Ilid

Saint Ilid is a semi-⁠legendary saint of Wales, about whom few and uncertain reports survive.

At times he has been identified with Joseph of Arimathea, perhaps because he is called a "man of Israel" and was said to have been born a Jew. He is said to have returned from Rome with Caratacus, Saint Cyllin and Eigen, and they formed a religious college of twelve called Cor Eurgain ("the choir of Eurgain"), a sign of the early entry of Christianity into Britain. His memory may be kept in the name of the village of Llanilid, whose church bears the dedication of Saints Ilid and Curig; according to Thomas Morgan, Ilid brought the faith to Wales in the first century. These ideas are linked to the literary forger Iolo Morganwg, who spun elaborate tales about Ilid. R. W. D. Fenn showed in 1962, from the Book of Llandaff and Nennius, that the name may denote a district, not a person, and that the church at Llanilid was at first dedicated to Saint Julitta and Quiricus. He is commemorated on 30 June. His veneration is local, without synodal canonization, and his existence as a person remains uncertain.