Page 15 - The 15th Percy French Festival: French Awakenings

prin ci pal aim is to highlight what is actually going on and then bring the
impetus of Percy French to the social and political questions of the day. Were
Percy French alive now, he would no doubt be observing the extraordinary
develop ments of our times and commenting on them, as indeed the Festival
seeks to do. We can therefore readily imagine PF addressing the future in
which arti!cial intelligence and trans human ism will directly a$ect us all.

Kevin Finnerty
July "'"&

NOTES

% This was the theme of the Percy French Festival "'"", and the title of a paper I gave there.

" Nostalgia has a limited journey. The reason for the Festival’s longevity stems from bringing
Percy French’s social awareness into the "%st century.

& Dr Travers gave his talk, Parnell and French, at the Festival in "'%&. He was one of the earliest
to point out Percy French’s political stance. Previously, Percy French was commonly referred
to as being apolitical. Dr Travers showed that far from being apoliti cal P.French was at the
forefront of many of political crises and a staunch supporter of C. S. Parnell. Both President
Michael D. Higgins and Dr Caitriona Cleere referred to French as the most important social

commentator of his time.

) Both political and social sides of PF are evident in The Jarvey. Notwith standing the North
Down Percy French Society’s Trojan work in providing printed volumes of the magazine
in entirety to several museums, the Percy French Festival is currently digitising all issues
of The Jarvey and plans to provide them for the !rst time to the public in "'").

, ibid.

+ Emily de Burg Daly, Chronicles and Poems of Percy French, Talbot Press, Dublin,%("".

- Dr Travers, ibid. Robert Kee, The Laurel and The Ivy: The Story of Charles Stewart Parnell and
Irish Nationalism, Hamish Hamilton, %((&. St John Ervin, Parnell, E. Benn, London,%("*.

* The full poem can be found in Brenan O’Dowda’s biography, The World of Percy French,
Blacksta$ Press, Belfast, %(*%.

( The Queen’s Advice . . . was written when Lord Zetland was sent by Queen Victoria to be
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in %**( and published in The Jarvey, p-**, December %*((.
Thanks to Berrie O’Neill of the North Down Percy French Society for help with this entry.

%' Travers, ibid.

%% ibid.

PERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL !"!# •&"•