He was born in the diocess of Vannes, in the neighbourhood of the abbey of Ballon, near which Charles the Bald was defeated by the Britons in 845; in which war this monastery seems to have been destroyed.

Admirable was the austerity of his life, his zeal, his charity, his watchfulness, his fervour in prayer, and his firmness in maintaining discipline.

A powerful lord named Rivallon having committed many acts of violence, the bishop went to his castle at Lanncafrut, and by his strong remonstrances made him sensible of the enormity of his crimes.

By the bishop's injunction he underwent a canonical penance during seven years, and repaired all injustices and oppressions by a sevenfold satisfaction.

The life of Saint Turiaf, written in the tenth century, is a confused eulogium, in which prodigies take place of facts.