Llanilar is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

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. Cer ...

, Wales, about southeast of Aberystwyth. It is the eponym of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Ilar. The population at the 2011 census was 1,085. The community includes

Rhos-y-garth Rhos-y-garth is a hamlet in the community of Llanilar, Ceredigion, Wales, which is 68.7 miles (110.6 km) from Cardiff and 174.7 miles (281.1 km) from London. Rhos-y-garth is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and is ...

Name

Welsh placenames The place-names of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significant features of ...

, many smaller communities are named for their parish ('' llan''), having grown up around the local church. This town's name honours its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, although it is disputed whether that is the church's presumed founder Ilar ( Welsh for " Hilary"), listed as a member of Cadfan's mission and a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

but now almost totally forgotten, or the more famous Hilary who was bishop of Poitiers in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and is still celebrated by the Anglican and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

churches in Wales.Baring-Gould, Sabine & al
''The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain'', Vol. III, pp. 299 f
Chas. Clark (London), 1908. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 25 Nov 2014. (The confusion is not helped by Edward Williams's numerous forgeries which he included in the ''

Iolo Manuscripts Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg (; 10 March 1747 – 18 December 1826), was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg" From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclop ...

''.)

History and amenities

There is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

site just to the east. The present village was built along the southern side of the scenic

River Ystwyth The River Ystwyth (; cy, Afon Ystwyth "winding river") is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. The length of the main river is . Its catchment area covers . Its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the west slopes of ...

and contains a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, Nonconformist chapel,

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, GP Surgery, and garage. The village post office is now closed but a mobile van visits several times during the week. St Hilary's Church (') has a large square tower, chancel, nave, and porch. In the porch is a hollowed stone for holding holy water and, above the door, there is an ancient beam with carved heads and animals inscribed with the words ''J.S. W.W.A. Church Wardens, 1683.'' Meyrick, Samuel Rush. (1907) ''The History of Cardiganshire''. Stephen Collard. pg. 284. Under the name "Church of St Ilar", it is a

grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

Llanilar railway station Llanilar railway stationRCAHMW
Retrieved : 2012-09-25 was on the

on the line from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth opened in 1867 and closed in 1964 following severe flooding in the Llanilar area.

Notable people

Saint Ilar In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, a putative Breton missionary and martyr *

Dai Jones David John Jones (18 October 1943 – 4 March 2022), known as Dai Jones Llanilar, was a Welsh language television presenter, singer and radio broadcaster. Early life David John Jones was born in Holloway, London, Middlesex, to a family of W ...

, a Welsh broadcaster who lived and farmed in Llanilar

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanilar and surrounding area: Llanilar Health Centre
Villages in Ceredigion {{Ceredigion-geo-stub