Brychan's birth year is often given in secondary sources as c.419 and he is said to have lived to a great age.
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Celtic hagiography tells us that Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun (Brycheiniog), which the couple later inherited. Upon his father's death, he returned to Garthmadrun and changed its name to Brycheiniog....
He is occasionally described as an undocumented saint but the traditional literature does not call him a saint, referring to him as a patriarch instead, and he has no churches named for him....
According to Christian tradition, Brychan was married three times – to Prawst ferch Tydwal, Banhadlwedd ferch Banadi, and Gwladys – and had a very large family. These wives are mentioned in several manuscripts, including those by William Worcester, John Leland, and Nicholas Roscarrock.... 2
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Brycheiniog
This small kingdom was founded as an offshoot of the Irish Déisi kingdom of Dyfed. It was centred on Garth Madryn in the modern Brecon Beacons with a chief settlement at Talgarth (or Talgar in the twelfth century), and it gained its name from that of its first independent king. Its territory in south-east Wales was neighboured to the north by Powys, to the east by Gwent, to the south by Cernyw (and later Glywyssing), and to the west by Dyfed.
The modern word 'Brecon' is the English version of Brycheiniog. As mentioned, the kingdom was named after King Brychen, which was taken from the word 'briych', meaning 'freckled'. The '-iog' suffix is roughly equivalent to the English '-ed', so the people here were roughly (and amusingly) the 'freckled of the freckled' - in other words, Brychen's followers.. Traditionally, Brychen himself was born in Ireland, the son of a minor tribal king named Anlach, and moved with his parents to Wales.... 3
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Brycheiniog
The Kingdom of Brycheiniog was an offshoot of Dyfed (Land of the Demetae), centred around Garth Madryn (Talgarth), it was founded (and named after) in the mid 5th century by Brychan, son of King Anlach of the Irish Deisi tribe (Waterford), who had peacefully taken control of the area by marrying Marchel, the heiress of Garth Madrun (There are ogham inscriptions on memorial stones in the area proving the presence of ethnic Irish within the kingdom). When Brychen was made king upon the death of this father, the area of Garthmadrun was renamed Brycheiniog in his. honour. Brychan fathered an extremely large number of children, many becoming saints in Wales and Cornwall. 4
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