DEINIOL
(d.
584
),
saint, founder of Bangor and first bishop in Gwynedd
;
son of
Dunawd
son of
Pabo Post Prydyn
, of the same royal line as
Urien Rheged
—
Dwyai
, daughter of
Gwallog ap Lleenog
was not his mother but his second cousin. As
Deiniol
and
Maelgwn Gwynedd
(q.v.)
were contemporaries, so were his grandfather
Pabo
and the sons of
Cunedda Wledig
(q.v.)
.
Pabo
, then, must have accompanied them to
Wales
, not because of any loss of territory but in order to acquire more. According to the place names his clan occupied
Anglesey
(
Llanbabo
),
Caernarvonshire
(
Bangor
), and the
Vale of Clwyd
(
S. Asaph
). This was why
Cynfarch
and
Urien Rheged
established themselves there between
550 and 574
. The reign of
Maelgwn Gwynedd
was the golden age of religion in
Gwynedd
west of the
Conway
, being the age of
Cadfan
,
Seiriol
,
Cybi
(qq.v.)
, and others; the genealogies of the saints show that it was in the next generation, after the ‘
Yellow Pestilence
’ (
547
), that the up-surge of religion took place in
Gwynedd
east of the
Conway
. So,
Bangor, Caerns.
, was
Deiniol
's first foundation and
Bangor-is-coed, Flints.
, was its daughter. If the description given by
Gildas
to
Illtud
is correct —
‘praeceptorem paene totius Britanniae magistrum elegantem’
(36) —
Deiniol
was educated with
Maelgwn Gwynedd
at
Llanilltud
(
Llantwit Major
). We do not know by whom he was appointed and consecrated
bishop
, but according to the ‘
Life of Samson of Dol
’
(q.v.)
this was done by the
bishops
of the
Celtic Church
and he was allowed to choose his own see — which was, doubtless,
Gwynedd
. If so, it is probable that the tradition preserved in the ‘
Book of Llandaf
’ attributing this to
Dyfrig
(q.v.)
is probably correct:
S.
David
would have been too young at the time. There is no reason to doubt that
Deiniol
attended the
synod of Brefi
. According to the
Ann. C.
he d. in
584
, but it is possible that this date, like the dates given for the deaths of
David
and
Kentigern
, is twelve years later than it should be, in which case the correct date is
572
.
Bibliography:
-
Baring-Gould
and
J. Fisher
,
, 326-31, for a summary of the medieval traditions about him;
-
but, for the most part, these are late inventions and it is difficult to reconcile them with the genealogies in
, ix, 173-5.
Author:
