What is "cynllo"

Saint Cynllo is a British saint, who lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. His feast day is on 17 July.

He is variously described in the genealogical Bonedd y Saint as a brother of Saint Teilo or a grandson of Coel Hen. Wade-Evans thought he should be identified with Kentinlau who accompanied Saint Cadfan from Brittany to Ceredigion.

Cynllo's knee imprints are said to exist in a rock, near the farm Felin Gynllo, which lies just outside Llangoedmor in Ceredigion. A Middle Welsh poem attributed to the infant Taliesin includes the line, "Not an empty treasure is the prayer of Cynllo" (Ni bydd coeg gweddi Cynllo).

There are other churches in Ceredigion commemorating saint Cynllo at Llangynllo and Nantcwnlle, and also the church of St Cynllo in the community of Nantmel in the county of Powys (formerly Radnorshire). The latter was almost totally rebuilt in the late 18th century.