St David of Wales

Saint David is the only Welsh saint to be canonized and culted in the Western Church. He has been the patron saint of Wales since the 12th century, but very little is known about his life. He died in 589 or 601 after founding a monastery in the area of Pembrokeshire which now bears his name, and living an austere life devoted to God.

He is first to be found in an Irish ‘Catalogue of Saints’ dating from around 730 and by 800 his feast day was determined as March 1st. By the 9th century he had gained the name Aquaticus because he and the monks of his establishments were supposed to have drunk only water. Their regime included manual labour, study and worship.

There are more than fifty Welsh churches dedicated to Saint David and these are all in south Wales. The greatest concentration is in the south west and seems to have spread eastwards along what remained of the Roman road system of Wales.