Covenant Society of the Free Welsh
Covenant Society of the Free Welsh Cymdeithas Cyfamod y Cymru Rhydd | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Geoff Evans |
| Founded | 11 May 1988 |
| Split from | Plaid Cymru |
| Ideology | Welsh nationalism Welsh republicanism Welsh irredentism Anti-English sentiment |
The Covenant Society of the Free Welsh (Welsh: Cymdeithas Cyfamod y Cymry Rhydd)[1] was a Welsh nationalist society that seceded from Plaid Cymru due to what they perceived as an unwillingness to pursue Welsh independence,[2] and lack of opposition to English immigration into Wales.[3][4] It was founded 1988 by Geoff Evans,[5][6] and aspired for a politically independent Wales by the year 2000.[7] Their members were commonly referred to as Cyfamodwyr ('Covenanters').[8][9]
On 11 May 1988, sixty nationalists gathered at Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House in Machynlleth to establish the Covenant Society of the Free Welsh.[10]
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The society was vocal in its opposition to the construction of the A55 expressway that connects Chester to north Wales, nicknaming it "the Genocide Highway", alleging that the road was designed to destroy the "Welsh character of Clwyd" through "uncontrolled tourism and immigration".[11]
In late 1989, the Celtic League's Carn publication dedicated a section to the organisation, in which Merfyn Phillips advocated Welsh irredentism and expressed an intention to "secure" the Welsh Marches in England, including Shropshire and Herefordshire.[12]
The organisation issued its own Welsh passport, selling them for £5 each at the 1990 Rhymney National Eisteddfod and gaining public attention in August of that year when a group of ten members of the organisation successfully entered France using the passports.[13][14]
At a meeting of the Covenanters in Machynlleth on 16 September 1990, the poet and Anglican priest R. S. Thomas expressed support for the Meibion Glyndŵr (Sons of Glyndŵr) arson campaign targeting English-owned second homes in Wales and called for further direct action against English-owned property.[15] The organisation also actively supported Sion Aubrey Roberts, who was charged for his involvement in Meibion Glyndŵr postal bombings in March 1993.[16] The group believed that Roberts had been wrongly convicted as part of an MI15 conspiracy. Geoff Evans, speaking on behalf of the organisation, claimed that MI15 had also attempted to infiltrate the Covenant Society of the Free Welsh.[5]
References
- ↑ Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (1 January 2000). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. A&C Black. p. 519. ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8.
- ↑ Jones, Royston (23 December 1990). "What being a Nationalist really means". Wales on Sunday. p. 8.
- ↑ Jenkins, Philip (13 October 2014). A History of Modern Wales 1536-1990. Routledge. p. 405. ISBN 978-1-317-87269-6.
- ↑ Jones, Royston (7 July 1988). "Give Wales back to the Welsh!". Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition). pp. 18–19.
- 1 2 Settle, Michael (5 December 1993). "Battle to free Roberts". Wales on Sunday. pp. 1–2.
- ↑ Brauner, Steve (12 May 1988). "Fire bombers "not to blame"". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 3.
- ↑ Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism: Revue Canadienne Des Études Sur Le Nationalisme. University of Prince Edward Island. 1998. p. 133.
- ↑ Jones, Huw Elfed (3 March 1989). "Row over 'eager buyers' circular". Caernarvon & Denbigh Herald. p. 15.
- ↑ Gruffydd, Alwyn (2004). Cyfres Dal y Gannwyll: Mae Rhywun yn Gwybod... [Holding the Candle: Someone Knows...] (in Welsh). Llanrwst, Dyffryn Conwy: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. pp. 89–91. ISBN 0-86381-675-4.
- ↑ Gruffydd, Alwyn; Ebenezer, Lyn (2004). Cyfres Dal y Gannwyll: Mae Rhywun yn Gwybod... [Holding the Candle: Someone Knows...] (in Welsh) (Arg. 1 ed.). Llanrwst, Dyffryn Conwy: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-0-86381-675-8.
- ↑ Jones, Royston (8 October 1989). "Crisis of Identity". Wales on Sunday. p. 10.
- ↑ Phillips, Merfyn (1988). "Parliaments for the Celts". Carn. No. 64. p. 12. ISSN 0257-7860.
- ↑ "Anita Venables". 23 January 2013.
- ↑ Rowlands, Jennifer (10 August 1990). "To France with Glyndŵr's Lions". Caernarvon & Denbigh Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ Rogers, Byron (22 June 2006). The Man Who Went Into the West: The Life of R.S. Thomas (Paperback ed.). Aurum Press (published 1 July 2007). p. 287. ISBN 978-1845132507.
- ↑ Jones, Branwen (12 December 2021). "The story of Meibion Glyndwr and the rise of the nationalist movement". Wales Online. Retrieved 22 April 2026.