Although the subject of a number of studies over the years, the Welsh religious revival of 1904-5 tends to be understood according to a number of aspects of what can only be termed a ‘folk memory’: that it was the ‘Evan Roberts revival’, that Roberts rarely spoke and was slightly disturbed, that the revival was limited to Wales and that it had no lasting effect. All these points can be questioned, if not disproved, by reference to accounts of the revival meetings by those who were involved at the time and by looking at the wider religious scene and concurrent events in Wales, Britain and even the world. This article attempts to set the record straight by ‘demythologising’ this folk memory and demonstrating that the revival was a far more significant event for twentieth century church history than has been previously supposed by commentators.