Dyfodwg

Dyfodwg, or Tyfodwg, is the name of a 6th century Welsh saint, of whom very little evidence survives. According to research by Rice Rees, Tyfodwg was one of the associates of Cadfan (presumably referring to Saint Cadfan rather than the slightly later Cadfan ap Iago), but the family line indicated for him in the available source, the Cambrian Biography, is inconsistent with known chronology.^[1]

He is remembered principally as one of the three saints (with Illtyd and Gwynno) from whom the ancient parish of Llantrisant takes its name, and as the patron of the only church dedicated exclusively to him: the ancient Parish Church of Llandyfodwg in the village of Glynogwr, between Blackmill and Gilfach Goch, in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. The church of Llandyfodwg is believed to have been founded by Saint Tyfodwg ap (son of) Gwilfyw. He is thought to have been a monk, a Breton disciple of Saint Illtyd - Illtyd being the famed abbot of the great centre of Christian learning which was established at the monastery of Caerworgorn (now Llantwit Major). His patronal feast is kept on June 25.^[2]

The parish website asserts that some historians believe that Tyfodwg was a local chieftain who was promised sainthood by the missionaries from that monastery, if he and his followers converted to Christianity. One possible indication that the name is that of a chieftain, rather than a saint, is that the parish of Ystradyfodwg ('‘the vale of Tyfodwg’') in the nearby Rhondda Valley, has never had a church dedicated under the name of Dyfodwg, suggesting that the place was named after its chieftain. Rather, Ystradyfodwg's parish church is dedicated to Saint John.^[2]

1. ^ An Essay on the Welsh Saints, or the Primitive Christians usually considered to have been the founders of churches in Wales. Revd Rice Rees, Longman &c., 1836.
2. ^ ^{a b} Parish Website for St Tyfodwg's Church, accessed 19 November 2011