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April 2009

News

AOH Division Comes to the Aid of Philly Cops

AOH President Pete Hand extends thanks to FOP members for all they do to "protect and serve."

For Pete Hand and Ron Trask, the February funeral of Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski was a turning poit of sorts.

Pawlowski was the fifth Philadelphia officer to die in the line of duty in a 10-month period. Hand, president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Notre Dame Division in Swedesburg, Montgomery County, had attended all five funerals as drum major of the division’s Irish Thunder pipe band.

“Ron and I were at the (AOH) clubhouse after that last funeral,” Hand recalls. “Just being down there at all those events moved us to do something.”

The “something” turned out to be a fund drive to raise cash for the survivors fund of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 at Broad and Spring Garden. “I had heard that their fund was running low (because of so many line-of-duty deaths), and we wanted to help out.”

So Hand, Trask and a group of other Montgomery County Hibernians put their heads together and came up with the fund drive not long before St. Patrick’s Day.

The Hibernians started by collecting money at the Conshohocken St. Patrick’s Day Parade, picking up $2,100 from parade-goers. Then came the big event-Police Appreciation Day at the Hibernian Hall in Swedesburg, a well-attended bash that netted a little over $10,000.

A delegation from the AOH division presented the check to FOP Lodge 5 Tuesday night. The cops, for their part, were appreciative. “This is very substantial,” said recording secretary Jim Wheeler. “The only donation that comes close to it is (what the lodge receives from) Geno’s Steaks.”

April 14, 2009 by Jeff Meade

How to Be Irish In Philly This Week

Scenes from a recent Rambling House.

It’s a slowish week, Celtically speaking, but that’s good because it gives us a chance to tell you a little more about a monthly evening of entertainment at the Irish Center called the Rambling House, which happens this coming Thursday night.

A “rambling house” is truly a piece of old Ireland. A rural County Kerry tradition, it was an informal evening of music, stories, jokes, and recitations usually held in the home of a local farmer. The performers weren’t professionals—just neighbors and friends who presented their “party piece,” acted as the seanchai (storyteller), fiddled, sang, or danced. Yes, it was Irish amateur hour, but it’s also the place where the traditions were passed along, the stories came alive, and a sense of community and closeness were forged.

I went to the first Rambling House, produced and hosted by WTMR 800-FM radio host, Marianne MacDonald, and got that same feeling of “home” I experienced when I was in Ireland. I like to attribute the sensation to some mystical form of ethnic memory, though I suspect it had more to do with the realization I had while sitting in my cousin’s kitchen in Ballyharry, County Donegal: What I thought of as my family’s own personal customs—sitting at the kitchen table for hours, talking and laughing and telling stories—were actually part of some larger set of traditions whose source I discovered at this other table, while sipping tea and talking to people I’d just met but with whom I share a few grandparents.

Even if you’ve never had this kind of experience, you’re sure to feel a closeness to your roots at the Irish Center’s Rambling House, which is scheduled for April 16 at 8 PM. As the old song goes: “Boul in, boul in and take a chair, Admission here is free, You’re welcome to the rambling house, to hear the seanchai.”

Check out our calendar for the loads of sessions on tap this week.

April 6, 2009 by Denise Foley

Dance

Welcome to Philadelphia!

The U.S. flag led the way as dancers processed onto the Kimmel Center stage with flags from every nation representated in the championships.

In the beginning, the opening ceremony of the World Irish Dancing Championships was a dignified affair, with dancers from around the world parading onto the Kimmel Center stage with the flags of their countries, the Olympic theme playing in the background.

After that, assorted dignitaries, including Mayor Michael Nutter, took the stage to make welcoming speeches.

And it seemed that the Sunday evening ceremony would end in pomp and circumstance.

But whoever might have thought so probably had not reckoned on the Greater Kensington String Band.

The Kensington Band took the joint (can we call Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center a “joint?”) by storm. Some 6,000 dancers and thousands more family members, dance teachers, judges, officials and fans from around the world are attending this first-ever championship in North America, and it was pretty clear most of them had never seen a genuine Philadelphia Mummer before.

It didn’t take them long to get into the spirit of things, though. Much to the amazement of the Kensington band—and possibly the horror of Kimmel Center ushers—dozens of dancers converged on the stage, some of them clambering up over the edge in their clunky hard shoes, dignity forgotten.

In a matter of minutes, it felt more like New Year’s Day on Broad Street.

Like everybody else in the place, a photographer from Maryland was swept up in the spirit of things. “This is a great day for Philadelphia,” he said.

Ain’t it the truth. We have photos, above.

Check out our Mummers videos:

April 6, 2009 by Jeff Meade

Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish In Philly This Week

Pat O'Connor and Eoghan O'Sullivan will be at the Irish Center and Coatesville over the weekend.

