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seasonal · Wednesday 15 July 2026 · 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Percy French Festival
At Castlecoote House · Castlecoote, Roscommon, Co. Roscommon
At Castlecoote House · Castlecoote, Roscommon, Co. Roscommon
Each July, a Georgian country house in the middle of Co. Roscommon becomes the unlikely setting for one of Ireland’s more intellectually satisfying summer gatherings. The Percy French Festival - now in its 18th year - is a three-day summer school and celebration of Percy French (1854-1920), the Roscommon-born songwriter, watercolourist, and entertainer whose songs like “The Mountains of Mourne” and “Come Back Paddy Reilly” are woven into Irish life. The 2026 festival carries the theme “The Crisis of Identity,” with speakers and performers examining what that phrase meant in French’s own time and what it means in contemporary Ireland. If you enjoy ideas, good conversation, and a venue that earns its own entry in the history books, this is well worth the trip.
The festival runs across three full days, each structured around three to four talks in the morning and early afternoon, followed by a musical recital. The 2026 speaker list includes Peadar Tóibín and Maria Steen alongside commentators, historians, and public intellectuals addressing Irish cultural and social questions through the lens of French’s life and work. Musical performances come from The Fuerty Ensemble, Paul McDonald, and Col Ceathair - a mix of traditional and chamber-style recital that fits the setting. Between sessions, refreshments are served: tea, coffee, and homemade cakes. It is a civilised pace, unhurried, the kind of afternoon where a conversation started over cake ends up lasting until the next session bell.
Castlecoote House itself is half the draw. The estate sits on ground first fortified in the 14th century by the Mageraghty clan and later by the Coote family who gave it their name. The current three-bay Palladian house was remodelled around 1770, with two of the original fort towers still incorporated as flanking wings. After decades of decline, the house was painstakingly restored over twelve years by its current owner and now operates as heritage accommodation. Being inside it during the festival feels like attending something in a private house rather than a conference room.
Castlecoote is a small village about 10 km south-east of Roscommon town. By road from Dublin it is roughly two hours via the M4/N61; from Galway around an hour along the N63. There is no rail station at Castlecoote, but Roscommon town has a train link on the Dublin Heuston to Westport/Ballina line, from which a taxi or lift covers the last stretch easily. Parking is available on-site at the house. If you are making a weekend of it, Roscommon town is the most convenient base for accommodation.
The county is one of the quieter parts of the midlands - wide drumlin country, the River Suck, and a scattering of monastic ruins and tower houses that rarely see queues. The town itself has Roscommon Castle, a fine 13th-century Anglo-Norman ruin you can walk around freely. There is more to see in Roscommon and across Co. Roscommon.
Heading to Castlecoote House in Roscommon? Roscommon has plenty more to see. Read the Roscommon area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.