Saint Canna

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Canna
St Canna's Church, Llangan.JPG
St Canna's Church, Llangan
Died6th century
Wales
Feast 25 October

Canna was a sixth-century mother of saints and later a nun in south Wales, to whom two Welsh churches are dedicated.

Contents

Life

According to the writings of the unreliable Iolo Morganwg, Canna was a daughter of King Tewdwr Mawr of Armorica (modern-day Brittany) and Cornwall. She was the mother of Crallo and Elian. [1]

Canna was reputedly the sister-in-law and cousin of Illtud, and possibly established the church at Llangan, near Llantwit, due to its proximity to him. She married Sadwrn, her first cousin or uncle; together they accompanied Saint Cadfan to Britain and founded two churches, one in Carmarthenshire and another in Anglesey. [2]

Veneration

St Canna's Church, Carmarthenshire St Canna's Church - geograph.org.uk - 472084.jpg
St Canna's Church, Carmarthenshire

At St Canna's Church in Carmarthenshire, there was a holy well below the old church called Ffynnon Ganna, whose water was believed to have curative properties and was a site of pilgrimage for many centuries. The holy well is no longer extant. There was also a stone known as Canna's Chair, with an undated inscription possibly reading CANNA, in a field near the churchyard. [2]

Her name also appears as part of two Cardiff districts: Canton (English translation of the Welsh Treganna, Saint Canna's Town); and Pontcanna (Welsh for Canna's Bridge). [3]

Canna's feast day is celebrated on 25 October. [4]

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References

  1. Price, Thomas (1848). Iolo Manuscripts: A Selection of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, in Prose and Verse, from the Collection Made by the Late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, for the Purpose of Forming a Continuation of the Myfyrian Archaiology; and Subsequently Proposed as Materials for a New History of Wales. W. Rees; sold by Longman and Company, London. pp. 534, 536.
  2. 1 2 Archaeologia Cambrensis: a record of the antiquities of Wales and its Marches and the journal of the Cambrian Archaeological Association. Vol. 3 (4th ed.). Cambrian Archaeological Association. January 1872. pp. 235–239.
  3. "The Placenames of the Cardiff District". Reports and Transactions. Vol. 32–33. Cardiff Naturalists' Society. 1901. p. 39.
  4. Jones, David Daven (1910). The Cymry and their church. Carmarthen: W. Spurrell. pp. 114–115.