Saint Canna

Saint Canna was a 6th-century mother of saints and nun in south Wales.

St Canna's Church, Carmarthenshire

According to the writings of the unreliable Iolo Morganwg, Canna was a daughter of the Breton King Tudur Mawr.[1]

She went to Wales with her husband Sadwrn and their son Crallo. After the death of Sadwrn, she remarried and became the mother of Saint Elian Geimiad.[2]

She seems to have become a nun and lived at Llangan, Pembrokeshire: at Llangan, in the Vale of Glamorgan, she was deemed important enough for her image to be carved on the church cross. The nearby Ffynnon Ganna, Canna's Holy Well, was a site for pilgrimage for many centuries after her death.[3]

Her name also appears as part of two Cardiff districts: Canton (English translation of the Welsh Treganna, 'Saint Canna's Town'); and Pontcanna (Welsh for 'Canna's Bridge').[4]

Canna's Feast day is celebrated on the 25 October.[2]

A Masonic Lodge No. 6725, within South Wales Eastern Division, is named after Saint Canna.[5]

References
  1. Iolo Manuscripts: A Selection of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, in Prose and Verse, from the Collection Made by the Late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, (Thomas Price, ed.), Longman and Company, London, 1848, p. 534
  2. Proja, Giovanni Battista. "Santa Canna", Santi e Beati, August 10, 2007
  3. BBC. "Reading the Ruins". History Wales. BBC. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
  4. Matthews, J. Hobson. "Placenames of the Cardiff District", Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society, Volumes 32-33, 1901, p. 39
  5. Helion Lodge. "Guestbook". Helion Lodge, Huntsville, Alabama. Helion Lodge. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
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