Saint Isan was a 6th-century

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 ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

and

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 ...

Llanishen Llanishen (, ''llan'' church + ''Isien'' Saint Isan) is a district and community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the 2011 census was 17,417. Llanishen is the home of the former HMRC tax offices, the tallest buildings i ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was said to have been a follower of the 6th-century Celtic teacher St

Illtyd Illtud ( also spelled Illtyd, Eltut, and, in Latin, Hildutus), also known as Illtud Farchog or Illtud the Knight, is venerated as the abbot teacher of the divinity school, Bangor Illtyd, located in Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) in Glamorg ...

. In A.D. 535 he and

Saint Edeyrn Saint Edeyrn ( century) was a pre-congregational saint of Wales, related to Vortigern and the royal house of Kingdom of Powys, Powys and the brother of Saint Aerdeyrn and Elldeyrn. Edeyrn is the patron saint of Lannédern in France and Llanedeyrn ...

came eastwards from the small religious settlement of

Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...

, aiming to establish churches, in the area around

Caerphilly mountain Caerphilly Mountain () lies between Cardiff and Caerphilly at the southern edge of the South Wales Coalfield. Its summit is above sea-level. Since 1957 there had been a small wooden snack bar near to the summit. In September 2011 this was repl ...

. The sites they choose had fresh water from the Nant Fawr stream. Isan founded his church on the site of the modern-day Oval at

. His co-worker Edeyrn was reputed to have travelled widely, and as a result there are churches in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

dedicated to his memory. St Edeyrn gathered together a community of about 300 that lived and worshipped in the

Llanedeyrn Llanedeyrn () is a former village, now a district and community, in the east of the city of Cardiff, Wales, located around 3.5 miles from the city centre. The parish of Llanedeyrn rests on the banks of the river Rhymney and is visible nesting o ...

area. Isan is remembered in churches at Llanishen, Monmouthshire and

, Cardiff.

References

Medieval Welsh saints 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century births Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 6th-century Welsh people {{Saint-stub