Saint Canna
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Saint Canna was a 6th century mother of saints and eventual nun in south Wales.
Canna was supposedly a Breton princess, the daughter of King Tudur Mawr, nephew of King Arthur[1]. She came to Wales with her husband, Saint Sadurn, and their son, Saint Crallo. Sadurn left her, however, to become a hermit on Anglesey and she remarried and became the mother of Saint Elian Geimiad[1]. However, these details of her early life are known only from the writings of the unreliable Iolo Morganwg. In later life, she certainly seems to have become a nun and lived at Llangan, Pembrokeshire[1]. She also founded churches at Llangan, Glamorgan where she was deemed important enough to have her image carved into the church cross. The nearby Ffynnon Ganna, Canna's Holy Well, was a site for pilgrimage for many centuries after her death[2]. Her name also appears as part of two Cardiff suburbs: Canton (English translation of the Welsh Treganna, 'Saint Canna's Town'); and Pontcanna (Welsh for 'Canna's Bridge')[2]. Canna's Feast day is celebrated on the 25 October[1][2].
A Masonic Lodge No. 6725, within South Wales Eastern Division, is named after Saint Canna[3].
