Saint Dogmael (or Docmael, Dogfael, Dogmeel, Dogwel, Toel) was a 6th-century Welsh monk and preacher who is considered a saint. His feast day is 14 June.[1]
Dogmael (or Dogfael, Dogwel) was of the house of Cunedda, descended from the kings of Wales, and was the son of Ithel ap Ceredig ab Cunedda Wledig. His grandmother was Saint Meleri, daughter of Saint Brychan. Dogmael became a monk, and seems to have concentrated his preaching in Pembrokeshire,[2] where there are a number of churches dedicated to him.
The following of Dogfael is reflected in a number of churches in what is now north Pembrokeshire. Based on the locations of his churches, Dogmael's cult was centered to the south of the River Teifi in the Dyfed communities of Cemais and Pebidiog.[3]
St Dogmael's Abbey, now ruined, stands on a hillside above the Teifi. It was founded in 1120 by Robert fitz Martin and his wife Maud Peveril. It contains the traditional site of St Dogmael's grave.[4]
The village of St Dogmaels is on the south side of the Teifi, facing Cardigan;[3] St Dogmaels is named in Welsh Llandudoch. Other churches include Capel Degwel nearby, St Dogwell's near Fishguard and the Church of St Dogfael, Meline. Llanddogwel (Llanddygfael) in Anglesey is also dedicated to the saint.[3]
Butler's account
The hagiographer Alban Butler wrote in his Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, under 14 June,
St DOCMAEL, C. Dom. Lombineau, in his lives of the Saints of Brittany (p.9), was at a loss to discover who this saint was. But the English and British calendars inform us, that he flourished in Pembrokeshire, in the sixth century. By his fervour in the practice of all virtues, especially prayer and penance, he was a living instance of the maxim laid down by St. Bernard, (Serm.25 in Cant. n.8) that "the humiliations of the cross are sweet to a soul which is sensible of what she owes to him who was crucified for the love of her." Ah! shall we set any bounds to our endeavours to love him every day and in every action with greater and greater fervour, seeing we shall never be able to love him so much either as he deserves or as he loves us, base and defiled as we are! St. Docmael is titular patron of the church of Pomerit-Jaudy, in the diocess of Trequier, in Brittany, where he is honoured under the name of St. Toël. See Chatelain, p. 295.[5]
St Dogmaels is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the estuary of the River Teifi, a mile downstream from the town of Cardigan in neighbouring Ceredigion. A little to the north of the village, further along the estuary, lies Poppit Sands beach. The parish includes the small settlement of Cippyn, south of Cemaes Head.
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