Bring on the dancing girls. . .and boys. About 6,000 of them are in Philly this coming week for the 39th annual World Irish Dance Championships being held at the Kimmel and the Downtown Marriott. It’s the first time this international competition has been held on US soil and it’s quite a feather in the city’s cap, especially in the current economic climate. Mayor Michael Nutter will be part of the opening ceremonies on Sunday at 5 PM at the Kimmel, on Broad Street. If you love Irish dancing, this is the place to be this week. And “Riverdance” is playing through Sunday just next door at the Academy, so step lively.

Speaking of economics, this is also the time to remember those less fortunate. The Hibernian Hunger Project is holding a “cook-in” on Saturday at Aid For Friends in Northeast Philadelphia, preparing meals for shut-ins to carry the agency through the summer. Although it’s an AOH charity, you don’t have to be a member to help out. Note to high schoolers: This is one way to satisfy a community service requirement, and many teens do volunteer.

Also on Saturday, our friends at AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 in Swedeburg are sponsoring Police Appreciation Day to benefit the Philadelphia Police Survivors Fund, which aids families of slain officers. Entertainment is being donated by Paddy’s Well, Tom McHugh and Company, Dan Rooney and Olive McElhone and there will be music all day.

On Saturday evening, Pat O’Connor and Eoghan O’Sullivan will marry the music from County Clare to the tunes of County Cork at the Commodore Barry Club (that’s the Irish Center when it’s at home). O’Connor—he’s the Clare man—is a fiddle player from that lonesome Clare tradition and O’Sullivan performs on flute and accordian, though not at the same time. This is a concert for trad purists and those who’d like to be. This kind of concert never disappoints. If you miss it on Saturday night, the duo will be appearing at the Coatesville Cultural Society on Sunday night.

Start your Sunday morning with a traditional Irish breakfast at Smoke Eaters Pub in Philadelphia, cooked for you by AOH 22, which is raising money for its charities.

Sunday at 2 PM you can attend the annual family ceili and set dance benefit for the Sister Peg Hynes Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Stardust Ballroom in Bellmawr, NJ. Sister Peg was a longtime teacher and community activist in Camden. She was killed in a car accident in 2002 when the vehicle in which she was riding was struck by another being driven by a man who admitted he was high on cocaine.

At 5 PM Sunday, join Blackthorn for the First Annual Liberty USO “Rock the Troops” Benefit at PJ Whelihan’s Pub in Cherry Hill, NJ, a fundraiser supporting the work of the USO.

Next Friday, a very unusual Irish group comes to town. Guggenheim Grotto (you can tell they’re Irish from the name—wha?) blends classical instruments such as the viola, glockenspiel, the Wurlitzer and Hammond organs with modern guitars, basses and pianos to create a unique sound one critic called “spine tingling.” Sounds intriguing. And where else are you going to be able to hear some good glockenspiel tunes? This concert is at the World Café Live.

April 2, 2009 by Denise Foley

Dance

A Not-So-Typical Little Dancer

In many ways, Aine McGill is a typical 10-year-old. She has a favorite subject in school (geography), sings in the church choir, and is a recent devotee of singer Taylor Swift.

But the fourth grader from Ardara, County Donegal, is also a musical multiple threat: She plays piano, accordian, banjo, and tin whistle, and is one of only nine dancers from Ulster Province who qualified to compete in the World Irish Dance Championships which start on Sunday, April 5, in Philadelphia.

And, like most accomplished typical 10-year-olds, Aine has a proud mom, Bernie, who is quick to point out that her achievement is all the more remarkable because “Ulster has the best dancers,” regularly placing in the top three in the All-Irelands.

Aine and her family—Bernie, dad Padraig, and sister, Maired, 19, a Trinity College student—flew to the United States last week and are staying in Chestnut Hill with Padraig’s brother, Jim McGill, and his family. She’s been practicing for an hour and a half every day at the Irish Center (where the New Zealand competitors also went through their routines this week).

Even at 10, Aine is the consummate professional. When we asked her if we could film her doing some steps, she was happy to do it, but reluctant to simply demonstrate the generic jigs and reels, rather than the flashier choreography created by her teachers, three former dancers from the show, “Riverdance.”

“No world class dancer would just do those steps,” she whispered to her sister, Mairead, a former dancer who jokes that she’s Aine’s “personal trainer.”

But her routine, like that of her fellow competitors, is a closely guarded secret. Videoing a dancer’s proprietary steps carries stiff penalties, as anyone who has been set upon by angry feis judges or parents threatening to snatch the camera out of their hands knows well. “I had someone threaten to take mine even though I was just focusing on Aine,” says Mairead.

