Eluned Phillips was the only woman to win the bardic crown

Crowning of the Bard

The Crowning of the Bard is one of the most important events in an eisteddfod. The most famous such ceremony takes place at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and is always on the Tuesday afternoon of Eisteddfod week....

 at the National Eisteddfod of Wales

National Eisteddfod of Wales

The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...

 twice, a feat she accomplished in 1967 at Bala

Bala, Gwynedd

Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...

 and 1983 at Llangefni

Llangefni

Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llangefni was 4,662 people and it is the second largest settlement on the island...

.

Phillips was born in Cenarth

Cenarth

Cenarth is a village, parish and community in Carmarthenshire, adjoining the Cenarth Falls, bordering Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, West Wales.- Location :...

, on the same day that Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...

 was born in Swansea. She knew Thomas well, but did not number him among her close friends. Her friends included Augustus John

Augustus John

Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....

 and Edith Piaf

Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...

. She died of pneumonia aged 94 at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen

Carmarthen

Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....

. At the time of her death she was the oldest member of the Gorsedd

Gorsedd

A gorsedd plural gorseddau, is a community or coming together of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is occasionally spelled gorsedh , or goursez in Brittany....

of Bards.