{{Short description|Welsh 6th century saint}} {{hatnote|In Welsh and Croatian sources, 'Saint Ilar' may also refer to Saint Eleri, Hilary of Poitiers, Pope Hilarius, or Hilarion.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox saint |name=Saint Ilar |birth_date= |death_date=6th century |feast_day= 13, 14, or 15 January (lapsed) |venerated_in= |image= Eglwys S. Ilar, Llanilar-by-OLU.jpg |imagesize= 300px |caption= St Hilary's Church in Llanilar |birth_place= |death_place= |titles= Martyr |canonized_date=Pre-Congregation |attributes= |patronage= Llanilar<br />Trefilan |major_shrine= |suppressed_date= |issues= }} A '''Saint Ilar''' ({{IPA|cy|iːlɑr|}}; {{langx|la|Hilarus}} or ''{{lang|la|Elerius}}''<ref name=meno>Stanton, Richard. ''A Menology of England and Wales: Or, Brief Memorials of the Ancient British and English Saints Arranged According to the Calendar, Together with the Martyrs of the 16th and 17th Centuries'', p. 703. Burns & Oates, 1892.</ref>) is listed among the 6th-century saints of Wales<ref name=robby/><ref name=ojo/> and is the probable namesake of Llanilar in Ceredigion<ref name=rees/><ref name=sabi>Baring-Gould, Sabine & al. [https://archive.org/stream/livesofbritishsa03bariuoft#page/328/mode/2up ''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.</ref>{{refn|Wade-Evans, A.W. "Parochiale Wallicanum" in ''Y Commrodor'', Vol. XXII, p. 62. Honorable Society of Cymmrodorion (London), 1910. Cited in Bartrum.<ref name=bart/>}}{{refn|"Bonedd y Saint" in the ''Myvyrian Archæology'', p. 426, cited in ''Notes & Queries''.<ref name=nnq>Unnone, T.C. [https://books.google.com/books?id=12EEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA106 ''Notes & Queries'', 5th Series, Vol. III, No. 58, p. 106]. J. Francis (London), 6 Feb 1875.</ref>}} and its former hundred of Ilar. His feast day is variously given as 13, 14, or 15 January,<ref>Baring-Gould & al., [https://archive.org/stream/livesofbritishsa01bariuoft#page/70/mode/2up Vol. I, p. 70].</ref> but is no longer observed by either the Anglican<ref name=angie>The Church in Wales. "[http://cinw.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/english.pdf The Book of Common Prayer for Use in the Church in Wales: The New Calendar and the Collects] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215000631/http://cinw.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/english.pdf |date=15 December 2014 }}". 2003. Accessed 18 Nov 2014.</ref> or Catholic church in Wales.<ref name=cats>The Catholic Church in England and Wales. "[https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/2015/Nov.shtml Liturgy Office: November 2015]". Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, 2014. Accessed 18 Nov 2014.</ref>
==Name and Identity== Although he has been consistently conflated with Saint Hilary of Poitiers<ref name=sabi/><ref name=bart>Bartrum, Peter C. [https://www.llgc.org.uk/fileadmin/fileadmin/docs_gwefan/casgliadau/Drych_Digidol/Deunydd_print/Welsh_Classical_Dictionary/07_H-LL.pdf ''A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000'', p. 438]. National Library of Wales, 1993.</ref><ref name=cabri/><ref>Carlisle, Nicholas. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ATITAAAAQAAJ&pg=PT7 ''A Topographical Dictionary of the Dominion of Wales'', Glossary, p. xxxvi.] W. Bulmer & Co. (London), 1811.</ref><ref>Edmunds, Flavell. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BLhSAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA47 ''Traces of History in the Names of Places: with a Vocabulary of the Roots out of which Names of Places in England and Wales are Formed'', Rev. ed., p. 47]. Longmans, Green, & Co. (London), 1872.</ref> and shares a similar saint's day (Hilary's being observed on the 13th<ref name=angie/><ref name=cats/>), the Welsh saint is often listed separately as '''{{lang|cy|Ilar Bysgotwr}}'''{{refn|Compare the Latin ''{{linktext|piscator}}''.<ref name=nnq/>}} ("Hilary the Fisherman").{{refn|Morris, Lewis. "Alphabetic Bonedd" ({{abbr|BL|British Library}} Add. {{abbr|MS.|manuscript}} 14 928 {{abbr|fo.|folio}} 36v.). Printed in ''The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales'', 2nd ed., p. 426. (Denbigh), 1870. Cited in Bartrum.<ref name=bart/>}}<ref name=ojo>Jones, Owen. ''{{lang|cy|Cymru: yn Hanesyddol, Parthedegol a Bywgraphyddol}}'' [''Wales: Historical, Topographical, and Biographical''], Vol. I, p. 676, 1875 {{in lang|cy}}, cited in ''Y Cymmrodor'', Vol. XXVII, p. 139. Society of Cymmrodorion, 1917.</ref><ref name=rees/><ref name=cabri>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tnEEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA269 "Genealogy of the Saints" in ''The Cambro-Briton'', Vol. III, p. 269.] Simpkin & Marshall (London), Mar 1822.</ref> He is also given the epithets '''{{lang|cy|Ilar Droedwyn}}''' ("Hilary Whitefoot") and '''{{lang|cy|Ilar Ferthyr}}''' ("Hilary the Martyr").<ref name=sabi/> The bishop of Poitiers, meanwhile, was a confessor and died peacefully.
