Grwst the Confessor

Saint Grwst the Confessor was a missionary in the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd in the sixth or seventh century, and is reckoned the founder of Llanrwst, whose name preserves his own.

He is said to have been the son of Gwaith Hengaer, prince of Rheged (in present-⁠day Cumbria), and of Euronwy, princess of Din Eiddin (Edinburgh), thus a great-⁠grandson of King Urien. He may have come to Wales in the 540s at the urging of King Maelgwn Gwynedd, who granted charters to missionaries to set up their cells across his kingdom; hence the title of Confessor. The genealogies, however, would place him at the beginning of the seventh century. His festival, Gwyl Rwst, is held on 1 December, and in the sixteenth century a fair was held at Llanrwst on his day.

He is a saint of the undivided Church and is commemorated on 1 December (New Calendar).