Mair Carrington Roberts is this year’s National Eisteddfod President. Born and brought up in the village of Gwynfryn, she was educated here and in Wrexham before graduating in music at Aberystwyth University.
She taught music at Bangor Girls Grammar School before marrying Fred and moving to Edinburgh and Nantwich. The family returned to Wrexham at the beginning of the seventies, where they brought up their family – Helen, Bethan and Rhian. She and her husband now live in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey.
She established Parti’r Ffin in 1974 and they enjoyed great success for eighteen years, competing national as a cerdd-dant choir and party, and representing Wales in a Celtic Festival in Salzburg in 1980. She coached local individuals and choirs for years, and was also the organist at Wrexham’s Capel y Groes for many years. Prior to retiring, she was a music lecturer at Yale College.
She has adjudicated in music and cerdd-dant competitions at eisteddfodau in all parts of the country, including the National Eisteddfod, for over forty years. She has been a member of many Eisteddfod Executives in Wrexham, Mold and Rhosllannerchrugog, and she was Chair of the Executive Committee for the cerdd-dant Festival when it visited Wrexham in 1986.
She has served on the National Eisteddfod Council and the cerdd-dant committee. She is adjudicating in the cerdd-dant section this year. She became an honorary Druid at the National Eisteddfod in Rhyl in 1985.
National Eisteddfod Organiser, Hywel Wyn Edwards, said, “Mair is well-known and respected in the Wrexham area having lived and worked here for many years. Hers tireless work in helping groups and individuals from the north east prepare for the Eisteddfod, as well as her own involvement with the festival stands her in good stead for the week. She will be an effective and popular President and we look forward to enjoying her speech from the stage on the final Saturday afternoon in Wrexham.”
She follows in the footsteps of some of Wales’ greatest names as President. Recent Presidents have included former First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, Lord Gwilym Prys-Davies, Professor Prys Morgan, Guto Harri, Daniel Evans and Dafydd Wigley.
