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Saint Twrog - feast day 26 June - was a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded the church at
Maentwrog Maentwrog () is a village and community in the Welsh county of Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), lying in the Vale of Ffestiniog just below Blaenau Ffestiniog, within the Snowdonia National Park. The River Dwyryd runs alongside the villa ...
, having come to Wales early in the
Age of the Saints The Age of the Saints was the period of Christianity in Wales around 500–700 AD. History Christianity had entered Wales during Roman times, initially as an urban religion. At first it was banned by the authorities who were suspicious of i ...
.


Early life

It is believed that Twrog was the son of
Ithel Hael Ithel Hael or Ithel Hael o Lydaw was a prince of Armorica who lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the father of Baglan, Flewyn, Gredifael, Tanwg, Twrog, Tegai, Trillo, Tecwyn and Llechid, saints who accompanied Cadfan Cadfan ...
o Lydaw of
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
. He was also the brother of
Saint Tanwg Saint Tanwg is the patron saint of Llandanwg, Gwynedd, Wales. He is presumed to be the founder of St Tanwg's Church, the small church at Llandanwg near Harlech, although the presence of an inscribed stone which has been dated to the 5th centur ...
of
Llandanwg Llandanwg () is a village in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd, in Llanfair community Wales. It is situated on the coast, has a railway station, and a medieval church in the sand dunes behind the beach which is a Grade II listed building. The village ...
,
Saint Tecwyn Saint Tecwyn is the patron saint and founder of Llandecwyn in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. Tecwyn (sometimes transliterated as Tegwyn - feminine version Tegwen; and sometimes anglicised as Teckwyn) was a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded th ...
of
Llandecwyn Llandecwyn () is a hamlet near Penrhyndeudraeth in Gwynedd, Wales. The bulk of the population (between 40 and 50 houses) is now located around Cilfor close to the A496 road and served by Llandecwyn railway station, with a cluster of under ten ...
,
Saint Tegai Saint Tegai (sometimes spelt Tygai) is the patron saint and founder of Llandygai in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. According to Enwogion Cymru, Tegai was a saint who lived in the early part of the sixth century He was one of the sons of Ithel Ha ...
of
Llandegai Llandygái (; ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and community on the A5 road between Bangor and Tal-y-bont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Carneddau mountain range. The population of the community taken at the 2011 ...
and
Saint Baglan Saint Baglan was a 6th-century hermit who lived at Baglan in Wales. Life Baglan is said, on doubtful evidence, to have been a Breton prince, the son of Ithel Hael. He studied at Saint Illtud's monastic school at Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit ...
of
Llanfaglan Llanfaglan is a parish in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It lay in the medieval cwmwd of Is Gwyrfai. Llanfaglan is a medieval parish bordering with the parish of Llanbeblig, Caernarfon, on the shore of the Menai Strait and Traeth y Foryd. It is in ...
and Baglan. He was a member of the college of Bardsey which was founded as a monastery in 516 AD.


Dedications

There are three other dedications to Saint Twrog: Bodwrog in
Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a Local government in Wales, principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strai ...
(
St Twrog's Church, Bodwrog St Twrog's Church is a small rural church at Bodwrog in Anglesey, North Wales. Built in the late 15th century in a medieval style, some alterations have been made but much of the original structure still remains. It has two 15th-century doorway ...
),
Llandwrog Llandwrog (; Welsh language: meaning 'The church of Saint Twrog') is a village and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has ...
near
Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor i ...
, and the ruin on Chapel Rock near
Beachley Beachley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, near the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the rivers Wye and Severn, where the Severn Bridge ends and the smaller secondary bridge over the Ri ...
by the Severn Road Bridge.


Maen Twrog

When Twrog first arrived in the village now called Maentwrog, the valley was very marshy, which provided him with the
wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa **''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia **Black wattle, c ...
that he would have needed to build his cell. Outside the church near to the belfry door is a large stone known as the Maen Twrog (maen being the Welsh for stone). Twrog is reputed to have thrown the stone from the top of
Moelwyn The Moelwynion (a Welsh plural, sometimes anglicised to Moelwyns) are a group of mountains in central Snowdonia. They extend from the north-east of Porthmadog to Moel Siabod, the highest of the group. The name derives from the names of two of the ...
crushing a pagan
altar An altar is a Table (furniture), table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of wo ...
in the valley below. It is said that his handprints can still be seen in the stone. The parish of Maentwrog gets its name from this stone''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales, Cornwall and Irish Saints By S. Baring-Gould, John Fisher, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'' (London, England) Edition: illustrated Published by Kessinger Publishing, 2005, . URL: https://books.google.com/books?id=0jLjYgygkB0C In the book of Welsh mythology, the
Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
, a hero
Pryderi Pryderi fab Pwyll is a prominent figure in Welsh mythology, the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and king of Dyfed after his father's death. He is the only character to appear in all Four Branches of the Mabinogi, although the size of his role varies ...
was killed at the Glaslyn river and is buried in Maentwrog. The boulder supposedly hurled by the saint is the one said to mark Pryderi's grave.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twrog Companions of Cadfan Medieval Welsh saints 6th-century Christian saints