The people of Wales celebrate their own version of Valentine’s Day earlier than the rest of the UK, on the 25 January. St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, and she is honoured with her own commemorative day when people might do something special with their loved one and exchange cards and gifts, such as a Welsh lovespoon.

Who was St Dwynwen?

Dwynwen was said to be the daughter of a Welsh King called Brychan Brycheiniog, who lived in the Brecon Beacons during the 5^th century. She was the most beautiful of the king’s 24 daughters, and she fell in love with a prince named Maelon. Unfortunately, Dwynwen’s father would not grant permission for her to marry her prince.

Dwynwen was so heartbroken by this that she prayed to God to be released from all memories of her lover. She was sent an angel who offered her potion that would make her forget Maelon. Dwynwen drank the potion willingly, desperate to be released from her sadness and emotional torment.

The jilted lover Maelon was said to have turned his passion to anger upon being told the couple could not marry. As a consequence of Dwynwen drinking the potion, Maelon was turned into a block of ice, and thus his anger and passion were permanently extinguished.

This was not the result that Dwynwen had intended, and when God offered her a chance to make amends in the form of three wishes, she gladly complied. Her first wish was that Maelon be released from the ice; her second was that God should offer his favour to all true lovers in the world, and her third was that she should never marry.

God honoured all three of Dwynwen’s wishes, and in return, she devoted herself to the spiritual life and became a nun. She settled on the Isle of Anglesey off the coast of North Wales and became a hermit nun. She lived in a church on Llanddwyn Island, which is mostly accessible by foot from Newborough Beach, which lies on the south west Anglesey coast.

The ruins of St Dwynwen’s church is still a pilgrimage site today, and over the centuries, the legend of St Dwynwen came to be celebrated. Despite being unfortunate in love herself, her greater sacrifice and pure hearted wish that God should favour all true lovers is honoured on the 25 January every year.

If you are visiting Wales yourself this year, it’s well worth paying a visit to this beautiful and romantic place, where you can view the stunning Snowdonia mountains in the distance. The Newborough Beach is flanked by sand dunes that are home to rare species and wild ponies, and there are miles of forest walks to discover along the coastline.

The Isle of Llanddwyn is accessible via a peninsula in all but the highest of tides, and as well as the legendary church, you will find some charming pilot’s cottages and a lighthouse.