Dogfael

Saint Dogmael (or Docmael, Dogfael, Dogmeel, Dogwel, Toel) was a 6th-century Welsh monk and preacher who was considered a saint. His feast day is 14 June.

Dogmael (or Dogfael, Dogwel) was of the house of Cunedda, descended from the kings of Wales, and was the son of Ithel ap Ceredig ab Cunedda Wledig. His great grandfather was Saint Brychan. Dogmael became a monk, and spent some time preaching in Pembrokeshire. He then moved to Brittany. He is said to help children learn how to walk.

The following of Dogfael is reflected in a number of churches in what is now north Pembrokeshire.Based on the locations of his churches, Dogmael's cult was centered to the south of the River Teifi in the Dyfed communities of Cemais and Pebidiog.

The village of St Dogmaelsis on the south side of the Teifi, facing Cardigan. St Dogmael's Abbey, now ruined, stands on a hillside above the Teifi. It was founded in 1120 by Robert fitz Martin and his wife Maud Peveril. It contains the traditional site of St Dogmael's grave. The church of St Dogmaels is named in Welsh Llandudoch, where "Tudoch" seems to be a diminutive form of Dogfael. Other churches include Capel Degwel nearby, St Dogwell's near Fishguard and the Church of St Dogfael, Meline. Llanddogwel (Llanddygfael) in Anglesey is also dedicated to the saint.

The monks of St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, wrote in their Book of Saints (1921),

DOGMÆL (DOCMÆL) (St.) (June 14)
(6th century) A holy hermit in Pembrokeshire who flourished early in the sixth century and to whom several churches were dedicated.

The hagiographer Alban Butler wrote in his Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, under June 14,

St DOCMAEL, C. Dom. Lombineau, in his lives of the Saints of Brittany (p.9), was at a loss to discover who this saint was. But the English and British calendars inform us, that he flourished in Pembrokeshire, in the sixth century. By his fervour in the practice of all virtues, especially prayer and penance, he was a living instance of the maxim laid down by St. Bernard, (Serm.25 in Cant. n.8) that "the humiliations of the cross are sweet to a soul which is sensible of what she owes to him who was crucified for the love of her." Ah! shall we set any bounds to our endeavours to love him every day and in every action with greater and greater fervour, seeing we shall never be able to love him so much either as he deserves or as he loves us, base and defiled as we are! St. Docmael is titular patron of the church of Pomerit-Jaudy, in the diocess of Trequier, in Brittany, where he is honoured under the name of St. Toël. See Chatelain, p. 295.