She’s cute as a set of pearl buttons on a twinset, and Angelina Carberry can play the heck out of a tenor banjo. She joins her accordionist husband, Martin Quinn, on center stage on Saturday, July 7, at the Coatesville Cultural Society, 143 E. Lincoln Highway in Coatesville. Like many traditional Irish musicians, Carberry and Quinn come by it naturally: Angelina’s father, Peter, and grandfather, Kevin, were both musicians; Quinn comes from a long line of Irish musicians and storytellers. (If you’ve been to a trad concert, you know that most musicians, whatever their instrument, almost always have a way with words too. Be prepared to grin. And expect a good toe-tapping time.)
The concert begins at 8 PM and is part of Frank Dalton’s superlative Irish music series.
Perhaps memories of Meryl Streep’s Irish accent will dance through your head –she played stern Mundy sister, Kate, in the 1998 film version of “Dancing at Lughnasa.” But Brian Friel’s play was meant to be seen live, and it’s playing for only 5 more performances at The Barn Playhouse, Christopher Lane and Rittenhouse Boulevard in Jeffersonville, not far from King of Prussia. This 1991 Olivier Award-winning play tells the story of the five Mundy sisters, seen largely through the eyes of Michael, the illegitimate son of Chris, the youngest Mundy. Set in 1936, the action revolves around the Mundy’s first wireless radio, whose broadcasts release previously unarticulated emotions in the five women, who spontaneously break into song and dance–itself a fine Irish tradition.
You can see the various ways in which sisterhood is powerful on Friday, July 6 and 13, starting at 8 PM; Saturday, July 7 and 14, also at 8 PM. There’s also a matinee on Sunday, July 8, at 2 PM.
Got restless feet syndrome? On Friday, July 6, head over to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Palmyra, NJ (321 E. Broad Street) for the monthly hooley–that’s every kind of Irish music you can think of, plus dancing–with Pancho, Kevin and Jimmy. The craic starts at 8 PM.
See the calendar for more information.
And hey, you sports fans: Why not add Gaelic football and hurling to your Sunday afternoons? This Sunday, July, 8, starting at 12:30 PM (or thereabouts), you can see an entire afternoon of some of the fiercest, rough-and-tumble action ever to be called a sport on the playing fields of Cardinal Dougherty High School, 6301 N. Second Street, Philadelphia. It’s “footies” first, with the Kevin Barrys squaring off against Tyrone at 12:30 PM. At 2 PM, it’s Eire Og vs. the St. Patricks. At 3:30 PM, the Young Irelands take on the Kevin Barrys. And rounding out the afternoon, it’s the Brian Borus vs the Shamrocks in a rousing game of hurling, described by a local wag as part hockey, part lacrosse, and part assault with a deadly weapon.
Just be aware that the games, though scheduled, don’t always come off as planned. If the Irish aren’t there, the Asian soccer teams might be, so it won’t be a total loss.
