Willie French was born in County Roscommon and grew up in Derby. He studied engineering at Trinity College, Dublin, and after nearly 10 years, finally received his certificate. Studies at Trinity were not as important to Mr. French as his own budding talent as a songwriter and performer.

Mr. French became the “inspector of drains” in County Cavan in 1883, where he found he also had an incredible ability to paint. He became quite enthusiastic about his painting, and came to feel in time that it was his true talent. When the board had cut backs, Willie found himself a journalist, editing a weekly comedic paper called “Jarvey.” Once “Jarvey” failed, he found that his love of poetry and silliness paid off as he began songwriting and entertaining in earnest. He took Percy French as his stage name, and forever since, it is how he is remembered.

In 1891, just a year after his marriage, his young wife and baby died; this tragic loss led to the writing of some incredibly sad, lovely tributes “Gortnamona,” “Only Goodnight,” and “Not Lost But Gone Before.” He was learning that his talent didn’t lie only with the comic. He then traveled the width and breadth of Ireland painting, often for room and board, as he gave comic lectures and performed his own songs, while playing the banjo. Mr. French remarried in 1892 and produced three children.

After forming a partnership with Houston Collison, they wrote and produced comic operas in which Percy performed the lead. After taking on a new partner, Richard Orpen, he wrote and produced and played in a revue called “Dublin up to Date,” consisting of sketches, stories, and songs. He traveled with a troupe of entertainers who were enthusiastically received all over Ireland.

In 1898, Percy sued the West Clare Railway for loss of earnings because his troupe had been bound for Kilkee and arrived after the audience had given up and left. One of his best loved and most popular numbers came from that lawsuit: “Are Ye Right There Michael?”

Many of his songs came from the time when he was traveling Ireland, staying in pubs, singing and painting for his board. “Eileen Og” and “The Mountains O’ Mourne” were arranged by Collisson, “Gortnamona” was set to music by Phillip Green. His daughter, Ettie, helped with the musical adaptations of some of his poetry. And Brendan O’Dowda provided the music for some of his more wistful things like “An Irish Mother” and a tribute to the driver of his horse-drawn cab: “Come Back Paddy Reilly, to Ballyjamesduff.”

In 1900, Percy French decided to move on to London where he played to much success in the larger cities of England. He also toured the U.S., the West Indies, Canada, and Switzerland to high acclaim. Mr. French traveled during World War I entertaining the troops in England and France, raising money for the war effort. He always returned to Ireland where he felt so at home; he played there every single year until his death in 1920.

Percy French was also a prolific producer of poetry. His poems consisted of parody and prose, wistfulness and poignancy, meditation and musing. He even at one time penned what could have been called an epitaph:
“Remember me is all I ask, yet the remembrance prove a task, Forget.”

His paintings are even yet shown in museums all over Ireland and Great Britian. They are part of many important Irish and English collections, as well.

But he is most remembered for his humor, and the innocence of it. For he never made fun of people, he simply presented the fun and laughed with his audiences. It is important to note that he was thought of as a decent and caring man, a satirist surly, but never sarcastic and ever silly, witty but never cruel.

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