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Article: YE WERE RIGHT THERE, JACKIE! They said it couldn't be done, they said it shouldn't be done... but PHILIP NOLAN finds even the sternest critics are won over as the West Clare Railway steams again.(News)
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- August 18, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: PHILIP NOLAN
IT was twenty past eight in the evening, on August 10, 1896, when a breathless Percy French, the most famous entertainer of his day, arrived in Kilkee to find that the audience he was to perform to had largely left the concert hall because he was 50 minutes late.
More to the point, they hadn't paid and, out of pocket, French sued the West Clare Railway for [pounds sterling]10. The train he was travelling on from Ennis had broken down and a replacement engine took longer to arrive than expected.
The resulting court case, which French duly won, made national headlines -- but the lasting legacy was the song, Are Ye Right There, ...