TRAHAEARN GOCH OF LLEYN
By Darrell Wolcott
The traditional pedigrees of this
man make him the son of Madog ap Rhys Gloff descended from Rhys ap Tewdwr. But the earliest version of that
pedigree[1] does not call him "Goch" nor say he was "of Lleyn". Instead, it speaks of a Trahaearn ap Madog ap Rhys Gloff
ap Rhys Fychan ap Gruffudd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr as a junior branch of the ruling family in Deheubarth. Since the families
which descended from Trahaearn Goch of Lleyn suggest he was born c. 1235, that pedigree fails chronologically by one generation.
Amended medieval pedigrees[2] were circulated to "cure" that shortcoming, these making Rhys Gloff a son of Gruffudd[3] ap Lord Rhys and calling this Rhys Gloff "Lord of Cymydmaen in Lleyn". Since
the Deheubarth royal family held lands nowhere near Lleyn in Gwynedd, the medieval historians[4] asserted that the father
of Rhys Gloff had married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of one Gruffudd, Lord of Cymydmaen (the southernmost commote
in Lleyn). No further identification of her family was offered.
Whether the father of Rhys Gloff
was Rhys Fychan, as claimed by the older pedigree, or a son of Lord Rhys as cited by the emended version, no manuscript
sources cite such a marriage for either man. In fact, such a lady and her supposed father are wholly absent from the
body of early pedigree material. That "Lord of Cymydmaen" was, we believe, a fabrication seeking to explain the
presence of Trahaearn Goch in Lleyn. Our research led to a completely different conclusion: that two men named Trahaearn
ap Madog were confused by the 16th century genealogists, men who lived a generation apart and in very different parts
of Wales.
Peniarth Ms 131, pp 104 written
by Gutun Owain c. 1475 cites "Ieuan Goch ap Dafydd Goch ap Trahaearn Goch of Lleyn"[5], and Peniarth Ms 127, pp 56 written
by Sir Thomas ap Ieuan ap Deicws c. 1510 cites "Trahaearn ap Madog ap Rhys Gloff ap Rhys Fychan ap Gruffudd ap Rhys ap
Tewdwr". These two independent citations were incorrectly linked in Dwnn ii, 280 and Harleian Ms 1972, 127r where Trahaearn
ap Madog was equated to Trahaearn Goch of Lleyn. Should we reject such a linkage, it is not necessary to emend either
family to fit the chronology nor to explain finding a Deheubarth family in Lleyn:
1051
Rhys ap Tewdwr, ob 1093
l
1085 Gruffudd, ob 1137
l
1130 Rhys Fychan*
l
1165 Rhys Gloff
l
1195
Madog
l
1225
Trahaearn 1205
Madog
l
(Deheubarth
family) 1235 Trahaearn Goch
l
1270 Dafydd Goch
l
1300 Ieuan Goch, lv 1352
(Lleyn family)
*a younger brother of
Lord Rhys
The 1352 Record of Caernarfon
confirms that the family of Trahaearn Goch was prominent in the commote of Cymydmaen in Lleyn. The jury which assessed
lands there contained at least six men who were grandsons of Trahaearn Goch, and its foreman was probably another[6]. Land owned
by Ieuan Goch in Cymydmaen is described in that manuscript as being "in the wele Rhys ap Seisyllt" and it is a fair
assumption the owners named in 1352 were lineal descendants of a man of that name. Accordingly, we consider that Rhys[7] a
better choice as the grandfather of Trahaearn Goch than the Rhys Gloff of Deheubarth. Our timeline would appear thusly:
1140 Seisyllt
l
1175 Rhys
l
1205 Madog
l
1235 Trahaearn Goch
In a search for the probable father
of the Seisyllt at the top of our pedigree, we turn to the descendants of Merwydd ap Collwyn ap Tangno known to have held
Lleyn in the 11th century[8]. The 1352 Record of Caernarfon lists Llewelyn ap Dafydd ap Llewelyn as another Cymydmaen
land owner, and pedigrees[9] say he was descended from Genillin ap Meirion Goch. One also suspects the gene for red
hair was dominant in this family, yielding several men nicknamed "Goch". Chronologically, Seisyllt would occur in the same
generation as Cynwrig ap Genillin in the foregoing pedigree; accordingly we would see him as another son of Genillin:
1010 Collwyn ap Tangno
l
1040 Merwydd Goch
l
1070 Meirion Goch
l
1100 Genillin Farchog
________________l_____________
l l
l
1135 Cynwrig other
children Seisyllt 1140
(to Llewelyn ap Dafydd)
(to Trahaearn Goch)
The marriages usually assigned
to Trahaearn Goch and to his "father and grandfather" actually belong to the similarly-named men in the Deheubarth family,
as can be seen by the timeline:
995 Tewdwr Mawr Cadwgan
ap Elystan 1020
l
l
1023 Tewdwr Idnerth
1050 Iestyn ap Gwrgan 1045
l
l
l
1051 Rhys
Madog 1080 Caradog 1080
l
l
l
1085 Gruffudd
Cadwallon 1113 Dafydd 1110
l
l
l
1130 Rhys Fychan
Maelgwn 1142 Einion 1145
l l
l
1165 Rhys Gloff[10]==Gwerfyl
1175 Gronwy 1175
l l
1195
Madog[11]=========Tangwystl 1210
l
1225 Trahaearn===lady of Fferlys*
*Cited in Dwnn ii, 175
as Gwerfyl ferch Madog ap Meurig ap Madog descended from Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan Glodrydd. Her linkage to
Inderth is incomplete and the only way to estimate her birthdate is by her husband (who is usually identified as Trahaearn
Goch of Lleyn)
The fact that all
these wives are ladies from the southern part of Wales adds to the belief the men they married were from the Deheubarth family,
not the Gwynedd men with similiar names.
