Schedule

July 23rd

Wednesday

9.40 am

Cllr Liam Callaghan Cathaoirleach of Roscommon Co Council

Introduction and Welcome

10.00 am

Dr Brian Griffin

Percy French and the Great War

10.30 am

Q & A

10.45 am

Dr Caitriona Clear

Percy French as philosopher and chronicler of everyday life

11.15 am

Q & A

11.30 am

Tea/coffee

12.00 pm

Dr Patrick Maume

Political Satire Verse/Performance in the late C19th/early C20th

12.30 pm

Q & A

12.45 pm

Dr Maeve O’Riordan

Ideas of self and the 'surplus woman':
single women of the Big House

1.15 pm

Q & A

1.30 pm

Lunch

3.00 pm

First Keynote Address

Eddie Hobbs

Freedom or Total Control?

4.00 pm

Gardens Open

July 24th

Thursday

10.00 am

Dr Eve Watson

The extraordinary realm of meaning and affirmation that comes from direct human interaction

10.30 am

Q & A

10.45 am

Laoise de Brún BL

Ireland, a century on, our culture in crisis; have we segued from one theocracy to the next, one master to another, on the journey to find our authentic selves?

11.15 am

Q & A

11.30 am

Tea/coffee

12.00 pm

Michael Hardiman

Authenticity: the antidote to postmodern nihilism

12.30 pm

Q & A

12.45 pm

Sean Freyne 1935–2013

Sean Freyne
1935-2013

The Sean Freyne Memorial Lecture

Una B Agnew

Authenticity: learning not to care

1.15 pm

Q & A

1.30 pm

Lunch

3.00 pm

Dr Stephen J Costello

Meaning and the drama of authentic human existence

3.30 pm

Q & A

3.45 pm

Afternoon recital

Malachy Tuohy

Percy French in view

4.30 pm

Gardens open

July 25th

Friday

10.00 am

Anthony Waldron 1961–2025

Anthony Waldron
1961–2025

The Anthony Waldron Memorial Lecture

Michael Harding

My Dark Rosaleen–Myth and authenticity in Irish history

10.30 am

Q & A

10.45 am

Stephen Collins

Why the Centre has held in Ireland

11.15 am

Q & A

11.30 am

Tea/coffee

12.00 pm

Second Keynote Address

Senator Dr Tom Clonan

Existential action in the pursuit of authenticity

12.30 pm

Q & A

12.45 pm

John McGuirk

Ireland, immigration and cultural changes and challenges

1.15 pm

Q & A

1.30 pm

Lunch

3.00 pm

Afternoon Recital

Col Ceathair

The Authentic Oscar Wilde and Percy French

4.00 pm

Gardens Open

Please be seated 15 minutes before the first talk each day.
The Festival schedule is subject to change.

Tickets

Early Booking Special Offer

Each whole day:

  • Three / Four Lectures
  • Afternoon Recital
  • Tea / Coffee / Homemade Cakes
  • Wednesday 23 July €50
  • Thursday 24 July €50
  • Friday 25 July €50
  • Secondary/graduate student: €20 per day
  • Child under 12, when accompanied by an Adult ticket holder: €10 per day

Don’t miss out, Festival tickets sell out quickly!

Buy online

Pay now by card. Your ticket will be given to you on the day.

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Adult + child under 12


Or buy through our ticket office:

  • +353 (0)90 666 3794

The 17th Percy French Festival

The Quest for Authenticity

23rd | 24th | 25th | July 2025

At Castlecoote House, Co Roscommon

The Percy French Festival acknowledges the major support of Excel Industries; Whyte’s; CastleAcre; C&F Quadrant Ltd; Brady Insurance; Eamon Dempsey; Philip Bates, California; Phelim O’Neill; Sean Tuohy, Celbridge; Hidden Ireland.

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