Saint Hilary's own connection with Wales arose from confused accounts that he ordained Saint Cybi as a bishop, although the two were separated by two centuries.<ref>Newell, Ebenezer Josiah. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yOBOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA58 ''A History of the Welsh Church to the Dissolution of the Monasteries'', p. 58]. E. Stock (London), 1895.</ref><ref>Haddan, Arthur West & al. (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=YmQAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA159 ''Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain'', Vol. I, {{abbr|App.|Appendix}} E: "Legendary Lives Exist of the Following British Saints, A.D. 450–700", p. 159.] Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1869.</ref> Baring-Gould suggests this may have arisen from a confusion between Hilary and Cybi's relative Saint Elian,<ref>Baring-Gould & al., [https://archive.org/stream/livesofbritishsa02bariuoft#page/202/mode/2up Vol. II, pp. 203 f.]</ref> and some of the dedications to either saint may have originally been in honor of him.<ref name=wallaby>History of Wallasey. "[https://www.historyofwallasey.co.uk/wallasey/Wallasey_Churches_Wallasey_Village/index.html History of Wallasey Churches]". 2014.</ref> Another Saint Hilary, the 5th-century Pope Hilarius, was credited in Welsh legend with ordaining Saint Elvis, who in turn baptized Saint David, the patron saint of Wales.
==Life== thumb|right|Saint Ilar, 'St Hilary's Church', Llanilar, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion,Ilar is a very obscure saint and few details survive apart from his name.<ref>Reiter, Geoffrey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ohqKnFU-kSsC&pg=PA75 "'An Age-Old Memory': Arthur Machen's Celtic Redaction of the Welsh Revival in ''The Great Return''" in ''Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy'', No. 33: ''Welsh Mythology and Folklore in Popular Culture'', p. 75.] McFarland & Co. (Jefferson), 2011.</ref> Surviving records name Saint Ilar as a Breton companion of Padarn<ref>Davies, J. Ceredig. [http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/browse/viewpage/llgc-id:1177372/llgc-id:1177588/llgc-id:1177658/getText "Brittany and Cardiganshire" in ''Transactions and Archaeological Record'', Vol. I, No. 4, p. 40]. Bridge Press (Lampeter) for the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, 1914.</ref> and Cadfan's<ref name=robby>Williams, Robert. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yIZRAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA242 ''Enwogion Cymru: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen from the Earliest Times to the Present and Including Every Name Connected with the Ancient History of Wales'', p. 242]. Longman & Co. (London), 1852.</ref><ref name=jolo>"Genealogies of the British Saints", supposedly from the book of Thomas Hopkin of Coychurch (1670), cited in the [https://books.google.com/books?id=48NcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA506 ''Jolo Manuscripts'', p. 506], although note that the ''Iolo Manuscripts'' are marred by Edward William's forgeries and spurious additions to their content.</ref> 6th-century mission to Wales. He may have come from Armorica.<ref name=meno/> The parishes bearing his name are to the south of Tywyn (credited to Cadfan) but near some credited to Padarn. As a martyr, he may have been killed by the pagan Irish or Saxon invasions of the time.
==Legacy== thumb|left|The church at Trefilan In addition to the parish church at Llanilar, the church at Trefilan in Ceredigion near Lampeter is also dedicated to Saint Ilar or Hilary, the name of the community having been corrupted from an original ''{{lang|cy|Tref Ilar}}'' ({{abbr|lit.|Literally}} "Town of Ilar").<ref>Llwyd, Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=hblVAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA88 "Topographical Notices &c."] in Powell & Wynne's translation of Caradoc's ''History of Wales'', Rev. ed., p. 88. J. Eddowes (Shrewsbury), 1832.</ref> The Church in Wales also administers churches dedicated to Saint Hilary at Erbistock in Wrexham, Killay in Swansea, and the village of St Hilary near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan.<ref>Church in Wales. "[http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/structure/places/churches/ Churches] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116095814/http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/structure/places/churches/ |date=16 November 2014 }}". 2014.</ref> Rees and others considered all of the churches of "Saint Hilary" possible remnants of dedications to Ilar.<ref name=meno/><ref name=rees>Rees, Rice. [https://books.google.com/books?id=H8IclDShLSYC&pg=PA224 ''An Essay on the Welsh Saints or the Primitive Christians Usually Considered to Have Been the Founders of Churches in Wales'', p. 224]. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman (London), 1836.</ref> Despite a conflicting account in the ''Iolo Manuscripts''<ref name=jolo/> and the ''Enwogion Cymru'',<ref name=robby/> Baring-Gould opined that the church at Cowbridge was certainly dedicated to the French saint.<ref name=sabi/>
The 15th-century poet Lewis Glyn Cothi mentions ''gwyl Ilar hael a'i loer hir'' ("the festival of generous Ilar with his long moon") in his work.<ref name=sabi/>
Saint Ilar, his holy well and legends, and his accidental replacement by the French bishop Hilary appear in Arthur Machen's 1907 short story "Levavi Oculos"<ref>Machen, Arthur. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AEk9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA923 "Levavi Oculos" in ''The Academy'', Vol. LXXIII, pp. 923 ff.] {{nowrap|H. E.}} Morgan (London), 1907. Hosted at Google Books.</ref> and its reworked form as part of his 1922 novel ''The Secret Glory'',<ref>Machen, Arthur. [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35637/35637-h/35637-h.htm ''The Secret Glory'', II, iii]. Alfred A. Knopf (New York), 1922. Hosted at the Gutenberg Project.</ref> about a schoolboy's encounter with the Holy Grail of Welsh and Arthurian legend.
==See also== * Saint Eleri, sometimes given as "Saint Ilar"
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:ILAR}} Category:6th-century Welsh people Category:Medieval Welsh saints Category:6th-century Christian saints