HONOURED AT LAST

Thanks to the devotion and perseverance of Sr Celsus, a Sister of St Joseph of Annecy, of Llantarnam Abbey, a public tribute was at last paid locally to Jesuit Martyr, St David Lewis. On Saturday, 17th November 2007, the Vicar General of Cardiff Archdiocese, Very Rev Canon Robert Reardon, himself a Cwmbran boy, unveiled a plaque at the Old Post Office, Llantarnam, the home of Mr and Mrs John O'Neill. Fr John Meredith, then Parish Priest of Cwmbran, blessed the plaque. Mr Stephen Brooks, K S S, was Master of Ceremonies. The plaque marks the site of the arrest of St David Lewis in 1678. In a corner of their front garden, John O'Neill and his wife, Wendy, have built a lovely Garden of Remembrance. Its focal point is the metal ring that once marked the site of the old smithy and the place of the martyr's arrest. The long overdue event was well attended by people from Cwmbran and surrounding area and Sister David Lewis S S J A, came from Devizes, Wiltshire, to be present at this service in honour of her Patron Saint.

THE METAL RING (A TYRING RING) WHICH ORIGINALLY MARKED THE SITE OF THE OLD SMITHY