He wrote Galway Bay and The Queen of Connemara and was one of the leading figures in the Cultural Revival movement in London at the turn of the century. He inspired Douglas Hyde and W.B. Yeats and helped to restore a sense of pride among Irish emigrants.
His name? If you aren't sure, a community group in Kinvara, Co Galway, intends to remedy that.
The Francis Fahy Society is a non-profit, community-based organisation affiliated to Kinvara Community Council. It has commissioned a group of artists to develop a play on the life and times of Fahy (1854-1935), poet, songwriter and London-based civil servant, who was born in the village.
The group includes novelist Kate Thompson, playwright Trish Fitzpatrick, poet and playwright Colm Corless, and scriptwriter/comedian Philip Sweeney.
Corless and Sweeney are natives of Kinvara. Guiding spirit is the award-winning stage director and playwright, Max Hafler.
The project co-ordinator, Caoilte Breatnach, says one of the major successes of the Irish literary revival was "the facing down of the Irish stereotype and the restoration of a sense of pride among Irish-born living in Britain.
"Fahy achieved both objectives with his ready wit, humour and his lyrics, which became very popular during his own lifetime".
Fahy immersed himself in the language revival movement and became first president of Conradh na Gaeilge in London.
Apart from his poetry, published in two volumes, he organised classes and wrote books for children, including The Child's Irish Song Book and The Irish Reciter.
During the last century his popular compositions such as Little Mary Cassidy, Donovans, Husheen and The Irish Lullaby, were performed regularly.
The play is inspired by a speech Fahy delivered - in a Kinvara accent, we're told - in 1921 when he was invited by the Irish Literary Society to a dinner in his honour.
The "Reminiscences" speech is due for publication next year in The Yeats Annual, published by the Institute of English Studies at the University of London.
The Francis Fahy Society has begun fund-raising to ensure that the production is brought to stage, and has already received support from Galway County Council.
It has opened an account in Allied Irish Banks in Gort, Co Galway (no 08517056) and the Kinvara Credit Union, Kinvara, account no 1280. Donations are gratefully accepted, Breatnach says.
The society has other projects up its sleeve. A compilation album of Fahy's songs is also being produced for release early next year.
The society has a website at www.kinvara.com/francisfahy/ and the email address is: fafsociety@ireland.com