Saint Melangell
Gender: Female
Year of birth: Unknown
Year of repose: 590AD
Feast day: 27th May
St Melangell was born the daughter of an Irish king, and being promised in marriage to a nobleman, she escaped to become a hermit. Living in this remote part of central Wales for 15 years, she did not meet another man until the prince of Powys, Brochwel Ysgithrog, stumbled upon her during a hare hunting trip. The hare he was chasing ran into a thicket, in which St Melangell was sheltering, and hid itself under her robes. The prince, startled by her beauty and devotion vowed to give her the land on which she was living and banned hunting in that valley in perpetuity. The Saint founded a community of women, serving as abbess for 37 years.