Helig ap Glanawg
Helig ap Glanawg is a legendary figure described in various accounts dating to at least as early as the 13th century as a 6th-century prince who lived in North Wales.
Post-medieval tradition says that the river Conwy once reached the sea by the Great Orme, Llandudno, and to the west lay the great cantref of Gwaelod which stretched all the way to Puffin Island, off Anglesey. Helig ap Glanawg was said to have lived here when his land was inundated by the sea, which formed the Lavan Sands which lie between the Great Orme's Head and the Menai Strait off the north coast of Gwynedd. The legend states the remains of Llys Helig, said to be his palace but in fact the remnants of a glacial moraine, can be seen at exceptionally low tides, this being near the Conwy channel, about a mile or so off the coast at Penmaenmawr. The earliest known use of the name Llys Helig for this rock formation is the Halliwell Manuscript, published in 1859, which is believed to date to around the beginning of the 17th century, eleven centuries later.
Sons
After the disaster both Helig and his numerous sons are said to have embraced a religious life. These sons, according to various sources, were:- Celynnin, who has a church dedicated to him at Llangelynnin in the Conwy valley, and there is another at Llangelynnin near Llwyngwril, a few miles south of Llanaber
- Rhychwyn, the saint associated with St Rhychwyn's Church, Llanrhychwyn
- Bodfan, to whom the church at Llanaber, in Gwynedd, is dedicated
- Brothen, who founded St Brothen's Church, Llanfrothen
- Peris, who founded the churches at Llanberis and Nant Peris
- Boda and Gwynin, who founded the church at Dwygyfylchi, near Penmaenmawr