Percy French Remembered Outside of Roscommon
Percy French Society ephemera.
When Oscar Rollins was attending a golf competition in Southport he visited Formby and the grave of Percy French. On his return to Ireland he formed a new Percy French Society based in North Down. This was the year 1983 and the new society was fortunate in attracting the attention of Brendan O‘Dowda and the surviving French family, all of whom left valuable material in their care. The Society produces a newsletter called "The Jarvey" and over 100 issues have been printed to date. A Percy French Society also exists in Co. Roscommon, Co. Galway, Co. Clare, Co. Dublin and overseas in Toronto, Canada and in China.
A huge range of postcards have been produced to show the Percy French memorial which was erected by the Society (below are two examples from the collection).
Between 1992 and 1994 a Percy French Seminar & Exhibition was held at The Clare Heritage Centre, Corofin to celebrate French‘s famous song "Are You Right There Michael" and the West Clare Railway is now back in business (below) with Percy as an integral part.
Courtney Kenny, a great nephew of French, ran "A Boy For Life" Irish musical tour in 1995 and in 2000 the National Concert Hall held an 80th. Anniversary tribute to French.
The Oriel Gallery held a Christmas Exhibition celebrating Percy French the artist in 2003 and has held a number of exhibitions of his paintings. This gallery is almost single-handedly responsible for the huge appreciation in value experienced by Percy French paintings in the past decade or so.
Some of the Oriel Gallery programmes and publications from the Local Studies collection.
The Galway Percy French Society held "A Celebration of Percy French" in 2004. The North Down Heritage Centre has a permanent display of his material in ―The Percy French Room‖ (left and below). This is just a small sampling of such events. The man may be gone, but he is certainly not forgotten.
Phyllis Arnold produces commercial bronze sculptures, including a bust of Percy French.