French's archive currently resides in the North Down Museum, Bangor, County Down where researchers are welcome to view material by appointment with the museum. [19] Bibliography [ edit ] In 2008, Celtic Thunder released the song on their eponymous debut album. Their recording is adapted from Don McLean's version of the song and performed by Keith Harkin. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. In March 2020, a memorial to French was unveiled in Newcastle, County Down, in sight of the Mountains of Mourne, to mark the centenary of his death. [12] Percy French in Joyce's Finnegans Wake: The Jarvey [ edit ]

And only Gaelic spoken in that House in College Green. Told me landlords wor the Divil! their agints ten times worst,. Singer-songwriter Don McLean recorded a version titled Mountains o' Mourne on Playin' Favorites in 1973, which reached number two on the Irish Singles Chart, [4] and appears on several of his "Greatest Hits" collections.

At those twelve times twenty 'tables we will never look again, In the lazy time that's coming later on;

In January 1920, when he was 65 years old, French became ill while performing in Glasgow. He died from pneumonia in Formby, England at the home of his cousin, Canon Richardson of Green Lea, College Avenue, on 24 January 1920. His grave is in the churchyard of St Luke's Church, Formby, Merseyside. Lowry, Bernadette (December 2021). Sounds of Manymirth on the Night's Ear Ringing: Percy French (1854-1920) His Jarvey Years and Joyce's Haunted Inkbottle. Dublin: Carmen Eblana Productions Carmeneblana.com. pp.19–20. ISBN 9 781914 488412. Nulty had been a collector for years before opening a gallery but he had a particularly fondness for French as his parents had met French in London in 1913 when they attended one of his matinees and met him afterwards. Nulty noticed that Irish visual art was neglected. He once witnessed that a George Russel had only been sold when a coal scuttle was thrown into the lot which sold for 2/6. When The Jarvey failed, French's long and successful career as a songwriter and entertainer began. He had lived by the canal in Dublin at 35 Mespil Road before going to London in 1890. He famously wrote to his friends when he moved there: "We have come to live by the canal, do drop in". A granite seat was erected in 1988 on the canal near his home, dedicated to French. It was sponsored by the Oriel Gallery and bears another witticism of French's: "Remember me is all I ask, / And if that memory proves a task, forget". Oliver Nulty (d. 2005) established the Oriel Gallery in Clare Street, Dublin in 1868, which opened with a Percy French and George Russell exhibition. Nulty promoted French from the day he opened the gallery in 1968 and mounted at least 15 solo exhibitions of French and several group shows featuring French, one opened by Peter Ustinov.An' down from the mountains came the squadrons an' platoons, Four-an'-twinty fightin' min, an' a couple o' sthout gossoons, We'll cross the ditch," our leader cried, "an' take the foe in flank," But yells of consthernation here arose from every rank, The store was a one-stop shop, serving as a guest house, hardware, and grocery store, and had several other versatile uses. French was treated royally there and was served fulsome Irish breakfasts reflected in the repeated refrain ‘for hardware and bacon and tae.’ French wrote the song as an act of gratitude and as a form of advertisement for McAuliff’s.’ The Emigrant's Letter (Cutting the Corn in Creeslough)". WeLoveDonegal.com . Retrieved 22 December 2012.