(William) Percy French (1854–1920) was born in Co. Roscommon, Ireland. He was one of Ireland's foremost songwriters and entertainers in his day, and in later life became renowned for his painting. He was a prolific painter of landscape watercolours and considered art to be his true vocation. French studied civil engineering at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1881, but was already writing songs and painting during this period. Around 1887 he turned to journalism as the editor of The Jarvey, a weekly comic paper, but when the paper failed, his career as a comic songwriter and entertainer began. Percy French submitted paintings to the Watercolour Society of Ireland and, in 1908, he exhibited works in London and was commissioned by the Royal Family to paint two works for the Queen of Spain. Shortly after his death in 1920, the Irish Times wrote, 'he was a painter of great charm who preferred painting to writing as a means of expression.'
