Plaid Cymru celebrate nearly 100 years of forming in Penarth

Plaid members and guests took part in an evening to celebrate the formation of a secret group, the Mudiad Cymreig or Welsh movement on Friday, January 12.

The secret group was one of the organisations whose fusion a year later led to the formal launch of the national party.

Dafydd Williams, History Society Chairman said: “We are delighted with the strong turnout for this highly successful evening, the first of a series of events which will trace the formation of Wales' national movement a century ago.”

Members assemble for the meeting. Picture: Dafydd Williams (Image: Dafydd Williams)Those present at the meeting on 7 January 1924 in Bedwas Place, Penarth, were Ambrose Bebb, Griffith John Williams, Elisabeth Williams, and Saunders Lewis, the ,poet, playwright, and future leader of the party, who subsequently lived in Penarth from 1952 until he died in 1985.

Former Plaid leader and Rhondda Senedd Member Leanne Wood and Welsh Governance Centre Director Richard Wyn Jones were in attendance and led the discussion of the last century of Plaid Cymru's campaigning and its prospects.

Ms Wood paid tribute to those who worked for Wales in the last century, including women who had played a key role in building a nation.

This was echoed by Prof Jones, who went on to analyse the circumstances that led to the launch of Plaid Cymru and the challenges and opportunities it now faces.

Richard Wyn Jones making his point. Picture: Dafydd Williams (Image: Dafydd Williams)Their presentations in Penarth's refurbished Belle Vue pavilion were followed by a lively discussion session - about Plaid's future role as well as the party's performance over the last one hundred years. 

The centenary will officially be celebrated in August next year at the 100th anniversary of the meeting held in Pwllheli during the National Eisteddfod of 1925.