Enghenedl of Anglesey

The Holy Enghenedl, Patron of Llanynghenedl in Anglesey

Righteous

Enghenedl (7th century by the calendar under which he is commemorated) is the patron of Llanynghenedl — "the church of Enghenedl" — in western Anglesey, Wales. His surviving record is exactly that: the church dedication that carries his name. A late Welsh pedigree, resting on sources contaminated by the Iolo Morganwg forgeries, makes him a son of Cynan Garwyn, prince of Powys; the old festival at Llanynghenedl was kept on Quinquagesima Sunday, while Orthodox England and the Antiochian GB&I calendar keep him on September 30. Nothing more is known.

The surviving record of Enghenedl is a church dedication and a late pedigree; it permits no biography, and what follows is the whole of it.

The church of Llanynghenedl, under Llanfachraeth in the west of Anglesey, bears his name, and no other church is recorded as dedicated to him. Orthodox England's notice states the record with precision: "A church in Anglesey in Wales was dedicated to him."

The pedigree given by Baring-Gould and Fisher makes Enghenedl the son of Cynan Garwyn, prince of Powys, the son of Brochwel Ysgythrog, and brother of Selyf Sarffgadau, who succeeded Cynan and fell at the battle of Chester in 613. This descent rests, by their own citations, on the Iolo MSS and the Myvyrian Archaiology — sources contaminated by the forgeries of Iolo Morganwg and treated in this corpus as unreliable unless independently attested; no independent attestation was found. If the pedigree were sound it would place Enghenedl in the late sixth and early seventh century, which agrees with the "7th C" of the calendar line. Baring-Gould and Fisher themselves dismiss a further claim of Pritchard's (1872) that Enghenedl was "prince of the British armies under Cadfan" at the battle of Chester: "no credence can be given" to it.

Nothing whatever is transmitted of his deeds, his manner of life, or his death.

Feast and commemoration

September 30 (church date; Old Calendar civil October 13). The witness for this commemoration in the Antiochian GB&I layer is the St Constantine York calendar, whose line for this day reads "St. Enghenedl of Anglesey (7th C)." Orthodox England keeps the same day; the old local festival on Quinquagesima Sunday is recorded under Disputed questions. He does not appear on the OCA's September 30 page (checked live 2026-07-29). No proper service is known; the common of the type applies (see references/common-readings.md).

Iconography

No image of Enghenedl is known to this entry — no mediaeval representation, no attribute, no Orthodox icon was found in the sources consulted. He is listed in the the list of icons still being sought index with no current leads.

Disputed questions

Day. The festival at Llanynghenedl was kept on Quinquagesima Sunday, as Baring-Gould and Fisher report from Nicolas Owen (1775) and Angharad Llwyd (1833); Orthodox England and the York calendar keep September 30. Which, if either, preserves a mediaeval fixed feast cannot be determined; the divergence is recorded, not resolved.
Date. No source transmits any date for him; the 7th century of the calendar line is consistent only with the flagged pedigree above.