Frank Patterson
Encyclopedia
Frank Patterson was an internationally renowned Irish tenor
following in the tradition of singers such as Count John McCormack and Josef Locke
. He was known as "Ireland's Golden Tenor".
, County Tipperary
on October 5, 1938.
. He sang in the local St. Mary's Choral Society and at a production of The Pirates of Penzance
performed with both his parents. Frank's interests extended beyond music and as a boy he represented Marlfield
GAA hurling
club, played tennis at Hillview and golf at the Mountain Road course. He quit school at an early stage to work at 'Slater's', the printing business of his mother's family. Patterson moved to Dublin in 1961 to enrol at the National Academy of Theatre and Allied Arts where he studied acting while at the same time receiving vocal training from Dr. Hans Waldemar Rosen. In 1964 he entered the Feis Ceoil
, a nationwide music competition in which he won several sections including Oratorio
, Lieder and the German Gold Cup.
. This led to a contract and his first record, My Dear Native Land.
He worked with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis and some of the most prestigious orchestras in Europe including the London Symphony Orchestra
and Orchestre de Paris
. He also toured with Janine Micheau
in Pelléas et Mélisande
and won a reputation as a singer of Handel
, Mozart, and Bach
oratorios
and German, Italian and French song. Patterson had a long running programme on RTÉ
, the Irish national broadcaster, titled For Your Pleasure.
In the early 1980s he moved to the United States, making his home in rural Westchester County, New York
. A resurgence of interest in Irish culture encouraged him to turn towards a more traditional Irish repertoire. Adding hymns, ballads, and traditional as well as more popular tunes to his catalogue he became a popular singer in a country with a strong Irish connection and in March 1988 was featured host in a St. Patrick's Day celebration of music and dance at New York's famous Radio City Music Hall.
He gave an outdoor performance on the steps of the Capitol
in Washington with the National Symphony Orchestra before an audience of 60,000. Patterson was equally at home in more intimate settings, such as a concert he gave for Boys’ Town
.
His singing in the role of the Evangelist
in Bach's St. John Passion
was given fine reviews. Further recordings followed, of Beethoven arrangements, Irish songs, Berlioz songs, Purcell
songs and others, all on the Philips label.
Frank Patterson performed sell-out concerts from London's Royal Albert Hall
to New York's Carnegie Hall
, and with his family he presented two concerts at the White House, for Presidents Ronald Reagan
in 1982 and Bill Clinton
in 1995.
He recorded over thirty albums in six languages, won silver, gold and platinum discs
and was the first Irish singer to host his own show in Radio City Music Hall
in New York
.
Rising to greater prominence with the new popularity of Celtic music in the 1990s, Patterson saw many of his past recordings reissued for American audiences, and in 1998 he starred in the PBS special 'Ireland in Song'. His last album outsold Pavarotti.
In recognition of his musical achievements he was awarded an honorary doctorate
from Salve Regina University
, Newport
in 1990 an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Manhattan College
in 1996 and the Gold Medal of the Éire Society of Boston
in 1998.
, which was directed by John Huston
and starred his daughter Anjelica Huston
. Patterson played Bartell D'Arcy, the character who sings The Lass of Aughrim.
Patterson is heard twice in the Coen brothers
film Millers Crossing (1990), in which he sings both Danny Boy
and Goodnight Sweetheart. In 1996 he appeared as "Tenor in Restaurant" in Neil Jordan
's Michael Collins
, singing Macushla
. A recording of him singing the Irish traditional Dan Tucker also appeared in Martin Scorsese
's Gangs of New York
(2002).
celebrated by Pope John Paul II
in Dublin's Phoenix Park
before a congregation of almost a million people. In 1984 he was awarded the Knighthood of St. Gregory
by the Pope. He was also a Knight of Malta and a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
. While many of his Irish songs were quite sentimental, he did not indulge in strongly nationalistic themes and the first funds raised for the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
in the early 1970s were takings from a concert he gave in the Rupert Guinness Hall. Later, he continued to donate to the Centre from performances by him at the National Concert Hall in Dublin
.
at his funeral. Patterson's last performance was at Regis College
in
Weston, Massachusetts
, a suburb of Boston
, and the following morning he fell ill and cancelled his appearance at the Cardinal's funeral. That day he was admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
where he lapsed into a coma
and died at the age of 61.
At his death accolades and tributes came from, among others, President of Ireland
Mary McAleese
, Taoiseach
(Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern
and Opposition leader John Bruton
who said he had, "the purest voice of his generation." He was survived by his wife, the concert pianist Eily O'Grady, their son Eanan a violinist (with whom he frequently performed), and by his sister Imelda Malone and brothers Noel and Maurice.
attended a celebrity wedding in South Tipperary
, and while there made a detour to place flowers on Patterson's grave as a tribute from the Presley family, impressed by Patterson's interpretations of songs later performed by Elvis
.
"You'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me;
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me."
