290 



From an analysis of the nomenclature, the reasonable conclusion to bo drawn 

 is, that there was in early British times a Church dedicated to St. Patrick, and 

 that upon the rebuilding of the edifice in the Uth century in honour of St. Ishaw, 

 the Church consecrated by Bishop Herewald became the Church of St. Patrick 

 and Ishaw, as it was very usual to dedicate churches to several saints. There 

 are churches in Wales under the name of " Llantrissant," or "The Church of the 

 three Saints," from this circumstance. Indeed, Hereford Cathedral is itself an 

 illustration, being dedicated to St. Mary and St. Ethelbert, the name of the latter 

 saint having, no doubt, been added upon the rebuilding by Offa, in e.xpiation of 

 the murder of Ethelbert. 



In the Thesaurus Rerum Ecdcsiasticarum of John Ecton, revised by Browne 

 Willis, published in 1754, Patricio appears as a Chapel attached to the Rectory of 

 Llanbedr, as its Mother Church. The entry is as follows : — " Llanbedr R. (cum 

 Patriceo Capella. St. Patricius) St. Peter, Duke of Beaufort, Patron"; i.e., the 

 Rectory of Llanbedr with the Chapel of St. Patricius, under the patronage of the 

 Duke of Beaufort. The Living was valued at £16 17s. 6d. in the King's books, 

 with yearly tenths of £1 13s. 2d. 



It may be observed that, in the Catalogue of Cambro-British Saints, there 

 are two persons named Patrick. The iirst, who lived in the 5th century, is 

 recorded in Hughes' Horce Britannicce as having been born at Llwchwr in Car- 

 marthenshire, and to have been Principal of the College of Iltutus, or Iltyd, at 

 Llantwit Major, in Glamorgan. He was a companion of Germanus, Bishop of 

 Auxerre, who came over to assist in the suppression of Pelagianism, which was 

 then spreading throughout the .ancient British Church. He ultimately removed 

 to Ireland, to assist in the spread of Christianity in that island, and became the 

 Patron Saint of Ireland. 



The second Patrick lived about the latter end of the 7th century, and is men- 

 tioned in The Pedigrees of the Saints as the son of Alfred, the son of Gronwy, of 

 Wareddawg, in Arvon, or Carnarvonshire. 



It is probable, that the Patrick or Patricius to whom this Church was dedi- 

 cated, was the Irish Patrick, from his connection with South Wales, and this 

 circumstance marks the great antiquity of the spot in its dedication to Christian 

 worship. 



We must not forget that the early Britons possessed a complete Ecclesiastical 

 system for centuries anterior to the mission of the younger Augustine and 

 Theodore of Tarsus to the Anglo-Saxon people, and that this district formed a 

 portion of that included in the Archiepiscopal Province of Caerleon upon Usk, 

 extending over the ancient Roman division of Britannia Secunda, i.e., west- 

 ward of the rivers Severn and Dee, and comprising within its jurisdiction the 

 Bishopric of Hereford, Llandaflf, St. David, Llanbadarn, St. Asaph, Bangor, and 

 probably Llaudewi Brevi and Margam, both of which were Collegiate Churches 

 of considerable note. 



There are two other Churches under the invocation of St. Patrick, in Wales, 

 viz. : — Pencarreg, in Carmarthenshire, and Llanbadrig, in the Isle of Anglesea. 



This Church of Patricio, as has been already observed, lies upon the route of 



