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20th April
Born this day 1893 in Nebraska (his paternal great-grandparents were Welsh)
Harold Lloyd, film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies.
Early in his career, he lost most of his right hand in an accident with a bomb, but went on to perform all of his own hair-raising stunts, including the iconic hanging from the hands of a clock in "Safety Last!" He made more films than Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin put together, and was dubbed "the king of daredevil comedy."
Died this day 1176, Strongbow (Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke)
Strongbow was a Cambro-Norman lord notable for leading the Norman invasion of Ireland, later becoming Lord of Leinster and Justiciar of Ireland.
1148 His father died and he inherited the title Earl of Pembroke.
1167 Diarmait Mac Murchada was deposed as King of Leinster and in order to recover his kingdom, he travelled to Wales and solicited the help of de Clare in exchange for the hand of Aoife, Mac Murchada's eldest daughter in marriage and the succession to Leinster.
1169 Strongbow's army included Welsh archers and landed near Bannow, County Wexford on 1st May. They were massively outnumbered but were able to kill 500 of their opponents and take 70 prisoners and in quick succession took the Viking towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin.
1171 (May) Diarmait died and Strongbow became the new king of Leinster. Henry II of England was concerned about Strongbow's growing power in Ireland and later that year he arrived with an army and forced Strongbow to supply 100 knights for the service of the crown in return for control of his land.
1171 (26 August) Strongbow married Aoife in Waterford; one of their daughters, Isabel, went on to marry William the Marshall, who later became the Earl of Pembroke as her consort.
1176 Strongbow died, he was first interred in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral but is now buried in Ferns Cathedral, Wexford.
Alice was the lover of a Norman Marcher Lord, who took her with him during Strongbow's invasion of Ireland in 1170 and was killed in action. In revenge, Alice took an axe and beheaded all 70 of the Irish prisoners that had been taken during the battle, throwing their bodies over a cliff.
‘The Song of Dermot and the Earl’, describes the incident.
Today is the feast day of Saint Beuno.
Saint Beuno, c. 640 was born at Berriew in Powys, the grandson of a prince. After education in the monastery of Bangor on Dee, he became an active missionary, going as far as Somerset, but eventually founded an abbey at Clynnog Fawr on the Llyn Peninsula. He performed numerous miracles, among them restoring St.Winifred's head after she was beheaded.
Born this day 1957 in Swansea,
Geraint Wyn Davies , stage, film and television actor and a director. He moved with his family from Haverfordwest to Canada when aged seven and is best known for his portrayal of Nick Knight in the Canadian television series Forever Knight.
Born on this day 1938 in Port Talbot,
Andrew Vicari , an artist who has established a career painting portraits of the rich and famous, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where he has been the official painter to the Government and King.
The controversy surrounding the date of Easter;
Easter does not fall on a fixed date, but on the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox. However, the Celtic Church of the Early Middle Ages in Wales had developed its own method of the dating of Easter, and refused to conform to Archbishop Augustine's demand in 597 that the papal method be used.
Over the following century, when most of the churches in the Celtic-speaking lands came to accept the Roman Easter, Wales was the only territory still refusing to conform. Th English historian Bede claimed in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People in 731, that the Welsh "upheld their own bad customs against the true Easter of the Catholic Church."
Easter Eggs
The word Easter comes from the Saxon Ēastre and the pagan goddess Eostre, both of which connect to the growing sun and new birth. Many cultures around the world use the egg as a symbol of new life and rebirth.
Easter egg traditions;
* The oldest tradition is to offer gifts of dyed and painted chicken eggs, but the modern custom is to substitute them with chocolate eggs.
* Schoolchildren in North Wales would go from house to house, clapping their hands or wooden clappers, chanting the following words as they went: "Clap, clap, gofyn wy, i hogia' bach ar y plwy" (beg an egg on the parish, children).
* The tradition of egg- rolling, taken to America by European settlers, symbolises the rolling away of the stone from Christ's tomb.