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Plouénan (Municipality, Finistère, France)

Plouenan

Flag of Plouénan - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 16 December 2021

Presentation of Plouénan
Coat of arms of Plouénan
Flag of Plouénan

See also:

Presentation of Plouénan

Plouénan (Breton, Plouenan; 2,539 inhabitants in 2020; 3,064 ha) is a commune in the department of Finistère.

Plouénan presents a very dispersed rural habitat. Several fairly large hamlets exist in Plouénan, including: Kerlaudy, 1.5 km north-east, towards Carantec; Pont-Éon and Lopreden, to the south-east, towards the small port of Penzé, under the jurisdiction of three municipalities of Taulé, Guiclan and Plouénan; Penzé, straddling the municipalities of Plouénan, Taulé and Guiclan.
Plouénan was reportedly established in the 6th century, as a parish ("plou"), by St. Menoen / Benoen (Latin equivalent, Benegnus / Benignus). Mentioned for the first time in 884, as Plebs Lapidea, in the Vita of St. Pol-Aurélien, and, subsequently, as Plebs Menoen (c. 1150), Ploebenon (1277), Plouenouven (1279), Ploe Benoan (c. 1330), Plebevenan (405), Ploebenan (1467), Ploemenan (1453), Ploemenan (1481), and Plouenenan (16th century), the parish originally covered a big territory, including Saint-Pol-de-Léon (with seven vicariates), Santec and Roscoff.

Source : InfoBretagne.

Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 16 December 2021

Coat of arms of Plouénan

The arms of Plouénan are blazoned: Quarterly 1. Argent a chevron Gules between three cinquefoils of the same 2. Ermine three chevrons Gules 3. Argent an inescutcheon Azure between six annulets Gules in orle 4. Vairy Or and Gules.
The motto, Poaniañ evit padaout means “Endure to last”.

The arms are derived from an armored panel placed on the facade of the Notre-Dame de Kerellon chapel (15th-17th century, restored in 1897 by Ernest Le Guerranic, also the architect of the parish church dedicated to St. Peter), located south-west of the village of Plouénan along the ancient road heading to Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
The arms feature the arms of local noble families. Source: Yves-Pascal Castel & Joël Lubin. Plouénan - Chapelle de Kerellon, from patrimoine.du-finistere.org

Arms of the Rivoalen, lords of Mezléan, Pennanéac'h, Froutven and Pontéon.
They acquired Pennanéac'h before 1640, from the Maillé, lords since 1577.
Arms of Louise Gabrielle de Plœuc, who married Jacques Rivoalen in 1640/1645. She was the daughter of Sébastien de Plœuc, Baron of Kergorlay (in the parish of Motref) and Marquess of Tymeur (parish of Poullaouen)
Arms of the Lannuzouarn de Plouénan, lords of Lannuzouarn, Kérellon and Pontéon.
"Poaniañ evit padaout" was their motto. They lived in the manor of Lannuzouarn (14th century), from which nothing remains but a few walls, the pigeon-house erected around 1570, and a fountain.
They also owned the manor of Pennanéac'h, from which only a few buildings remained, now part of the Pennanéac'h farm. Different documents present the Lannuzouarn as the parish's richest lord, or even, "universal lord".
Arms of the Kergorlay.
According to Potier de Courcy (Nobiliaire et armorial de Bretagne), the oldest known arms of Kergorlay are featured on a seal dated 1312.
The barony of Kergorlay was transferred at the end of the 14th century by Aliénor de Kergorlay to the Beaumanoir, and subsequently owned by the Coëtquen, Bellouan, Avaugour-Saint-Laurent and Plœuc families (see 2. above).

Ivan Sache, 17 December 2021

Flag of Plouénan

The flag is white with the emblem (coat of arms with the name of the commune and the motto) - photo, 2013; photo, 2021.

Olivier Touzeau, 16 December 2021