Trahaearn Goch of Lleyn is generally
credited with a son called Ithel Talfrith, but solely based on citations which call the father of that man a Trahaearn Goch.
Not only was Ithel Dalfrith born a full generation earlier than the Trahaearn Goch of Lleyn, he was a Powys man with lands
in Ystrad Alun[12]. However, the Ithel Felyn of Lleyn cited as the father of Ieuan[13] would occur c. 1265 and was probably
the eldest son of Trahaearn Goch; we suspect he was also the father of Ithel Ddu, the foreman of the 1352 jury which assessed
lands in Cymydmaen.
NOTES:
[1] Pen. 127, 56. Later citations in Pen. 128, 156 and Pen. 176, 221 added
the "Goch" nickname and "of Lleyn" for his residence.
[2] Dwnn ii, 175 & 280 and Harl. Ms 1972, 127
[3] The Dwnn citations in Note 2 say Gruffudd ap Lord Rhys, while the Harleian
version says Rhys Fychan ap Lord Rhys
[4] J.Y.W. Lloyd "The History of Powys Fadog", vol v, pp 230, note 2 says "Rhys
Fychan married Margaret, d. and heiress of Gruffudd, Lord of Cymytmaen. Her arms were assumed by Trahaearn Goch, her
great-grandson". Neither Papworth's 'Ordinary of Arms', nor Siddons 'The Development of Welsh Heraldry' assign the arms
to anyone earlier than Trahaearn Goch of Lleyn. Thomas Glenn, "Welsh Founders of Pennsylvania", vol ii, pp 73 says,
when speaking of Cymydmaen "that these lands had been part of the possessions of one Gruffudd, father of one of the wives
of Rhys Fychan, seems certain". Glenn's source was probably "Powys Fadog"; that the claim "seemed certain" to him is
simply more evidence of his sloppy work. He makes Trahaearn Goch 6th from Lord Rhys, which would date him to c. 1310/20
[5] Pen. 128, 281a extends the pedigree to Trahaearn Goch ap Madog"
[6] The jury foreman is only identified as Ithel Ddu, whom we suspect was a son
of Ithel Felyn ap Trahaearn Goch
[7] If the man for whom Wele Rhys ap Seisyllt was named was also called Rhys
Gloff (the lame), the incorrect attachment of Trahaearn Goch to the Deheubarth family would be easier to understand
[8] See the paper "The Betrayal by Meirion Goch Revisited" at the link below:
[9] Pen. 177, 118 & 126 & 141; and Pen. 134, 157 cite Llewelyn ap Dafydd
ap Llewelyn ap Tudor ap Iorwerth ap Cynwrig ap Genillin Farchog
[10] This marriage is cited in Dwnn ii, 175
[11] This marriage is cited in Harl. 5835 and Dwnn ii, 175
[12] We believe Ithel Talfrith was a son of Trahaearn ap Iorwerth of Garthmyl,
a man some called "Goch" although it was his grandson who bore that nickname. Ystrad Alun was part of the paternal lands
of this c. 1170 Trahaearn, who descended from Llewelyn Aurdorchog, Lord of Ial and Ystrad Alun.
[13] Pen. 176, 400 cites Ieuan ap Ithel Felyn of Lleyn
