1998 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1998 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Secretary of State for Wales
 * Ron Davies (until 27 October)
 * Alun Michael
 * Archbishop of Wales – Alwyn Rice Jones, Bishop of St Asaph
 * Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Dafydd Rowlands

Events

 * 24 February – The Criminal Cases Review Commission overturns the murder charge of Mahmood Hussein Mattan, who was executed in 1952 for killing a Cardiff shopkeeper.
 * February – Britain's first official register of historic landscapes is published by Cadw. It lists 36 landscapes in Wales of outstanding historic interest.
 * 6 March – Flintshire Bridge is officially opened.
 * 8–9 April – Torrential rain over eastern Wales results in widespread flooding.
 * 13 April – Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Öpik is seriously injured in a paragliding accident in his constituency.
 * May – Cistercian Way long-distance trail originates.
 * June – The Arts Council of Wales publishes its consultation paper Building A Creative Society.
 * 31 July – The Government of Wales Act 1998, that will establish a devolved Welsh Assembly, receives its Royal Assent.
 * August – Ron Davies is appointed to the highest order of the Gorsedd of the Bards at the 1998 National Eisteddfod in Bridgend.
 * 19 September – Ron Davies is elected in preference to Rhodri Morgan as Labour's candidate for First Secretary of the Assembly.
 * 22–31 October – Heavy rainfall across Wales results in river levels rising to warning levels. Flood plains are inundated and there is extensive flooding of houses and other property.
 * 27 October – Ron Davies resigns as Secretary of State for Wales after being mugged in an incident on Clapham Common, following what he described as an "error of judgment".
 * 18 November – Jon Owen Jones, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales, announces that the Environment Agency has been asked for a report on the October floods.
 * November – Maenofferen slate quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog ceases production.

Arts and literature

 * Bryn Terfel gives a recital at Carnegie Hall.

Awards

 * Glyndŵr Award – Iwan Bala
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Bridgend)
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – withheld
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Emyr Lewis, "Rhyddid"
 * National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Eurig Wyn, Blodyn Tatws
 * Wales Book of the Year:
 * English language: Mike Jenkins – Wanting to Belong
 * Welsh language: Iwan Llwyd – Dan Ddylanwad
 * Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen – Geraint V. Jones, Semtecs

English language

 * Gillian Clarke – Five Fields
 * James Hawes – Rancid Aluminium
 * Rhys Hughes – Rawhead & Bloody Bones
 * Mario Risoli – When Pele Broke our Hearts: Wales and the 1958 World Cup
 * Sarah Waters – Tipping the Velvet

Welsh language

 * Dafydd Huws – Dyddiadur Dyn Dŵad
 * Huw Ethall – Pennar Davies: Y Dyn a'i Waith

Film

 * Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones star in The Mask of Zorro.

Welsh language films

 * Bride of War, starring Huw Garmon (in Welsh, English, French, German and Polish).

Music

 * Indie music band Terris are formed in Newport.
 * Anweledig – Sombreros yn y Glaw
 * Charlotte Church – Voice of an Angel
 * Melys – Rumours and Curses
 * Bonnie Tyler – All in One Voice

Welsh-language television

 * November – A new digital channel is launched, broadcasting in Welsh for twelve hours a day.

Sport

 * BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Iwan Thomas
 * Commonwealth Games – September
 * Kelly Morgan wins the badminton women's singles;
 * Iwan Thomas wins the men's 400 metres;
 * Desmond Davies wins the men's individual skeet shooting;
 * Wales win a total of 15 medals, including the three golds.
 * Snooker
 * 8 February – Mark Williams wins his first Masters title.

Births

 * 12 March – Will Jones, rugby player
 * 5 June – Dafydd Jones, footballer
 * 18 December – Cameron Coxe, footballer
 * 25 December – Will Griffiths, rugby player
 * 29 December – Mark Harris, footballer

Deaths

 * 3 January – Tony Duncan, golfer and cricketer, 83
 * 18 February – Robbie James, footballer, 40 (collapsed and died during match)
 * 1 April – Mary Wynne Warner, mathematician, 65
 * 2 April – Dai Davies, trade unionist, 88
 * 4 April – Käte Bosse-Griffiths, author, 87
 * 14 April – Dorothy Squires, singer, 83
 * 11 May – Vronwy Hankey (née Fisher), archaeologist, 81
 * 13 May – Arthur Rees, Wales international rugby player and police Chief Constable, 85
 * 17 May – Hugh Cudlipp, journalist, 84
 * 5 July – James Eirian Davies, minister and poet, 80
 * 23 July – R. Tudur Jones, theologian and politician, 77
 * 28 July – Nancy Evans, table tennis player, 95
 * 3 August (in Waipukurau, New Zealand) – Ronnie Boon, Wales rugby union player, 89
 * 12 September – Horace Charles Jones, poet, 92
 * 5 October – Megs Jenkins, actress, 81
 * 31 October – Eddie Perry, footballer, 89
 * 16 December – Kenyon Jones, rugby player, 87
 * 16 December – Tommy Davies, boxer, 78
 * 31 December – Alan Morris, footballer, 44