Welsh Village Claims to be
the Birthplace of St. Patrick
By EIFION WILLIAMS
Although it is generally accepted that St. Patrick, according to his own account, was born in Britain, there has never been any conclusive proof as to the exact place of his birth. Suggestions have ranged from Dumbarton in Scotland to Northamptonshire and various parts of Wales and Cornwall.
Now the little village of Banwen in the Dulais Valley in South Wales has made a strong claim to being St. Patrick's birthplace. The village is so confident of its claim that it has unveiled a plaque commemorating the strong links between the Irish saint and Banwen and also holds an annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
St. Patrick himself said in his autobiographical Confessio that he came from Bannavem Taburniae, from which Banwen's name is thought to have been derived. He also said that the place was close to a Roman settlement.
Banwen is close to two Roman forts and is situated on the Roman Road (Sarn Helen) which ran from Neath to Brecon. This area of moorland on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park is believed to have been an important Roman settlement.
Local historian Tom Marston, in an interview with Robin Turner in the Welsh newspaper Western Mail, said, "Credibility is high and the biggest thing in Banwen's favour is that this legend has persisted for 1,500 years."
Marston, who has himself translated St. Patrick's Latin confessio, went on to say. "What struck me was one particular saying, 'I was picked a stone out of the bog,' because one of our most important geological features is the upland bog which separates Banwen from the village of Coelbren.
"The sentence is important because it is a play on words - Patrick is Celtic for Peter, which means stone."
Whether or not Banwen's claim to be the saint's birthplace is justified, the Neath Port Talbot Council hopes to attract to the area curious visitors from Ireland and ex-pats from all over the world. This would help boost tourism in an area that is still struggling to recover from the loss of the coal industry in the western valleys of South Wales.
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