Professor Daniel A. Binchy’s Corpus Iuris Hibernici, published in 1979, set the seal on a lifetime’s work which had made him the acknowledged leader in Celtic law studies. At an earlier stage in his career, he had edited (in Studies in Early Irish Law, published by the Royal Irish Academy in 1936) the proceedings of a seminar on the Irish law of women; this volume was the spur to the seminar which began to work under the aegis of the Board of Celtic Studies in 1970, and took as its first field of study the Welsh law of women. The present collection of papers, based on the work of the seminar, differs in scope from the Irish volume but like it provides a detailed and documented account of one of the most illuminating tractates in the Welsh lawbooks; the volume was originally presented to Professor Binchy in grateful recognition of the inspiration given to all students of Celtic law by his devoted work. This volume comprises six studies dealing with various aspects of the Welsh material, texts of three versions of the tractate (one in Latin and two, both based on manuscripts not previously printed, in Welsh) with English translations, a Glossary, and Indexes. This new edition includes a preface by Morfydd E. Owen, who edited the original volume with Dafydd Jenkins, surveying work in the field since the first edition in 1980.

This book analyzes the role of Welsh Nobelwomen in 13th century Welsh history, discussing their absence from this history until recently and examining several outstanding women, including mothers, wives, and daughters of the native Welsh rulers.

This book assesses how policies developed by the National Assembly for Wales are affecting gender inequalities and investigates whether they are having an impact on social justice for women in Wales. In 1999 the first elections to devolved governments took place in Scotland and Wales. In Wales this resulted in 40 per cent of Assembly Members being women. In 2003 this proportion increased to 50 per cent which makes the National Assembly for Wales ‘the first legislative body with equal numbers of men and women in the world’ (“The Guardian”, 3/5/03). This new gender balance of political representatives is a significant change in the gendering of political institutions and this, together with the creation of a new tier of government, has the potential to create new opportunities for the development of social policies which address gender and other social inequalities. Focusing on distinct policy domains, this book explores gender politics in a devolved Wales. Each chapter investigates a particular aspect of social policy, exploring the way it has developed since devolution and the extent to which considerations of gender and social justice for women are central to this development. The empirical chapters which form the core of the book are situated theoretically and politically by the first chapter which discusses how gender and social justice can be theorised and explores devolution and its relation to gender politics in Wales.

This book explores the neglected history of women who were active in Liberal politics, campaigning for women's rights, the vote, and a full role for women in Welsh public life, at the end of the nineteenth century, and before the First World War. The over-arching argument of the book is that Welsh women's Liberal politics was distinctive, in its attempt to integrate an understanding of Liberalism which they shared with their English counterparts, and which included the aim of full equality for women, with a distinctively Welsh political agenda, and constructions of Welsh national identity. These constructions sometimes included a positive view of women in the nation, but in times of political crisis redefined gender on a more reactionary model.

It is a study of the relationship between identity and religion in women’s lives in Wales today. It will help the reader have a better and more comprehensive understanding of the religious context in Wales to the present day. It will introduce the reader to theological and religious themes as well as reflections on identity in the work of several key female Welsh writers – Menna Elfyn, Jasmine Donahaye, Jam Morris, Charlotte Williams and Mererid Hopwood. It will help the reader to engage with issues of Welsh identity and religion and gain insight into challenges facing the churches today and engage with the lived experience of women in Wales.