Eifionydd is an area in north-west Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 covering the south-eastern part of the Llŷn Peninsula

Llŷn Peninsula

The Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root Laigin in Irish as the word Leinster...

 from Porthmadog

Porthmadog

Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

 to just east of Pwllheli

Pwllheli

Pwllheli is a community and the main market town of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It has a population of 3,861, of which a large proportion, 81 per cent, are Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the place where Plaid Cymru was founded. It is the birthplace of Albert Evans-Jones -...

. The Afon Erch forms its western border. It now lies in Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

.

The cantref of Eifionydd formed the northern half of the former minor kingdom of Dunoding

Dunoding

Dunoding was an early sub-kingdom within the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north-west Wales which existed between the 5th and 10th centuries. According to tradition, it was named after Dunod, a son of the founding father of Gwynedd - Cunedda Wledig - who drove the Irish settlers from the area in c.460...

 within the Kingdom of Gwynedd

Kingdom of Gwynedd

Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...

. It traditionally took its name from Eifion

Eifion

Eifion may refer to:Places:*Eifion in Caernarfonshire, Wales*Lôn Eifion, part of Lôn Las Cymru, the Welsh National Cycle RouteA Welsh given name:*Eifion Jones , a Welsh marine botanist...

, son of Dunod

Dunod

Dunod may refer to:*Dunod Fawr, 6th century Brythonic King somewhere in the North of Britain*Saint Dunod, late 6th/early 7th century Abbot of Bangor-on-Dee...

 who gave his name to the cantref and grandson of Cunedda Wledig. The chief centre of the commote was at Criccieth

Criccieth

Criccieth is a town and community on Cardigan Bay, in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The town lies west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It has a population of 1,826....

, although there may have been an earlier royal residence at Dolbenmaen

Dolbenmaen

Dolbenmaen is a village and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, located in Eifionydd, of which it was the administrative centre until 1239. The community includes the villages of Bryncir, Cenin, Garndolbenmaen, Golan, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Penmorfa and Pentrefelin, and has a population of...

. Although it is not currently a unit of local government, the name is still in common use for the region. It includes the villages of Abererch

Abererch

Abererch is a small village and former civil parish in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The parish was abolished in 1934, and incorporated into Llannor. It is a mostly Welsh speaking village. There is a primary school and a playschool, and a railway station....

, Llanaelhaearn

Llanaelhaearn

Llanaelhaearn is a village and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, located on the Llŷn Peninsula. The community includes the village of Trefor, and has a population of 1,067....

, Pencaenewydd, Llangybi, Llanystumdwy

Llanystumdwy

Llanystumdwy is a village and community on the Llŷn Peninsula of Gwynedd in Wales, although it is not regarded as being part of Llŷn, but belonging instead to the local region of Eifionydd...

, Llanarmon, Rhoslan, Pentrefelin, Penmorfa, Garndolbenmaen

Garndolbenmaen

Garndolbenmaen, known colloquially as Garn, is a village in the county of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies near the A487, approximately 6 miles north west of Porthmadog, in the community of Dolbenmaen, which has a population of 1,300. The closest villages are Dolbenmaen and Bryncir...

, Bryncir and Pantglas

Pantglas

Pant Glas is a hamlet on the A487 road in Gwynedd, Wales, located approximetely 10 miles south of Caernarfon, 9 miles north-west of Porthmadog, and 10 miles north-east of Pwllheli. Nearby is the former Pant Glas railway station, which was closed as well as the Carnarvonshire Railway in 1964. The...

.

R. Williams Parry

R. Williams Parry

Robert Williams Parry was one of Wales' most notable poets in the twentieth century.- His life :R. Williams Parry was born in Talysarn, in Dyffryn Nantlle, a first cousin to T.H. Parry-Williams and Sir Thomas Parry...

's poem Eifionydd contrasts rural Eifonydd with the bustling slate quarries of Dyffryn Nantlle, Wales.