The Rhondda Parish

The Rhondda Parish was formed on 6 August 2001 by a formal decree uniting the Catholic Churches at Treorchy, Ferndale and Tonypandy into a single administrative unit. At that time, St Mary Magdalene in Ynyshir remained a separate parish, serving the southern half of the Rhondda Fach and the people of Tonyrefail. Sadly, financial constraints required the closure of the Ferndale and Treorchy Churches in the 2010s but the funds raised were used to renovate Ss Gabriel & Raphael in Tonypandy. Following the retirement of St Mary Magdalene’s parish priest in 2016, Ynyshir was then served from Tonypandy. A decree given on 20 November 2024 formally incorporated St Mary Magdalene into the Rhondda Parish, so now the whole of the Rhondda Valleys from Blaenrhondda and Maerdy down to Tonyrefail and Trehafod form a single Catholic parish, but with two churches, which each have their own page on this website:

Ss Gabriel & Raphael Church, Tonypandy

St Mary Magdalene Church, Ynyshir

The shrine of Our Lady of Penrhys is also located within the boundaries of the Rhondda Parish.

Since 2016, pastoral care of Catholics in the Rhondda Parish has been led by Sr Berenice O’Dwyer, a Sister of St Joseph of Annecy resident in the Tonypandy presbytery. She can be contacted on rhondda@cardiffmenevia.org or ‭01443 421 929‬. Also resident in Tonypandy is Sr Maureen Davies SSJA, whose full-time work is administration for her religious order.

Certain historical documents which are relevant to more than one church in the Rhondda are indexed below.

Rhondda Registers and Archives

Archives relevant to the whole Rhondda Parish

Ss Gabriel & Raphael, Tonypandy

St Mary Magdalene, Ynyshir

Our Lady of Penrhys (parish church), Ferndale [now closed]

Immaculate Conception, Treorchy [now closed]

The Shrine of Our Lady at Penrhys

  • The shrine of Our Lady of Penrhys