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The University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies is delighted to announce the winners of the University of Wales People’s Heritage Fund awards for distinguished scholarly contributions in the fields of literature, law and manuscripts.

Professor Paul Russell receives the 2023 Hywel Dda Award for his numerous publications on Welsh law and his contribution to the field. His research interests include medieval Welsh law, learned texts in Celtic languages (especially early Irish glossaries), Celtic philology and linguistics, early Welsh orthography, Middle Welsh translation texts, grammatical texts, hagiography, and Latin texts from medieval Wales. He is currently working on a Leverhulme Trust funded project on ‘The Writings of Gerald of Wales’.

Paul Russell said, ‘I am delighted; the Hywel Dda Prize is an important way of reminding people of the historical and cultural importance of Welsh medieval law.’ 

The award is provided from the fund raised by public subscription to commemorate the millenary celebrations of Hywel Dda in 1928. It is awarded to the person who has done most to advance the study of medieval Welsh laws and custom, or thrown most light upon their origins, history, language, and palaeography.

The 2023 Sir Ellis-Griffith Memorial Prize is awarded to Professor Ann Parry Owen for her monograph Geirfâu’r Fflyd, 1632–1633: Casgliad John Jones, Gellilyfdy o Eiriau’r Cartref, Crefftau, Amaeth a Byd Natur (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 2023). Professor Ann Parry Owen has been a member of staff at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies since 1 October 1985. She was a Research Fellow on the ‘Poets of the Princes’ project and leader of the ‘Poets of the Nobility’ and the ‘Guto’r Glyn’ projects. She has been Co-Investigator on the ‘Cult of Saints in Wales’, ‘Sacred Landscapes of the Medieval Monasteries’ and the ‘Poetry of Myrddin’ projects. Since 2017 she has been Senior Editor on the University of Wales Dictionary and is particularly interested in the early history of words and the vocabulary of the poets. 

Professor Parry Owen said, ‘I’m extremely proud and grateful to the judges. This volume is very close to my heart – this was my lockdown project during the pandemic, and I had so much pleasure planning and working on it. I learned all sorts of interesting things about all sorts of topics while researching the history of the words and their meanings, enjoying several fruitful conversations over email with experts. John Jones, Gellilyfdy, drew up the wordlists while he was in custody, as a debtor in the Fleet Prison, London, in 1632–1633. No doubt he, like me, benefited greatly from being able to fully immerse himself in the work during a difficult time.’

The award is presented annually in the name of the University of Wales from the Ellis-Griffith Fund and goes to the best Welsh-language publication focusing on Welsh authors, artists or artisans or their work. The prize is provided from a fund raised in memory of the late Right Honourable Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith MA KC PC (1860–1926), former Member of Parliament for the County of Anglesey. 

Professor Barry Lewis is awarded the 2023 Vernam Hull Memorial Prize for his volume, Bonedd y Saint: An Edition and Study of the Genealogies of the Welsh Saints (Dublin: School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2023). Professor Barry Lewis was born in Welshpool. He studied in Cambridge and then Aberystwyth, where he obtained a PhD in Welsh. He became a member of staff of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in 2001. In 2014 he was a appointed to a professorship in the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. His field of research is medieval Welsh literature, and he has a particular interest in the literature relating to saints. Bonedd y Saint is his second book on the subject, following an anthology of medieval Welsh poems to saints published in 2015.

The prize/award is provided from the income of a bequest to the University of Wales by the late Dr Vernam Edward Nunnemacher Hull (1894–1976), Professor of Celtic Languages at Harvard University, who was awarded the degree of DLitt honoris causa by the University of Wales on the occasion of the International Congress of Celtic Studies in 1963.

Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, said: ‘We would like to warmly congratulate Professor Paul Russell, Professor Ann Parry and Professor Barry Lewis on their remarkable contributions to scholarly knowledge and research. We thank the University of Wales Y Werin Legacy Fund for their generosity in supporting the prizes again this year.’ 

Professor Elwen Evans KC, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales and the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø said: ‘It is a pleasure to see such deserving winners for the Hywel Dda, Vernam Hull and Sir Ellis-Griffith memorial awards. This is a further celebration of the continued importance of the Legacy Fund in supporting and rewarding academic achievement over the generations.’ 

Notes for Editors 

Contact: Dr Angharad Elias (Admin Officer) a.elias@wales.ac.uk 

1. The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) was established by the University of Wales in 1985 as a dedicated research centre conducting team-based projects on the languages, literatures, culture and history of Wales and the other Celtic countries. It is located in Aberystwyth, adjacent to the National Library of Wales, which is an internationally renowned copyright library with excellent research facilities. 

2. CAWCS offers unique opportunities for postgraduate students to work alongside specialists in a dynamic and supportive environment. We welcome enquiries about MPhil/PhD topics in any of our research areas. For more information about research opportunities, or for an informal chat about possible topics, contact our Head of Graduate Studies, Dr Elizabeth Edwards: e.edwards@wales.ac.uk 

3. CAWCS is the home of the Dictionary of the Welsh Language:     

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