Saint Collen
Encyclopedia
Saint Collen was a 7th-century monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 who gave his name to Llangollen
Llangollen
Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.-History:...

 (from the Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 llan
Llan place name element
Llan or Lan is a common place name element in Brythonic languages such as Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Cumbric, and possibly Pictish. In Wales there are over 630 place names beginning with 'Llan', pronounced...

 meaning 'enclosure' and 'gollen' meaning 'Collen'). St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen
Llangollen
Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.-History:...

 by coracle
Coracle
The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...

 and founded a church beside the river there. As there are no other churches in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 dedicated to St. Collen, it is possible that this St. Collen may also have connections in both Colan, Cornwall
Colan, Cornwall
Colan is a village and civil parish in mid-Cornwall, UK. It is situated approximately three miles east of Newquay.Fir Hill Manor, which once belonged to the Hoblyn family of Colan, was the subject of a BBC Bristol documentary, The Curse of Fir Hill Manor...

 and Langolen
Langolen
Langolen is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.The commune takes its name from Saint Collen, a 7th-century monk who is associated with the town of Llangollen in Wales and also with Cornwall.-References:** ;...

, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

.
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