THE STORY OF ST CYBI
St. Cybi was an important Celtic Saint who founded a monastic settlement within
'Caer Gybi,' the Roman Fort named after him. Although you will not find him in the
major lists of saints, he is recognised as a 'Pre-congregational saint,' beatified and
canonised by patriarchs and local devotees. He has a place in the Universal Calendar
of the Western Church. In 480 AD Kebius, Cuby or Cybi was born in KernowCornwall, at Callington close to Plymouth. His father was Selyf, a Cornish Chieftain
and great grandson of Cystennin Gorneu, thought to be the grandfather of King
Arthur. Cybi's mother was Gwen, sister of Non, the mother of St. David, so Cybi was
first cousin to our patron Saint. His mother was the descendant of Vortigern,
(Gwrtheryd) a British Chief of the early 5th Century. As a young man he declined to
succeed his father and became a Christian monk. Being of a rich Romano-British
family he would have been well-educated.
With ten disciples he crossed to Gaul, travelling and founding churches.
Eventually he returned across the Channel, landing in Cornwall. He must have
escaped unwelcome attentions from those who thought he wanted to reclaim his
father's territory. He managed to found more churches. The first was at Tregony. He
lived in a cell next to a well.
There is a Cuby's Well there to this day. This is the modern church on the site, in the
Parish of St. Cuby the Abbott. From here he would have undertaken missions to the
surrounding countryside. One of his outposts where another church bears the name of
St. Cuby is at Duloe, pictured on the left.
He is also remembered as Cubyus at the Church of St. James, Lew Trenchard in
Devon. His portrait is on the Rood Screen. He moved to Morgannwg, South Wales
and founded two churches in Usk. There is a Llangybi there today. He did not get on
with King Edelig so left and spent three days with his cousin David at Mynyw,
(Menevia)-St. David's. With his disciples he set sail for Ireland and joined an
important Irish Celtic religious centre on the bleak island of Arran, Galway Bay.
Presiding here was St. Enda at Cill Éine and Cybi's oratory may well have been at
Teaghlach Éinne. They stayed on Inis Mór for four years, living alongside the Irish
monks and building his small oratory.
They may have dwelt in clocháns which are a feature of this island.
Four of his disciples are named.
They are Llibio; Peulan, the brother of Gwenfaen the Rhoscolyn saint; Maelog of
Llanfaelog and Cyngar, Cybi's uncle. All have churches on Anglesey. St Cyngar's
church is at Llangefni.
Cyngar was older and had lost his teeth. A milking cow was kept to provide him with
food and this caused a major dispute between Cybi's group and the Irish monks. First
of all Maelor dug the ground too close to the entrance of a leading Irish monk's cell.
Crubthir Fintan became angry and then furious when the cow raided his vegetables.
He called on God to blot Cybi out of the island. Cybi decided to leave, cursing Fintan,
'May God destroy him out of this island!' Cybi's group crossed to the mainland and
settled briefly at Mochop, near Artaine in Meath.
He impressed the monks by fasting for forty days and nights. He was accepted but
Fintan heard about this and pursued them, driving them out.
Cybi made two more attempts to settle in Kildare but again Fintan harassed them.
Cybi prayed, 'May all thy churches be deserted and may never be found three
churches singing at thy altar in all Ireland!' Perhaps it was answered because nothing
further was heard of Fintan. Dejected they crossed the Celtic sea to the Lleyn
Peninsular. Cybi settled at Llangybi, near Pwllheli, where he set about preaching and
converting the local population. The Holy Well and the small Church of St. Cybi are
still there on the site. One story is that Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd granted him all
the land that a goat could encircle in one day. Maelgwn's hounds pursued it and it
returned to Cybi. At the same time Maelgwn banished one of his disciples, Caffo,
because he was the brother of Gildas who had slighted him. Caffo was martyred at
Rhosyr where local shepherds killed him. Cybi's stay on the Lleyn was not destined to
last. It was not long before he quarrelled with the locals and they threw him out! He
appealed to Maelgwn Gwynedd, whose palace was at Deganwy, and he granted him
the use of the abandoned Roman fort at Pentre Gwyddel, known later as Caergybi,
then Holyhead. Another version is that Cybi was forced to ask Caffo to depart from
him, because of Maelgwn's hostility. Maelgwn engineered his martyrdom. Cybi was
furious and extracted the right to use the Caer as a form of penance for the blood of
Caffo. So Cybi and his followers came to Holyhead and founded the first Church of St
Cybi within the fort. This was the start of a monastic settlement known as a Clâs. It
was founded in 540 AD and remained a religious centre of that kind until the
Reformation in the 16th Century. One of the most famous stories of our quarrelsome
saint is his friendship with St. Seiriol, whose oratories were at Penmon and on Puffin
Island, the opposite corner of Anglesey.
An Icon at the Russian Orthodox Church at Blaenau Ffestiniog shows both these
saints at the wells of Clorach in the centre of Anglesey. This hangs also at the Chapel
of St. David in St. Cybi's Church. Cybi would travel regularly to Clorach to meet
Seiriol. On his journey in the morning he would face the sun, as he would returning in
the evening. Seiriol had his back to the sun both ways. They were known as 'Seiriol
Wyn a Chybi Felyn.' (White Seiriol and Tawny Cybi) Cybi continued his ministry
here to the end of his life.
It is not clear whether he was made a bishop, though one source gave him the
prestigious title of 'Archbishop of Gwynedd.'
The monastery was important and it was said Cybi was consulted about doctrine,
including the differences between the Celtic and Roman Churches- this before the
Synod of Whitby which was held after Cybi's death. In the year 554 AD, at the age of
84, Cybi died. “The Angels came and took the most Holy Soul of Cybi to Heaven.”
He left a legacy of his cult which exists today. He is venerated here and at several
Churches elsewhere in Wales, Devon and Cornwall. His relics were taken from the
Clâs in 1405 during Owain Glyndwr's rebellion.
Twelfth Century Church at its height under the reign of Owain Gwynedd before the
conquest of Edward I