Society of the Covenant of the Free Welsh
The Covenant Society of the Free Welsh was a Welsh nationalist society founded in 1988 after separating from Plaid Cymru over the pace and scope of the movement for Welsh independence.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Covenant Society of the Free Welsh, known in Welsh as Cymdeithas Cyfamod y Cymry Rhydd, was a Welsh nationalist society established in 1988 by Geoff Evans and other nationalists who believed that Plaid Cymru was insufficiently committed to full Welsh independence. The society also objected to what its members regarded as the inadequate protection of Welsh identity in the face of English immigration, tourism, and property ownership in Wales. Its members were commonly described as Cyfamodwyr, or Covenanters. The organisation was formally established on 11 May 1988, when approximately sixty nationalists met at Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House in Machynlleth. Its stated political aspiration was an independent Wales by the year 2000. Unlike a commercial brand, the society functioned as a nationalist pressure and campaigning organisation. Its activities combined constitutional advocacy, cultural nationalism, symbolic initiatives, and strong opposition to infrastructure and demographic developments that members believed threatened Welsh national distinctiveness. One of its most prominent campaigns concerned the A55 expressway linking Chester with north Wales. The society opposed the road and referred to it as the “Genocide Highway,” arguing that it would encourage uncontrolled tourism and immigration and undermine the Welsh character of Clwyd. This rhetoric reflected the society's broader concern that economic integration and transport connections with England could accelerate cultural and demographic change. The society also developed symbolic forms of national representation. In 1990 it issued its own Welsh passport and sold the documents for £5 at the Rhymney National Eisteddfod. The passports attracted considerable attention in August of that year when ten members reportedly entered France using them. The episode highlighted the organisation's effort to present Wales as a nation with an identity and political status distinct from the United Kingdom, even though the documents were not official state passports. The organisation's nationalism also extended into more controversial and confrontational territory. A section of the Celtic League's publication Carn in late 1989 discussed the society and included advocacy of Welsh irredentism by Merfyn Phillips, including an expressed intention to secure areas of the Welsh Marches in England such as Shropshire and Herefordshire. At a meeting in Machynlleth on 16 September 1990, the poet and Anglican priest R. S. Thomas expressed support for the Meibion Glyndŵr campaign of arson attacks against English-owned second homes in Wales and called for further direct action against English-owned property. The Covenant Society subsequently supported Sion Aubrey Roberts, who was charged over involvement in Meibion Glyndŵr postal bombings in March 1993. Geoff Evans alleged that Roberts had been wrongly convicted as part of an MI5 conspiracy and further claimed that the security service had attempted to infiltrate the society. These claims are reported as allegations associated with the organisation, not as established findings. Available reference material provides substantial information about the society's formation, ideology, campaigns, symbolic initiatives, and controversial associations, but does not establish its later organisational status, leadership succession, membership, dissolution date, or continuing activity. Its historical significance lies principally in its representation of a more explicitly separatist and anti-immigration strand within late twentieth-century Welsh nationalism.
History
The Covenant Society of the Free Welsh emerged from internal disagreement within Welsh nationalism. Its founders believed that Plaid Cymru was not sufficiently willing to pursue complete Welsh independence and objected to what they saw as a failure to oppose English immigration into Wales. Geoff Evans founded the new society in 1988, and the organisation adopted an explicitly separatist objective: the creation of an independent Wales by 2000. The society's founding meeting took place on 11 May 1988 at Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House in Machynlleth. Around sixty nationalists attended. The location connected the modern movement with the historical memory of Glyndŵr, the fifteenth-century Welsh prince whose revolt sought to establish an independent Welsh polity. Members were known as Cyfamodwyr, or Covenanters, reflecting the organisation's emphasis on a national covenant and collective commitment to Welsh freedom. Its political activity focused partly on resistance to physical and demographic integration with England. The society strongly opposed the A55 expressway between Chester and north Wales. It used the highly charged label “Genocide Highway” and argued that the road would facilitate uncontrolled tourism and immigration, particularly threatening the Welsh character of Clwyd. The campaign expressed the group's belief that transport infrastructure was not politically neutral but could change the cultural balance of Welsh-speaking and Welsh-identifying communities. The organisation also used symbolic acts to express a claim to national sovereignty. At the 1990 Rhymney National Eisteddfod it sold self-issued Welsh passports for £5. In August of that year, ten members reportedly entered France using the documents, generating public attention. The passports had no standing as official travel documents, but they served as a political statement that Wales should be treated as a nation with its own identity and institutions. The society's outlook included forms of Welsh irredentism. A section of the Celtic League's Carn publication in late 1989 discussed the group, and Merfyn Phillips advocated securing parts of the Welsh Marches in England, including Shropshire and Herefordshire. This position extended the organisation's conception of Welsh national territory beyond the contemporary boundary of Wales. The society later became associated with the violent politics surrounding Meibion Glyndŵr, a campaign that targeted English-owned second homes in Wales through arson and, subsequently, postal-bomb attacks. At a meeting of Covenanters in Machynlleth on 16 September 1990, R. S. Thomas expressed support for the arson campaign and called for further direct action against English-owned property. The organisation also supported Sion Aubrey Roberts, who was charged in connection with Meibion Glyndŵr postal bombings in March 1993. Geoff Evans claimed that Roberts had been wrongly convicted through an MI5 conspiracy and alleged that the security service had attempted to infiltrate the Covenant Society. The available account records these as claims made by the organisation or its spokesperson rather than independently established facts. The surviving reference material does not provide a reliable account of the society's later membership, finances, formal officers, dissolution, or present-day activity. Its documented history therefore ends as an episode in late twentieth-century Welsh nationalist politics, notable for its uncompromising independence platform, hostility to perceived English demographic influence, symbolic passport initiative, opposition to the A55, and proximity to debates over militant direct action.
