Eirlys Parri (c.1950 – June 2024) was a Welsh teacher, singer and actress. She was also known by her married name Eirlys Eckley. Her music peaked at its most popular in the 1970s.

Early life and education

Eirlys Parri grew up in Sûn y Môr,

Morfa Nefyn Morfa Nefyn () is a village on the northern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies on the crossroads of the B4417 and B4412. The village has seen a rise in popularity as house prices in nearby villages on the Llŷn Peninsula such ...

, a village on the north coast of the

Llŷn Peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( or , ) is a peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, with an area of about , and a population of at least 20,000. It extends into the Irish Sea, and its southern coast is the northern boundary of the Tremadog Bay inlet of Cardigan Ba ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, the daughter of John and Mary Parri. She attended Edern Primary School and then Pwllheli Grammar School. Her enjoyed music and singing and had the opportunity to act in Wil Sam's plays with her brother Elis Gwyn. She went on to Trinity College Carmarthen to study Welsh and Drama with contemporises like

Norah Isaac Norah Isaac (1914 – 3 August 2003) was a Welsh author, drama producer and campaigner for Welsh-language education. She became head of the country's first Welsh-medium school, Ysgol Gymraeg yr Urdd, in 1939. Background Norah Isaac was born in ...

and

Carwyn James Carwyn Rees James (2 November 1929 – 10 January 1983) was a Welsh rugby union player and coach. He won two Wales national rugby union team, Welsh international caps but is most famous for his coaching achievements with Llanelli RFC, Llanelli, t ...

. She went on teaching practice in

Llandudoch St Dogmaels () is a village, parish and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the estuary of the River Teifi, a mile downstream from the town of Cardigan, Ceredigion, Cardigan in neighbouring Ceredigion. A little to the nor ...

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

and Ysgol y Dderwen

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

Career

Parri started composing songs and recorded the song "Pedwar Gwynt" in Harri Parri and Gareth Maelor's parlour in

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

. She appeared on the ' television program and travelled Wales to sing at the "Pinaclau Pop" concerts. She started her first job as a teacher at Ysgol Gymraeg Heol Gaer,

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before getting married and having children. She continued to sing in concerts across Wales and had the opportunity to act as Mrs Noa in the show ' with the Welsh Theatre Company and was part of the TV entertainment series '. She then moved to Cardiff and went back to college to do a course two days a week on Public Relations and Marketing. She worked for a time in S4C's Public Relations Department then organizing the channel's events, in Wales and in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. She sang the winning song in the competition '' Cân i Gymru'' in 1986. She had her own series ''Eirlys'' on

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

, the first series in 1988 and the second in 1989. By the time her children went to secondary school, she went back to the world of education teaching at Ysgol Heol y Celyn,

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

, and then Ysgol Castellau, y Beddau. She then went to work as a Consultant Teacher for the Cardiff Education Authority. She had retired by 2011. In 2023, her music was released digitally.

Personal life

She married her husband the actor Geraint Eckley in 1971 and moved to the rural village of Park near

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

, where their daughters, Lois and Esther, were born. Parri was a speaker of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

. Parri died in June 2024 aged 74. She had been in a care home for over five years having been diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Discography

* ''Eirlys Parry'' (EP, House On The Rock Records, 1970 ) ::: "Big Bird" ::: "Four Winds" ::: "Song of the worlds" ::: "In The Wind The Graves Are Cooling" * ''Blodau'r Grug'' (Eirlys Parry and Hywel Evans) (EP, Recordiau Sain, SAIN 12, 1970 ) ::: "The Girl And The Moor" ::: "Island" ::: "Heather Flowers" ::: "Porthdinllaen" * ''Ti Yw Fy Nghân'' (EP, Audio Records, SAIN 48, 1974) ::: "You Are My Song" ::: "Cynddylan's Room" ::: "Angry Days" ::: "Sleep You" * ''Cân Y Gobaith'' (LP, Folk, SYWM 212, 1979 ) :: "Cân Y Gobaith" :: "Rwyf D'Eisiau" :: "Huna Blentyn" :: "Pam Yr Est" :: "Caraf Di" :: "Tyrd Fy Nghariad" :: "Roedd Yn Y Wlad Honno" :: "Atgofion" :: "Can Magdalen" :: "Hedfan" * ''Candle In Light'' (LP, Audio Records, 1282M, 1983) :: "Cannwyll Yn Olau" :: "O Pam Yr Est" :: "Paid Mynd" :: "Torrwr Calonnau" :: "Tuag Adre" :: "Wylan Wen" :: "Pedwar Gwynt" :: "Ann Lewis" :: "Cerdded Ynghyd" :: "Gwin Yn Troi Yn Fy Mhen" :: "Dal Fi'n Agos" :: "Nos Da" * ''Tomorrow'' (LP, Sound Records, 1349M, 1985) :: "Yfory" :: "Dadrith" :: "Hydref Yn Ei Ôl" :: "Cwestiynau" :: "Teresa" :: "Cerdded Gwynt" :: "Dwi'n Nabod O'n Dda" :: "Mae'r Garwriaeth Drosodd" :: "Ebol Asyn" :: "Llithro Mae O Nghafael" :: "Dydd Fy Rhyddid" :: "Canol Ar Dân"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parri, Eirlys 1950 births 2024 deaths Welsh-language singers People from Gwynedd 20th-century Welsh women singers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Wales