In February 2002 an independent film-maker, Johnny Watts, met Eily Patterson on Staten Island, New York . This meeting culminated in 'The Tribute In Song', a series of three one-hour programmes featuring Patterson's music to commemorate those killed in Manhattan
in 9/11 and which also became a moving tribute to Frank Patterson himself. In September 2008, Watts personally presented to the Irish Consulate in New York City, a plaque that honored Frank Patterson's contribution to 'Tribute In Song'. It was intended that the plaque would be returned to Patterson's native Clonmel.
A bronze life-size piece by sculptor Jerry McKenna from Texas titled "The Golden Tenor Statue", was unveiled to his memory in Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, in June 2002.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
following in the tradition of singers such as Count John McCormack and Josef Locke
Josef Locke
Josef Locke was the stage name of Joseph McLaughlin , a tenor singer who was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s....
. He was known as "Ireland's Golden Tenor".
Early life
Patterson was born in ClonmelClonmel
Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
on October 5, 1938.
Maritana
Maritana is a grand opera in three acts composed by William Vincent Wallace, with a libretto by Edward Fitzball . The opera is based on the play Don César de Bazan by Adolphe d'Ennery and Philippe François Pinel Dumanoir , which was also the source material for Jules Massenet's opéra comique Don...
. He sang in the local St. Mary's Choral Society and at a production of The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
performed with both his parents. Frank's interests extended beyond music and as a boy he represented Marlfield
Marlfield, Clonmel
Marlfield is a village three kilometres west of Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. It is within the townlands of Marlfield and Inishlounaght. It replaced an older settlement named Abbey, which had developed near the 12th century Cistercian community of Inislounaght Abbey.- Local industry...
GAA hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
club, played tennis at Hillview and golf at the Mountain Road course. He quit school at an early stage to work at 'Slater's', the printing business of his mother's family. Patterson moved to Dublin in 1961 to enrol at the National Academy of Theatre and Allied Arts where he studied acting while at the same time receiving vocal training from Dr. Hans Waldemar Rosen. In 1964 he entered the Feis Ceoil
Feis Ceoil
Feis Ceoil is an annual Irish cultural festival of music and dance. It was first organized in 1897 by Dr. Annie Patterson and Edward Martyn. It consisted of competitions for performance and composition and was supported by all musicians of the day, both national and classical...
, a nationwide music competition in which he won several sections including Oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
, Lieder and the German Gold Cup.
Career
Patterson gave classical recitals around Ireland and won scholarships to study in London, Paris and in the Netherlands. While in Paris, he appeared in a radio broadcast which caught the attention of the Philips Record CompanyPhilips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
. This led to a contract and his first record, My Dear Native Land.
He worked with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis and some of the most prestigious orchestras in Europe including the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
and Orchestre de Paris
Orchestre de Paris
The Orchestre de Paris is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra performs most of its concerts at the Salle Pleyel.-History:In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, conductor Charles Munch was called on by the Minister of Culture,...
. He also toured with Janine Micheau
Janine Micheau
Janine Micheau was a French singer, one of the leading lyric sopranos of her era in France.Janine Micheau was born in Toulouse, and studied voice at the Paris Conservatoire...
in Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
and won a reputation as a singer of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
, Mozart, and Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
oratorios
Oratórios
Oratórios is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Zona da Mata and to the microregion of Ponte Nova.-See also:* List of municipalities in Minas Gerais...
and German, Italian and French song. Patterson had a long running programme on RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
, the Irish national broadcaster, titled For Your Pleasure.
In the early 1980s he moved to the United States, making his home in rural Westchester County, New York
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
. A resurgence of interest in Irish culture encouraged him to turn towards a more traditional Irish repertoire. Adding hymns, ballads, and traditional as well as more popular tunes to his catalogue he became a popular singer in a country with a strong Irish connection and in March 1988 was featured host in a St. Patrick's Day celebration of music and dance at New York's famous Radio City Music Hall.
He gave an outdoor performance on the steps of the Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
in Washington with the National Symphony Orchestra before an audience of 60,000. Patterson was equally at home in more intimate settings, such as a concert he gave for Boys’ Town
Boys Town, Nebraska
Boys Town is a village in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 818 at the 2000 census. Boys Town is a suburb of Omaha.The village of Boys Town was established as the headquarters of the Boys Town organization, also known as "Father Flanagan's Boys' Home", founded by Father...
.
His singing in the role of the Evangelist
Evangelist (Bach)
The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...
in Bach's St. John Passion
St. John Passion
Several composers have written works known by the title St John Passion, which denotes a passion based on the Gospel of John...
was given fine reviews. Further recordings followed, of Beethoven arrangements, Irish songs, Berlioz songs, Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
songs and others, all on the Philips label.
Frank Patterson performed sell-out concerts from London's Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
to New York's Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, and with his family he presented two concerts at the White House, for Presidents Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 1982 and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
in 1995.
He recorded over thirty albums in six languages, won silver, gold and platinum discs
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and was the first Irish singer to host his own show in Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Rising to greater prominence with the new popularity of Celtic music in the 1990s, Patterson saw many of his past recordings reissued for American audiences, and in 1998 he starred in the PBS special 'Ireland in Song'. His last album outsold Pavarotti.
