St. Gowan of Wales
(also known as Govan, Goven, Cofen)
5th century. Gowan, wife of King Tewdrig of Glamorgan, gave her name to
the parish of Llangoven, Monmouthshire, and to a chapel in Pembrokeshire
(Benedictines).
St. Maughold, Apostle of the Isle of Man
(Maccul, Macaldus, Mawgan, Morgan)
Died c. 488.
Saint Maughold was an Irish prince and reputedly a captain of robbers
who was converted by Patrick. Upon his conversion, he became a new man
by putting on the spirit of Christ. One version of the legend says that
Patrick told him to put to sea in a coracle without oars as a penance
for his evil deeds. Another says that he set sail in order to avoid the
temptations of the world. In both stories, he retired to the Isle of Man
(Eubonia) off the coast of Lancashire, England.
Earlier Patrick had sent his nephew, Saint Germanus, as bishop to plant
the Church on the island. Germanus was succeeded by Saints Romulus and
Conindrus during whose time Maughold arrived on the island and began to
live an austere, penitential life in the mountainous area now named
after him Saint Maughold. After their deaths, Maughold was unanimously
chosen as bishop by the Manks.
In one of the 18 parish churchyards on the island can be found Saint
Maughold's well. The very clear water of the well is received in a large
stone coffin. Those seeking cures of various ailments, particularly
poisoning, are seated in the saint's chair just above the well and given
a glass of well-water to drink. Maughold's shrine was here until the
relics were scattered during the Reformation.
Maughold, commemorated in both the British and Irish calendars, is
described in the Martyrology of Oengus as "a rod of gold, a vast ingot,
the great bishop MacCaille." Many topological features on the Isle of
Man, which he divided into 25 parishes, bear Maughold's name. A church
at Castletown, Scotland, is dedicated to him. William Worcestre said
that he was a native of the Orkneys, and that his shrine was on the Isle
of Man (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth,
Montague).
