View source for Cynog ap Brychan

{{Infobox saint
| name             = Saint Cynog or Canog of Wales
| image            = 
| caption          = Martyr
| birth_date       = c. 434 AD
| birth_place      = Wales
| death_date       = 5th century AD
| death_place      = Wales
| death_cause      = martyrdom
| venerated_in     = Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox church
| feast_day        = 7 October
| attributes       = A young man with gingery hair, a Celtic tonsure and a torc holding a palm
| patronage        = Kilmacanogue, County Wicklow}}


{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}
{{coord|52.025327|-3.480438|display=title}}

[[File:SaintCynog1.png|thumb|Drawing of a [[church (building)|church]] [[Stained glass|stained-glass window]] depicting Saint Cynog.]]'''Cynog son of [[Brychan]]''' ({{lang-cy|Cynog ap Brychan}}; born c. 434), also known as '''Saint&nbsp;Cynog or Canog'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Online |first=Catholic |title=St. Canog - Saints & Angels |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2587 |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=Catholic Online |language=en}}</ref> ({{lang-owl|Kennauc}}), was an early [[Welsh people|Welsh]] saint and martyr. His shrine is at [[Merthyr Cynog]] in [[Wales]] and his feast day is observed on 7<ref>Moran, Patrick. ''[https://archive.org/details/irishsaints00morauoft Irish Saints in Great Britain]''. Gill (Dublin), 1879. Accessed 9 Feb 2013.</ref> or 9<ref>Tristam, Simon K. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=mKRMFO19_5gC&pg=PA425 Exciting Holiness]''. Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2007. Accessed 9 Feb 2013.</ref> October. In Ireland he is known as ''St. Mocheanog''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-03 |title=Kilmacanogue |url=https://wicklowuplands.ie/kilmacanogue/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=Wicklow Uplands |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Life==
Cynog was reportedly the son of [[Brychan|St. Brychan]], a powerful [[Welsh (people)|Welsh]] prince of the [[Sub-Roman Britain|British Dark Ages]], and [[Benadulved]], daughter of [[Benadyl]], a prince of [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]], whom Brychan seduced while a hostage at the court of her father.<ref name="visionofbritain.org.uk">[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp;jsessionid=C38A36A0500F1F9C3F762D6E4846D204?t_id=Cambrensis_Tour&c_id=4 Vision of Britain: Gerald of Wales, The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, Chapter 2]</ref>

As a young man he enjoyed hunting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Matthew Franklin |date=2019-10-07 |title=The Heavy Anglophile Orthodox: Holy Monk-Martyr and Confessor Cynog of Powys |url=https://heavyangloorthodox.blogspot.com/2019/10/holy-monk-martyr-and-confessor-cynog-of.html |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=The Heavy Anglophile Orthodox}}</ref> He later became a hermit priest and a travelling missionary who founded various churches in Wales, Ireland and Brittany before settling back in Wales as a [[hermit]]. St. Cynog by his prayers is said to have banished a tribe of giant [[Human cannibalism|cannibals]] or ''ormests''<ref>{{Cite web |title=EBK: St. Cynog |url=http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/cynog.html |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.earlybritishkingdoms.com}}</ref> who lived in the mountains and terrorised a local community in Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EBK: St. Cynog |url=http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/cynog.html |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.earlybritishkingdoms.com}}</ref> He was also a cheerful doer of the humblest tasks which earned him the enmity of some jealous monks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EBK: St. Cynog |url=http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/cynog.html |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.earlybritishkingdoms.com}}</ref> 

He was murdered on the mountain called ''the Van'' ([[Bannau Brycheiniog]]) while living with a community of hermits who became jealous of his holiness and resentful of his admonitions against their [[Sloth (deadly sin)|slothfulness]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=EBK: St. Cynog |url=http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/cynog.html |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.earlybritishkingdoms.com}}</ref> He was regarded as a martyr and his relics are housed at [[Merthyr Cynog]].

==His Torc Relic==
In 1188, [[Gerald of Wales]] wrote that there still existed a certain relic purported to be a royal [[torc]] that had once been worn by Cynog, presumably as an item of [[Crown Jewels|royal regalia]]. Gerald encountered this relic while travelling through [[Brycheiniog]]. He wrote of this relic:

{{quote|Moreover I must not be silent concerning the collar which they call St. Canauc's; for it is most like to gold in weight, nature, and colour; it is in four pieces wrought round, joined together artificially, and clefted as it were in the middle, with a dog's head, the teeth standing outward; it is esteemed by the inhabitants so powerful a relic, that no man dares swear falsely when it is laid before him: it bears the marks of some severe blows, as if made with an iron hammer; for a certain man, as it is said, endeavouring to break the collar for the sake of the gold, experienced the divine vengeance, was deprived of his eyesight, and lingered the remainder of his days in darkness.|Gerald of Wales|The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, Chapter II <ref name="visionofbritain.org.uk"/>}}

The detailed description, which, though not easy to interpret, points, in the opinion of [[T. D. Kendrick|Sir T. D. Kendrick]], to its probably being Welsh or Irish work of the Viking period, i.e. the 10th or the 11th century.<ref name=lloyd/>

==Veneration==
He is chiefly commemorated in Brycheiniog, where Defynnog, [[Ystradgynlais]], Penderyn, Battle, [[Llangynog]], and  Merthyr Cynog, are all named after him, the last being reputed his place of burial.<ref name=lloyd>[http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-CYNO-APB-0500.html Lloyd, John Edward. "Welsh Biography Online", National Library of Wales]</ref>

==Veneration in Ireland==
Saint Cynog is believed to have spent time in Ireland where he was known as Mochonog or Mocheanog (literally meaning m''o-chean-og -'' 'my young Canoc').{{cn|date=June 2023}} He founded an ancient church at Kilmacanogue in County Wicklow.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-03 |title=Kilmacanogue |url=https://wicklowuplands.ie/kilmacanogue/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=Wicklow Uplands |language=en-GB}}</ref> Some sources claim that he was a disciple of St. Patrick<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kilmacanogue Essential Tips and Information |url=https://trek.zone/en/ireland/places/275187/kilmacanogue |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=Trek Zone |language=en}}</ref> and that he baptised the children of Lir. A national school in Bray has been named in his honour<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-12 |title=Saint Mochonog's National School {{!}} R755, Bray |url=https://education2.ireland724.info/en/saint-mochonogs-national-school-353-1-286-1934.html |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=education2.ireland724.info |language=en}}</ref> According to tradition his brother was St. Mochorog or ''Mo-Goroc''<ref>{{Cite web |title=EBK: Name |url=http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/articles/brychild.html |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.earlybritishkingdoms.com}}</ref> who was also active in Wicklow and founded churches at Kilmacurragh, Delgany and Enniskerry.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-03 |title=The Greystones Guide {{!}} Kilmacurragh House & Gardens |url=https://www.greystonesguide.ie/kilmacurragh-house-and-gardens/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=The Greystones Guide |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* "[http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/cynog.html St. Cynog]" at Early British Kingdoms


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cynog ap Brychan}}
[[Category:Monarchs of Brycheiniog]]
[[Category:Medieval Gaels]]
[[Category:5th-century Irish monarchs]]
[[Category:5th-century Welsh monarchs]]
[[Category:Medieval Welsh saints]]
[[Category:Children of Brychan]]
[[Category:Torcs]]
[[Category:History of Powys]]
[[Category:5th-century Christian saints]]