A SMALL Welsh village is staking its claim to be the home of the patron saint of Ireland - by re-staging the kidnapping of St Patrick.

Banwen, in Neath Port Talbot, is staging the kidnapping this afternoon.

The village sits on the side of the Roman road Sarn Helen, and is claimed by some to be where St Patrick was brought up in a Roman family. it is also home to the Welsh St Patrick's memorial.

In his autobiography, the saint, who lived ,1500 years ago, tells how he was plucked from the bog by pirates in a place called Tabernae Bannavem, a place which today's village knows as Tafarn y Banwen or the Tavern at Banwen. The story was celebrated and championed by Banwen resident and former miner, 95 year old George Brinley Evans, who discovered the claim that Banwen was the original home of Patrick by reading a national magazine in the 1930s. Mr Evans has gone on to have a permanent memorial in the former mining village in the South Wales valleys.

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First minister Mark Drakeford attended this year's online St Patrick Day Celebration in Banwen on March 17 and said, "What better place could there be to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than in Banwen."

The village has teamed up with the Landscapes of Faith festival which celebrates stories of all the faith traditions in the landscapes of South Wales to create a re-staging of the kidnapping of St Patrick from the side of the Roman road that runs through the tiny hamlet, using professional Roman soldier re-enactors and community volunteers.

Roman soldiers from the historical group Comitatus marched through the village, with Roman cavalry, at 1.30pm, and shortly afterwards a band of Irish pirates made up of volunteers from Banwen Rugby Club kidnapped Patrick and his sister Darerca from the Welsh St Patrick memorial. The Roman soldiers gave short chase through the village and the pageant ended at the Banwen Rugby Club.

Following the pageant there was a short service of thanks for the life of St Patrick and his sister Darerca, and prayers given for all people through the ages and today who have been victims of slavery and human trafficking at St David's Church, Main Road, Banwen.