Owain I Gwynedd Prince of North Wales ^{1 2 3}

   Other names for Owain were Owain ap Gruffudd and Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd ap Rhys Prince of North Wales.

  Research Notes:

Second of Gruffudd ap Cynan's three sons.

Source: Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis and Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr, ed. by William R. Beall & Kaleen E. Beall, Baltimore, 2008, Line 176B-25 (Gladys) and 239-6, which states "(Arthur Jones, The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan (Manchester, 1910), a translation and analysis of a twelfth century biography of griffith, is the source for this pedigree, with details verified and amplified from the Irish Annals, especially the Annals of Innisfallen, of Ulster, and of the Four Masters)."

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From A History of Wales, p. 121:

"The Norman hold upon Deheubarth was especially fragile. There, Gruffudd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr and his wife Gwenllian were killed in an attack upon the invaders, but by about 1150 their sons had succeeded in seizing almost the whole of Ystrad Tywi and much of Dyfed. In 1153, they also took possession of Ceredigion where the power of the house of Clare had been extinguished in 1136 by the sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan. Owain ap Gruffudd--Owain Gwynedd, the ruler of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170--was the most promient of the sons of Gruffudd. He also took advantage of the 'Anarchy', largely at the expense of the earldom of Chester and the kingdom of Powys. When Henry II came to the throne, Rhuddlan, Ystrad Alun, Iâl and Tegeingl had fallen to Owain, and his realm extended almost to the walls of Chester. Although Poweys lost some of its northernmost commotes to Gwynedd, the 'Anarchy' gave its ruler the apportunity to capture the lordship of Oswestry. At the same time, the lordship of Usk became part of the territories of the descendants of Caradog ap Gruffudd, lords of Caerleon."
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From Wikipedia - Owain Gwynedd :

Owain Gwynedd (in English, "Owen") (c. 1100-November 28 , 1170 ), alternatively known by the patronymic "Owain ap Gruffydd". He is occasionally referred to as Owain I of Gwynedd, or Owain I of Wales on account of his claim to be King of Wales . He is considered to be the most successful of all the north Welsh princes prior to his grandson, Llywelyn the Great . He was known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from another contemporary Owain ap Gruffydd, ruler of part of Powys who was known as Owain Cyfeiliog . Owain Gwynedd was a member of the House of Aberffraw , a descendant of the senior branch from Rhodri Mawr .


Owain's father, Gruffydd ap Cynan , was a strong and long-lived ruler who had made the principality of Gwynedd the most influential in Wales during the sixty-two years of his reign, using the island of Anglesey as his power base. His mother, Angharad ferch Owain , was the daughter of Owain ab Edwin . Owain was the second of three sons of Gruffydd and Angharad.

Owain is thought to have been born on Anglesey about the year 1100. By about 1120 Gruffydd had grown too old to lead his forces in battle and Owain and his brothers Cadwallon and later Cadwaladr led the forces of Gwynedd against the Normans and against other Welsh princes with great success. His elder brother Cadwallon was killed in a battle against the forces of Powys in 1132, leaving Owain as his father's heir. Owain and Cadwaladr, in alliance with Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth , won a major victory over the Normans at Crug Mawr near Cardigan in 1136 and annexed Ceredigion to their father's realm.


Owain had originally designated Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd as his successor. Rhun was Owain's favourite son, and his premature death in 1147 plunged his father into a deep melancholy, from which he was only roused by the news that his forces had captured Mold castle. Owain then designated Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd as his successor, but after his death Hywel was first driven to seek refuge in Ireland by Cristin's sons, Dafydd and Rhodri, then killed at the battle of Pentraeth when he returned with an Irish army. Dafydd and Rhodri split Gwynedd between them, but a generation passed before Gwynedd was restored to its former glory under Owain's grandson Llywelyn the Great .


Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd (from first wife Gwladys (Gladys) ferch Llywarch)
Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd , Lord of Ynys Môn
Gwenllian ferch Owain Gwynedd
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (from second wife Cristina (Christina) ferch Gronw)
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd
Angharad ferch Owain Gwynedd
Margaret ferch Owain Gwynedd
Iefan ab Owain Gwynedd
Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd , Lord of Meirionnydd (illegitimate)
Rhirid ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Cynwrig ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Gwenllian II ferch Owain Gwynedd (also shared the same name with a sister)
Einion ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Iago ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Ffilip ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Cadell ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Rotpert ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Idwal ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Other daughters

Owain married Gwladys verch Llywarch, daughter of Llywarch ap Trahaearn and Dyddgu of Builth.

Owain next married Christina verch Gronw ap Owen ap Edwin, daughter of Gronw ap Owen ap Edwin and Unknown.

  Marriage Notes:

Married outside the church, as Christina was Owain's cousin