Brychan

Brychan's Irish ancestry in medieval texts mirrors the Irish presence in the region in the early medieval period. According to the De Situ Brecheiniauc, Brychan's mother was Marchell, a daughter of Tewdrig, who was sent to Ireland and married Anlach. They returned to Wales and Brychan was born at Benni, perhaps the Roman fort of Bannium which is probably that at Brecon Gaer, close to Aberyscir, near Brecon. Anlach was commemorated on an inscribed stone nearby at the Church of St Cattwg (Cadog, a grandson of Brychan by his daughter Gwladys), Llanspyddid. The relevant inscription on the stone is now lost but was recorded by Edward Lhuyd. A tentative (but unlikely) dedication to Anlach has been suggested for the church at Llanhamlach (dedicated to Peter and Illtud).

Medieval and early modern manuscripts list different numbers of children, and Nicholas Roscarrock's Lives of the Saints lists in excess of thirty daughters and thirty sons. Although identified as a king from mid-Wales, his tradition extends to Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Brittany and Ireland, with churches and holy wells dedicated to his many holy children in these places. Lists of his children were made by William of Worcester and John Leland from sources in the south-west of England in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.