The daughter of Irish singer and entertainer Val Doonican has revealed what it was like to grow up as the child of the legendary performer ahead of an exhibition giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at his life. 

The hugely popular singer, who lived in Knotty Green, passed away in 2015 aged 88.

He featured regularly on the BBC with The Val Doonican Show from 1965 to 1986, and had five successive Top 10 albums in the UK Albums Chart in the sixties. 

Speaking exclusively to the Bucks Free Press ahead of the launch of ‘Val Doonican – A Life in Pictures’ at Hall Barn in Beaconsfield on September 30, Fiona Doonican said it will be a chance for his fans to get a glimpse at some of his prized possessions – including awards, original artwork and family photographs. 

And Fiona, who still lives in the area, said her father – and her mother, Lynnette Rae, an entertainer in her own right who sadly passed away after Val – would be “delighted” to know the exhibition was raising money for charity, Wycombe Homeless Connection. 

Talking about her father, she said: “He was a real joker and a great conversationalist. He was always such a lovely person – even right at the end.

"In his last few weeks, he was in a nursing home and the nurses would come up and chat with him for ages. People would gravitate towards him. He was such a big star but he wasn’t full of himself.”

Val, who was born in Waterford, Ireland on February 3, 1927, the youngest of eight children, rose to fame after appearing on Sunday Night at the Palladium in 1963.

He was offered his own television show, which entertained audiences for over 20 years.

The performance also marked the beginning of a successful recording career, releasing hits like “Walk Tall” and “The Special Years”

But Fiona says not many people know her father was also a talented artist. She said: “He would always do little drawings and doodles. We got him watercolour lessons and he fell in love with it. 

“He created quite a lot of beautiful paintings. He always thought he was a bit rubbish so he never sold them, he would give a few away.”

She also described what it was like growing up with a celebrity father – and how Fiona and her sister refused to be picked up from school in his Bentley because they thought it was “too pompous”. 

She said: “Mum and dad would have dinner parties and there would be famous people there and we would be allowed to come downstairs and say a quick hello before we had to go back upstairs again. 

“Dad was probably the least showbiz person you could meet. He was very normal – he didn’t want the fame and fortune of it all. He got paid for doing something he loved.”  

Val Doonican - A Life in Pictures will run from 1pm to 5pm. For tickets, email administrator@valdoonican.com.