- 1993
Society supports Sion Aubrey Roberts
[1]The organisation supported Roberts after he was charged over involvement in Meibion Glyndŵr postal bombings and alleged that his conviction resulted from an MI5 conspiracy.
- 1990
Self-issued Welsh passports attract attention
[1]The organisation sold symbolic Welsh passports at the Rhymney National Eisteddfod, and ten members reportedly entered France using them in August.
- 1990
Machynlleth meeting linked society to direct-action debate
[1]At a 16 September meeting, R. S. Thomas expressed support for the Meibion Glyndŵr arson campaign and further direct action against English-owned property.
- 1989
Welsh irredentist claims receive public discussion
[1]A section of the Celtic League's Carn publication discussed the society and included advocacy concerning the Welsh Marches in England.
- 1988
Society founded in Machynlleth
[1]Approximately sixty nationalists established the Covenant Society of the Free Welsh at Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House on 11 May.
Products and positioning
A separatist Welsh nationalist society positioned itself as more committed to immediate Welsh independence and stronger opposition to perceived English demographic and cultural influence than Plaid Cymru.
Symbolic political document · 1990
Welsh passports
Self-issued passports sold by the society as a symbolic assertion of Welsh national identity and sovereignty. They were offered for £5 at the 1990 Rhymney National Eisteddfod. The documents were not official passports, but a group of ten members reportedly used them to enter France, bringing wider attention to the organisation.
Controversies
1993
Support for Sion Aubrey Roberts and MI5 allegations
The organisation supported Sion Aubrey Roberts after charges connected with Meibion Glyndŵr postal bombings. Geoff Evans claimed Roberts had been wrongly convicted as part of an MI5 conspiracy and alleged that MI5 had attempted to infiltrate the society.
1990
Support for direct action associated with Meibion Glyndŵr
The society became controversial after R. S. Thomas expressed support at a Covenanters' meeting for the Meibion Glyndŵr arson campaign against English-owned second homes and called for further direct action against English-owned property.
Marketing campaigns
- 1990Welsh passport initiative
Wales · United Kingdom · France
The society issued and sold symbolic Welsh passports at the Rhymney National Eisteddfod. The initiative sought to dramatise the organisation's view of Wales as a nation entitled to separate political representation.
Outcome. The passports gained public attention after ten members reportedly entered France using them, although they did not constitute official state travel documents.
- 1988A55 opposition campaign
Wales · United Kingdom
The society opposed construction of the A55 expressway connecting Chester with north Wales. It called the road the “Genocide Highway” and argued that it would intensify tourism and immigration and damage the Welsh character of Clwyd.
Brand decisions
1990
Issue symbolic Welsh passportsOtherBackground
The society sought a visible way to express its claim that Wales should possess a distinct national identity and political status.
Action taken
It sold self-issued passports for £5 at the Rhymney National Eisteddfod.
Aftermath
The documents attracted public attention after ten members reportedly used them to enter France, but they had no official state authority.
1988
Adopt an independence-first political platformStrategyBackground
The founders considered Plaid Cymru insufficiently committed to pursuing Welsh independence and opposed its perceived lack of resistance to English immigration into Wales.
Action taken
They formed a separate society and set an aspiration for an independent Wales by 2000.
Aftermath
The organisation became identified with a more uncompromising separatist and demographic-nationalist position within Welsh nationalism.
Recent events
- 1990
Covenant Society issues symbolic Welsh passports[1]
Campaign · Other
The society sold self-issued Welsh passports at the Rhymney National Eisteddfod; ten members later reportedly used the documents to enter France.
- 1988
Covenant Society of the Free Welsh is established in Machynlleth[1]
Other
Approximately sixty Welsh nationalists gathered at Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House to establish the society, which sought an independent Wales.
- 1988
Society campaigns against the A55 expressway[1]
Campaign
The organisation opposed the Chester–north Wales expressway and branded it the “Genocide Highway,” linking the project to tourism, immigration, and threats to Welsh identity in Clwyd.
Sources1 sources
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