I've been working on my genealogy and decided it was time to find on a map where my Great-Great Grandparents on my father's side (Lewis and Cecilia (Howe) Griffiths) came from in Wales. This has been very educational and involved me needing to learn about the Welch language and some history. Wikipedia was so helpful that I donated to them.
The study is based on the few entries transcribed from John D. Rees' journal in 1867 while he was on his mission. He describes going to the Griffiths' home and finding the two new babies to have died and the father, Lewis Griffiths, to be ill. He died shortly after that and John D. Reese then mentions thee funeral and the where the burial took place. The journal uses the old Welch spelling for the church where the burial took place, Llansantffraed in Abercynffig, whereas today's maps use the anglicized spelling, Llansantffraid Church in Aberkenfig.
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Early 1900's photo of Llansantffraid Church in Aberkenfig and cemetery where Lewis Griffiths was buried
(possibly also the two children who died the same year)
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| Same church more recently (grounds not being kept) |
Llansantffraid means the following: Llan = parish, place, or church; Sant = Saint; Ffraid = Bride. The name of the town of Aberkenfig where the church is means: Aber = mouth of or confluence of; kenfig = stream.
Here is a map showing the districts.
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| Ancestral Region is Circled |
Who is this Saint Bride?
She was an Irish saint known as Saint Brigid (or Brigit) of Kildare. She happened to have the same name as a Celtic Goddess so it is not clear if stories of her miracles are confused with stories of the goddess. Here are just a few of her many reported miracles:
Brigit was known to turn water into milk or beer for the curing of Easter.
When she was a teenager, Brigit was trying to go see Saint Patrick but was slowed up by the crowd. To get through, she healed people along the way.
Brigit helped a distressed wife by giving her a love potion for her husband.
One of the more commonly told stories is of Brigid asking the King of Leinster for land. She told the king that the place where she stood was the perfect spot for a convent. It was beside a forest where they could collect firewood and berries. There was also a lake nearby that would provide water and the land was fertile. The king laughed at her and refused to give her any land. Brigid prayed to God and asked him to soften the king's heart. Then she smiled at the king and said "will you give me as much land as my cloak will cover?" The king thought that she was joking and, hoping to get rid of her, he agreed. She told four of her sisters to take up the cloak, but instead of laying it flat on the turf, each sister, with face turned to a different point of the compass, began to run swiftly, the cloth growing in all directions. The cloak began to cover many acres of land. "Oh, Brigid!" said the frighted king, "what are you about?" "I am, or rather my cloak is about covering your whole province to punish you for your stinginess to the poor." "Call your maidens back. I will give you a decent plot of ground." The saint was persuaded, and if the king held his purse-strings tight in future, she had only to allude to her cloak to bring him to reason. Soon afterwards, the king became a Christian, began to help the poor and commissioned the building of the convent. Legend has it, the convent was known for making jam from the local blueberries which was sought for all over Ireland. There is a new tradition beginning among followers of St Brigid to eat jam on 1 February in honour of this miracle.[20][21]