Aine, who started dancing at age 5, has had a swift rise to the top, propelling through four levels in two years of competition to achieve championship status. But, going into the World’s, she’s anything but overconfident. Wish her luck, but don’t tell her she’s sure to win. If you do, her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “Oh, noooo,” she says.

She’s definitely a typical 10-year-old. What does she like most about dancing? It’s all about the friendships. “I like the competitions,” she answers. “Because I like to make friends with the other competitors.”

UPDATE: 04/06.09

Aine placed ninth in the world in her age group during competition on Sunday, April 5.

Aine demonstrated a few steps for us. Check out the video.

April 2, 2009 by Denise Foley

Dance

McDade School Sends Seven to the World Irish Dance Championships

One dancer-a-leaping: Bridget Egan.

For a few of them it was “Riverdance.” For others, an older sibling who was taking lessons. But for all seven dancers from the McDade School of Dance in Broomall competing as soloists next week at the World Irish Dance Championships in Philadelphia, Irish dance was love at first leap. In fact, the leaps—which make Michael Jordan look earthbound—is one of the things about Irish dance they love the most.

“It feels like you’re flying,” says Fiona Egan, 16, of Malvern. “It feels like you’re in the right place.”

Fiona’s sisters, Sinead, 13, and Bridget, 11, are also world qualifiers. They’ll be joined on the competition stages at the Kimmel Center and the Downtown Marriott by fellow McDade dancers Alex Reichl, 16; Fiona Fey, 10; Siobhan Doughtery, 14, and Ali Doughty, 15. I met with them a couple of weeks ago just before one of their practice sessions.

For some, it’s not their first Worlds, as the international competition is usually called. It’s Alex’s third, in fact. And while it’s a great honor to have the dance championships in Philadelphia—the first time they’re in the US—for the local dancers, it’s the only disappointment: No trip to Ireland this year. “I liked it when it was further away,” says Sinead. “Last time I got to go to Belfast.”

Fiona Fey, who’ll be attending her first Worlds, the experience is “a little nerve-wracking.” But she says it’s always that way before any competition “until you get up on the stage.”

“It is when you’re waiting in line,” offers Ali, “and the night before.”

But the dancers don’t have much time to think about let alone have nerves. They practice several hours a day, after school and on the weekends. For many, it’s all part of a very full schedule that includes school and community sports (and for 10-year-old Fiona, the paper route she inherited from her brother).

And the truth is, they don’t really see the competition as particularly competitive. “It’s not cut-throat,” says Fiona Egan.

“I’ve met such nice people and made some really good friends,” adds Ali. “It’s one of the things I like best about it.”

You can see these and about 6,000 other Irish dancers at the World Irish Dance Championships at The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for Sunday, April 5, at 5 p.m. for what is the largest ever Worlds, now in its 39th year. Mayor Michael Nutter and a Mummers group are scheduled to appear. See the details at the official website.

One of the highlights of the event will be an appearance by famed Irish dancer and choreographer Michael Flatley of Riverdance fame, who may have launched many of these kids on their dance careers.

Check out some practice steps from the McDade Dancers:

April 2, 2009 by Denise Foley

People

Giving It Up for GiveWay

Fiona in a pensive moment. (Photo by Gwyneth MacArthur)

One local fan of the Scottish band GiveWay, hearing advance word about our Irish Center concert last Saturday night, predicted the audience would be in for a treat.

You were so right, George.

The four talented sisters who make up the band—Fiona, Kirsty, Amy and Mairi—didn’t disappoint. In fact, their energetic performance and their audience rapport all but guaranteed them a standing ovation from the packed house.

From sweet slow airs to blazing reels, the girls kept the customers satisfied and crying out for more.

We have a ton of photos of the whole exciting night from Denise Foley and Gwyneth MacArthur.
Check out the videos from Lori Lander Murphy too:

April 2, 2009 by Denise Foley

News

As the Parade (Still!) Passes By

The Emerald Pipe Band marches up the Parkway.

We stumbled upon the New York Police Department Pipe Band as the pipers were warming up on JFK Boulevard, before the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day parade had started. They were making such a great noise, we just had to snag some video.

And that was just the beginning.

As the parade marched on, we found lots more reasons to haul out the videocam. For example, that Cloughaneely Marching Band from Donegal was pretty darn cute and irresistable. The Philadelphia Emerald Pipe Band looked so sharp in green tunics and saffron kilts. And dancers … hey, we just had to squeeze off a few frames of dancers. And what’s a parade in Philadelphia without a couple of blocks worth of music from a string band?

Relive the day with our video memories:

April 1, 2009 by Jeff Meade

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