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Today is St Hilary's Day. That is, the day dedicated to Hilary of Poitiers, who is remembered in the Roman church for playing a major part in eradicating Arianism. This I discovered only recently when I got to wondering who was the saint to whom Wallasey's parish church was dedicated. All l remembered being told from growing up there was that the dedication was a rarity and the only other one was in Cornwall.
Since then, I learned of the St Hilary in the Vale of Glamorgan. Indeed, all three churches may originally have been dedicated to the Breton missionary, St Elian, who founded a church in North Wales, but who was clearly not famous enough for a later church Establishment in England and Wales. Certainly, Elian's linguistic credentials are stronger than that of Bishop Hilary who does not appear to have visited these islands.
I would like to think that Wallasey, separated from the rest of Wirral by watercourses and marshland, was a redoubt of Welsh-speakers in the days of the early church.
2 comments:
The best ever has to be Pope Hilarius, who by many accounts was a miserable old sod.
More seriously, the interesting website
https://historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk/
lists three other churches in Wales dedicated to St Hilary, as well as the one in, um, St Hilary. There's 2 in the old county of Denbighshire, one at Llanelian-yn-Rhos which unsurprisingly now appears on the map as St. Elian, and the other at Erbistock which now appears to be spelled St. Hilery, with an "e". The third is at Llanilar in the old county of Cardiganshire.
There could well be others
Many thanks, gav.
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