), is the cartulary of the cathedral of Llandaff, a 12th-century compilation of documents relating to the history of the diocese of Llandaff in Wales. It is written primarily in Latin but also contains a signific ...

'' and

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

's ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions ha ...

'' writes in 1962 that the Latin equivalent of Ilid represents the name of a district, similar to

Llandovery Llandovery (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 road, A40 and A483 road, A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and w ...

, and not a person. Fenn then writes that in 1566 Llanilid was dedicated to Ilid and Curig, whom he connects to the saints more commonly known in Christian tradition as Julietta and Quiricus. He links this through the Appendix of the ''Book of Llandaff'' which states that the church at Llanilid is first given as the 'Church of St Julitta'. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is 30 June.

References

Medieval Welsh saints Year of birth unknown 1st-century Christian saints {{Wales-stub