The Wren Boys are on the prowl Friday night, December 26. According to an ancient Irish tradition, the day after Christmas a group of rowdies kill a wren and hang it on a holly bush. They have a good reason. The wren, legend says, betrayed the hiding place of one of the first martyrs, St. Stephen.
Of course, in Ireland these days, there’s no bird killing. Instead, those same rowdies dress in costume and go from door to door, beating drums and playing whistles, and begging for “a penny for the wren.’ So if you woke this morning to hear male voices singing, “The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, On St. Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze, Although he is little, his family is great, I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat,” it wasn’t a horrible Christmas hangover.
Okay, so it’s not going to happen here. But there is a Wren Party Friday night, December 26, at the Knights of Columbus in Glenside, where you’ll be able to sing and dance still 11 PM to live Irish music.
Also on Friday night, the popular U2 tribute band, 2U, will be appearing at the Sellersville Theatre.
Save some time on Sunday, December 28, for a special Christmas treat from Fergus Carey, owner of Fergie’s Pub on Sansom Street in Philadelphia. Actors Michael Toner and Jack Barrett will be performing two “Christmassy plays” by Delaware playwright William Rolleri upstairs at the Center City pub. There are only 50 seats so call asap.
There’s no shortage of places to be on New Year’s Eve. There’s a 32-County Ball at the Irish Center with dinner and dancing to usher out 2008 (and may we say, good riddance!). The Celtic-klezmer band Scythian will be rocking out at the Stotesbury Mansion on Walnut Street, and Timlin and Kane and the King Brothers will be ringing in the new at The Shanachie Irish Pub. If you head down to McGillins, a great old Irish pub in Center City, you’ll be making your own music. You can karaoke out the old and boogie in with the new year.
Some terrific stuff coming up in the earliest part of 2009, including Eileen Ivers in Media, Irish singers Susan McKeown and Mary McPartlan in concert at the Irish Center, and the Scottish group Malinky in Wilmington. Check out our calendar for all the details (and read an interview with McKeown and McPartlan, two of the most amazing voices on Ireland’s folk scene, next week on irishphiladelphia.com).
