Saint Gwynllyw of Wales

Saint Gwynllyw

Saint Gwynllyw Milwr or Gwynllyw Farfog, known in English in a corrupted form as Woolos the Warrior or Woolos the Bearded, was King of Gwynllwg in South Wales and is the legendary founder and patron saint of the City of Newport living around the 5th century. According to medieval tradition he was a feared warlord and raider who knew King Arthur, but later converted to Christianity and became a hermit, founding St Woolos Cathedral in Newport. He was the father of one of the most revered Welsh saints, Saint Cadoc the Wise.

Icon reproduced with kind permission of the iconographer, Aidan Hart.