23 Facts About Frank Patterson

Frank Patterson KCHS was an internationally renowned Irish tenor following in the tradition of singers such as Count John McCormack and Josef Locke.

Frank Patterson received special encouragement from local connoisseur Tommy O'Brien after a highschool performance as Lazarello in W V Wallace's Maritana.

Frank Patterson sang in the local St Mary's Choral Society and at a production of The Pirates of Penzance performed with both his parents.

Frank Patterson'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.

Frank Patterson gave classical recitals around Ireland and won scholarships to study in London, Paris and in the Netherlands.

Frank Patterson 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.

Frank Patterson toured with Janine Micheau in Pelleas et Melisande and won a reputation as a singer of Handel, Mozart, and Bach oratorios and German, Italian and French song.

Frank Patterson had a long-running programme on RTE, the Irish national broadcaster, titled For Your Pleasure.

Frank Patterson gave an outdoor performance on the steps of the Capitol in Washington with the National Symphony Orchestra before an audience of 60,000.

Frank Patterson was equally at home in more intimate settings, such as a concert he gave for Boys Town.

Frank Patterson's singing in the role of the Evangelist in Bach's St John Passion was given fine reviews.

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.

Frank Patterson 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.

Frank Patterson appeared in several films, starting with The Dead, an adaptation of a story by James Joyce, which was directed by John Huston and starred his daughter Anjelica Huston.

Frank Patterson played Bartell D'Arcy, the character who sings "The Lass of Aughrim".

Frank Patterson is heard twice in the Coen brothers film Millers Crossing, in which he sings both Danny Boy and Goodnight Sweetheart.

Frank Patterson was a devout Catholic, and in 1979 sang at the Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Dublin's Phoenix Park before a congregation of almost a million people.

Frank Patterson was a Knight of Malta and a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Frank Patterson was one of various artists to create the Faith of Our Fathers album, which topped the Irish Albums Chart for two months in 1996.

Frank Patterson 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 Maria at his funeral.

Frank Patterson was diagnosed with a recurrence of his illness on 7 May 2000 and he cancelled his appearance at the cardinal's funeral on the following morning, 8 May Following the cardinals's funeral, Frank Patterson briefly recuperated and resumed performing.

Frank Patterson 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.