St. Lleurwg's church, Hirwaun, was first erected in 1858 as a chapel of ease to Aberdare and was restored in 1884. The ecclesiastical parish of Hirwaun was created in 1886 from the civil parishes of Aberdare in Glamorgan and Penderyn in the county of Brecon.

The RCT Community Radio project was established as a regeneration and IT project in the communities of Penrhys and Treherbert in the Rhondda and Penywaun in the Cynon Valley. More than 80 local people were directly involved and trained as presenters and other roles. In addition hundreds of local residents and representatives of local organisations were interviewed on a whole range of topics.