Painter, born in Armagh, Northern Ireland. He had a special interest in music and musicians and the life of the province as seen in aspects such as games and customs. With his wife Eithne he produced a book called Sing a Song and Play It. Vallely attended Armagh Technical School part-time in 1958, was at Belfast College of Art, 1959–61, gained a Royal Dublin Society Taylor Scholarship and then went to Edinburgh College of Art, 1961–4, in 1964–5 a major travel scholarship from there taking him to Spain and Morocco. Exhibitions included Ulster Museum – it holds his work, as does Arts Council of Northern Ireland – Magee Gallery in Belfast, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin and Tom Caldwell Galleries there and in Belfast.