David Richards (Dafydd Ionawr) David Richards (Dafydd Ionawr) David Richards (22 January 1751 – 12 May 1827), better-known by his bardic name Dafydd Ionawr, was a Welsh-language poet, born at Glanyrafon near Bryn-crug in the parish of Tywyn in Merionethshire (now Gwynedd), north-west Wales. He took an interest in poetry as a result of his acquaintance with Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir), who was curate of St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn, and was later sent to a school at Ystradmeurig to obtain a better education than was available locally. After a period as a junior schoolmaster in Wrexham, he spent one term at Jesus College,
History of the Welsh language However, although Welsh is the daily language in many parts of Wales, English is universally understood. Further, overall figures may be misleading and it might be argued that the density of welsh speakers (which, if high, leads to a thriving welsh culture) is an equally important statistic. Put another way, were 50,000 additional welsh speakers to be concentrated in areas where welsh is spoken by at least 50% of the population, this would be much more important to the sustainability of the welsh language than the same number dispersed in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea cities. In the 2011 census it