Ceitho was an

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

and a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

living in

West Wales West Wales ( cy, Gorllewin Cymru) is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheuba ...

in the 6th Century. According to legend he was one of the five sons born to Cynyr Barbtruc ( cy, Cynyr Farfdrwch) of

Cynwyl Gaeo Cynwyl Gaeo is a parish and community located in rural Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the boundary with Ceredigion, in the upper Cothi valley about halfway between Lampeter and Llandovery. The population of the village at the United Kingdom Census ...

, and a descendant of the ancient Welsh king

Cunedda Wledig Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' ( 5th century), was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the Royal dynasty of Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of western Europe. Name The name ''Cunedda'' (spelled ''Cunedag ...

. Along with his brothers

Gwynno Gwynno, or Gwynnog ab Gildas, is the name of a 6th-century Welsh saint Archives at the Vatican record that his festival is 26 October; that he is regarded as a confessor; and that there is said to be a sacred well, Ffynnon Wyno, associated with L ...

, Gwynoro, Celynin, and Gwyn, he became a saint. The five brothers are said to have founded the village

Llanpumsaint Llanpumsaint (; Welsh "Llan" church + "pum" five + "saint" saint(s)) is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In the 2001 UK Census, Llanpumsaint community had a population of 595. It is not to be confused with Pumsaint, a small vill ...

. Ceitho is also the patron Saint of

Llangeitho Llangeitho is a village and community on the upper River Aeron in Ceredigion, Wales, about four miles (6 km) west of Tregaron and north of Lampeter. Its population of 874 in 2001 fell to 819 at the 2011 census. Nonconformism The village is lin ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

, and is said to have founded an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in which he secluded himself to live as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

. Near the village can be found Ceitho's Spring, a natural spring which is said to run cold in summer and warm in winter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceitho, Saint Children of Cunedda 6th-century Christian saints 6th-century Welsh people Medieval Welsh saints