Deiniol of Bangor

The Holy Hierarch Deiniol of Bangor (Deiniol, in Latin and English sometimes Daniel) is held, according to tradition, to be the first bishop of Bangor, in the kingdom of Gwynedd in Wales. He fell asleep in 584, according to the Annales Cambriae, or, more probably, in 572. His feast is on 11 September. In Brittany he is venerated as Saint Denoual.

Family and beginnings

According to a Latin Life of Deiniol, preserved in Peniarth MS 226 and transcribed in 1602 by Sir Thomas Williams of Trefriw, he was the son of Abbot (according to another source, of the king of the Northern Pennines) Dunod Fawr, son of Pabo Post Prydain. The family, having lost their land in the north of England, were given land by the king of Powys, Cyngen Glodrydd; Dunod, a very religious man, founded a monastery. Deiniol embraced the religious life and is said to have studied under Saint Cadoc of Llancarfan. Sir David Trevor describes him as one of the seven blessed cousins, who spent part of his early life as a hermit "on the arm of Pembrokeshire," but was called to be a bishop despite deficiencies in his formal education.

The monastery of Bangor

Soon he left Powys for Gwynedd, where he founded the monastery of Bangor, under the patronage of Maelgwn Gwynedd, who endowed it with lands and privileges, later raising it to the rank of the official seat of a bishop, sharing a common boundary with the principality of Gwynedd. He is said to have been consecrated to that see by Saint Dubricius in the year 516 (according to another source, at the synod of Llanddewi Brefi, by Saint David). He spent the rest of his days there as abbot and bishop. He attended the synod of Llanddewi Brefi, around 545, with Saint David, when the subject of rules for penance was being discussed. According to the Annales Cambriae, Deiniol died in 584 and was buried on Bardsey Island. It is possible that this date, like the dates given for the deaths of David and Kentigern, is twelve years later than it should be, in which case the correct date is 572.

Veneration

His cult in North Wales was quite extensive and several churches are dedicated to him, among them at Worthenbury near Wrexham, at Hawarden in Flintshire (and other churches in Flintshire), at Llangarron, Llanfor, Llanuwchllyn, Eyton and Itton; near Cardigan Bay lies the village of Llanddeiniol, "parish of Saint Deiniol," which was once the name of Itton. The church of Marchwiel is dedicated to him, and Itton in Monmouthshire and Llangarron in Herefordshire also have dedications. The Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol in Bangor, now of the Church in Wales, is dedicated to his name and is said to stand on the site of his monastery. In 1896 William Ewart Gladstone dedicated to Saint Deiniol a library, at Hawarden, in Flintshire. In the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for Wales and that of the Anglican Church in Wales he is commemorated on the traditional date of 11 September. His name may be referenced in the name of the hymn tune St. Denio ("Immortal, invisible").