Commercial use of the Percy French brand

For its 250 Anniversary in 1960 the Smithwicks beer company in Kilkenny produced a calendar with a Percy French theme. Twelve songs were chosen for depiction, reflecting the most popular of French‘s songs at the time. The songs include Phil the Fluter, Eileen Oge, Are Ye Right There Michael, Slattery‘s Mounted Fut, McBreen‘s Heifer, Little Bridget Flynn, Mat Hanigan‘s Aunt, Whistlin Phil McHugh, The Night That Miss Cooney Eloped, Come Back Paddy Reilly and The Mountains of Mourne.

A few years later the company experimented with re-branding its No. 1 Ale and its Barley Wine by replacing the family name with the word "Time" in an effort to stem the loss of business in England due to increased competition. The strategy worked, but by 1966 the name change had been reversed. During this time Percy French again became a major part of the re-branding process. The songs most popular in England, according to the company advertisers were "Phil the Fluter's Ball", "Mountains O'Mourne", "The Pride of Petravore", "Come Back Paddy Reilly", McBreen's Heifer, "Little Bridget Flynn", "Slattery's Mounted Fut" and "Are You Right There Michael. A set of beermats was produced to advertise the new brand.

A complete set of Time Beer, Percy French themed beer-mats from 1962/3. "Phil the Fluter's Ball" (BBCS # 11), "Mountains O'Mourne" (BBCS # 12), "The Pride of Petravore" (BBCS # 13), "Come Back Paddy Reilly" (BBCS # 14), McBreen's Heifer (BBCS # 15), "Little Bridget Flynn" (BBCS # 16), "Slattery's Mounted Fut" (BBCS # 17) and "Are You Right There Michael" (BBCS # 18). (BBCS = British Beermat Collectors Society Catalogue Number).

His songs are also available in collected format and a number of collections have been produced over the years. These include "Immortal Irish Songs of Percy French - Recorded by Brendan O'Dowda" Sam Fox Publishing Company. N.Y. (No date), "Songs of Percy French Vol. 1 & 2" Keith Prowse Music Publishing Co. (No date), "The best of Percy French" EMI Music Publishing Ltd. 1980, "The Songs of Percy French" Selected and edited by James N. Healy. Mercier Press. (First edition was 1983, several editions in collection) and a similar title by the same author and Ossian Publications Ltd. (2003). "Best Irish Songs of Percy French" by Tony Butler. Wolfe Publishing Ltd., London. 3rd Edition (1974) and "Songs of Percy French" Published by CFN, Cork. Printed by D&A O'Leary Ltd. (1976).