In recognition of his musical achievements he was awarded an honorary doctorate
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
from Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University
Salve Regina University is a university in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, the university is a Catholic, co-educational, private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of Rhode Island in 1934. In 1947 the university acquired Ochre Court and welcomed its first class...
, Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
in 1990 an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Manhattan College
Manhattan College
Manhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City, United States. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers...
in 1996 and the Gold Medal of the Éire Society of Boston
Eire Society of Boston
The Eire Society of Boston was founded in 1937 to promote Irish culture and to bring it to a wider audience particularly in the United States. Each year the Society bestows the Gold Medal Award to individuals they feel have greatly contributed to their goals...
in 1998.
Film
Patterson appeared in several films, starting with The Dead (1987), an adaptation of a story by James JoyceJames Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, which was directed by John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
and starred his daughter Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
. Patterson played Bartell D'Arcy, the character who sings The Lass of Aughrim.
Patterson is heard twice in the Coen brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
film Millers Crossing (1990), in which he sings both Danny Boy
Danny Boy
-Background:The words to "Danny Boy" were written by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly modified them to fit the "Londonderry Air" in 1913, after his sister-in-law in the U.S. sent him a copy. Ernestine...
and Goodnight Sweetheart. In 1996 he appeared as "Tenor in Restaurant" in Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...
's Michael Collins
Michael Collins (film)
Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biopic written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival....
, singing Macushla
Macushla
Macushla is an Irish song copyrighted circa 1910 with music by Dermot MacMurrough and lyrics by Josephine V. Rowe. The title is a transliteration of the Irish mo chuisle meaning "my pulse" as used in the phrase a chuisle mo chroí meaning "darling" or "sweetheart".It was used in the end credits of...
. A recording of him singing the Irish traditional Dan Tucker also appeared in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(2002).
Religion and social conscience
Patterson was a devout Catholic, and in 1979 sang at the MassMass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
celebrated by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in Dublin's Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
before a congregation of almost a million people. In 1984 he was awarded the Knighthood of St. Gregory
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
by the Pope. He was also a Knight of Malta and a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. It traces its roots to Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade...
. While many of his Irish songs were quite sentimental, he did not indulge in strongly nationalistic themes and the first funds raised for the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
The Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation is a non-governmental charitable organization located in Republic of Ireland. Its goal is to promote peace and reconciliation, especially as a response to the Troubles and its aftermath....
in the early 1970s were takings from a concert he gave in the Rupert Guinness Hall. Later, he continued to donate to the Centre from performances by him at the National Concert Hall in Dublin
National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....
.
Illness and death
In 1999, Frank learned he had a brain tumour. He had several operations in the following year and his condition appeared to have stabilised. Cardinal O'Connor, in his personal funeral plan had requested that Frank Patterson sing Ave MariaEllens dritter Gesang
Ellens dritter Gesang , in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.It has become one of Schubert's most popular works under the...
at his funeral. Patterson's last performance was at Regis College
Regis College
Regis College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts and sciences college located in Weston, Massachusetts. Founded as a women’s college in 1927, Regis became co-educational in 2007.-History:...
in
Weston, Massachusetts
Weston, Massachusetts
Weston is a suburb of Boston located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Boston metro area. The population of Weston, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, is 11,261....
, a suburb of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and the following morning he fell ill and cancelled his appearance at the Cardinal's funeral. That day he was admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
where he lapsed into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
and died at the age of 61.
At his death accolades and tributes came from, among others, President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Mary McAleese
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...
, Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
(Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
and Opposition leader John Bruton
John Bruton
John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance , and Minister for Industry, Trade,...
who said he had, "the purest voice of his generation." He was survived by his wife, the concert pianist Eily O'Grady, their son Eanan a violinist (with whom he frequently performed), and by his sister Imelda Malone and brothers Noel and Maurice.
Legacy
In December 2005 Lisa Marie PresleyLisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley is an American singer and songwriter, also known as the "Princess of Rock and Roll". She is the only child of Elvis Presley, and daughter of Priscilla Presley.-Early life:...
attended a celebrity wedding in South Tipperary
South Tipperary
South Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 52% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...
, and while there made a detour to place flowers on Patterson's grave as a tribute from the Presley family, impressed by Patterson's interpretations of songs later performed by Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
In February 2002 an independent film-maker, Johnny Watts, met Eily Patterson on Staten Island, New York . This meeting culminated in 'The Tribute In Song', a series of three one-hour programmes featuring Patterson's music to commemorate those killed in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 9/11 and which also became a moving tribute to Frank Patterson himself. In September 2008, Watts personally presented to the Irish Consulate in New York City, a plaque that honored Frank Patterson's contribution to 'Tribute In Song'. It was intended that the plaque would be returned to Patterson's native Clonmel.
A bronze life-size piece by sculptor Jerry McKenna from Texas titled "The Golden Tenor Statue", was unveiled to his memory in Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, in June 2002.
Sources
Irish Times Obituary, June 17, 2000. It was said the whole world seemed still when he sang.External links
- Frank Patterson at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Documented recitals in Ireland by Patterson from Arts and Humanities Research Council (hosted by Cardiff University and the Royal College of Music).