Monthly Archives:

May 2010

People

Don’t You Just Love Us?

Nearly everybody reads the Bulletin.

That was the advertising slogan of the late, lamented Philadelphia Bulletin. I mean the Bulletin Sandy Grady wrote for, not the Bulletin in its most recent incarnation.

Number me among the ranks of “everybody.” I delivered it, and when I got home I read it all, beginning to end.

Well, the Bulletin (that Bulletin) is long gone. P.M. newspapers are gone, or mostly. Morning newspapers are biting the dust. Those that remain are struggling. (As witness the recent epic battle over the Inquirer and Daily News.)

Some say that small local Web sites like ours are part of the problem. We do what we do (most of us) for free. We have no employees. We have no paper boys or delivery trucks. There are no presses. No paper or ink. Doing what we do costs us almost nothing. And today it might be fair to say: Nearly everybody reads (whatever they read) online.

On the other hand, many of us have no idea what we’re doing. 🙂 A lot of community sites are published by people with no journalistic training, and no understanding of professional journalistic standards. (We’re both Temple J-school grads, and we’ve worked in newspapers, magazines, books and the Web since the days of Ben Franklin. OK, maybe not that long. But long enough to remember editing stories with a pencil.)

Now the people at The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism want to know: What does irishphiladelphia.com mean to you? Do you like us? Do you trust us? Do we help build the community?

They asked us to post a survey, and of course we said “you betcha.”

Here’s the survey. It’ll take you less than 10 minutes:

http://rjisurvey.irishphiladelphia.sgizmo.com/s3/

May 6, 2010 by
Dance, People

Meet the Dark Lord of the Dance

Adam McSharry

That's Adam McSharry at right, looking dark and evil.

If you’re going to see Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance” at the Merriam next weekend, you’ll know Adam McSharry when you see him. He’s the bad one. The total loser.

Not a bad dancer, not a real loser, but The Dark Lord, “Don Dorcha,” who, no matter how well he dances, can never defeat The Lord of the Dance in this classic story of good and evil set to syncopated hard shoes.

“I never win,” admits McSharry, a native of Birmingham, England who’s played the villain on several continents. “But when I get out there in character during the battle between the two armies on stage, when I’m doing the final duel with the Lord of the Dance, we go to it on the stage and our duel brings each of us to our best. I’m completely focused. Even though I know I’m not going to win, I’m trying to convince audience members that I am going to win.”

A year ago, he considered leaving the troupe and putting Don Dorcha behind him. “I had job interviews ready but then. . . .” He joined Flatley’s other traveling show, “Feet of Flame,” which drew 80,000 people when it played in England and 20,000-30,000 for each of its eight shows in Taiwan. That changed his mind. “I said, ‘What am I thinking? I’m really happy here. This is the job for me.’”

So he took up his evil ways again. “I love it. I’ve been playing this role for eight years. I think it’s another side of me,” he says with a laugh.

Like many Irish dancers, McSharry started very young. At three, his mother had him in lessons and at four he was on stage at his first feis. “It came naturally,” he says. “My mother danced, my uncle danced. My father, when he moved over from Ireland (Leitrim) and was dating my mother (Downpatrick), he was picking her up at dancing class and one guy on the team that was going to the world championships had to drop out so they taught my father to dance, they went to the Worlds and came in second. My sister, Grace, is a great, great dancer. It’s in our blood.”

But he never thought of dancing as a profession until, ironically, he caught a performance by Michael Flatley on TV at the Eurovision Song Contest. “I must have been 14 or 15 and I thought, wow, would you look at that. But I just carried on in competition for a while, doing well [top three in every major competition in Britain, Ireland, the US, and the World Championships; in 2003, he performed for President and Mrs. George Bush] when I got a phone call an they said, ‘There’s a place in Lord of the Dance for you if you like it.’”

He was stunned. So, at the age of 18, he headed to Wembley, England, got fitted for a costume, learned the steps and went on stage. That year, “Lord of the Dance” entered the Guinness Book of World Records for most sold-out performances—19. Nothing like starting at the top.

He even danced opposite Flatley himself in the Taiwan production of “Feet of Fire.” He admits he was in awe.

“The whole cast agrees, he’s always going to be the one you look up to. If he says do it like this, or this will help you get the best out of your character, you listen. He gave me good tips on how to make the best of my bad guy routine. Being on stage with him is different from anything I’ve ever done before. The energy rush is incredible.”

When McSharry isn’t dancing, he’s doing whatever it takes to support his dancing. He and a few members of the troupe play soccer when they have time off. “It really keeps you fit.” And when he’s home. . . he works construction.

A stage star, a championship dancer, doing construction? Really? “Really,” he says. “It’s a good workout. It keeps you active all day, it helps build upper body and leg strength and you’re killing two birds with one stone. I could sit at home and go to the gym, but this way I’m getting paid and getting a workout.”

He may be a professional bad guy, but stupid he’s not.

“Lord of the Dance” will be at the Merriam Theater, 250 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, for six performances May 14-16.

May 6, 2010 by
Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Ellen Hughes Cromwick

Ford Motor Company chief economist Ellen Hughes-Cromwick will speak at the Irish-American Business Chamber this week.

When the recession looked like it was going to kick the American auto industry to the curb, the Ford Motor Company emerged as the only one of the big three in a position to survive. Not only did it survive, it’s thriving. In April, Ford reported a net profit of $2.2 billion or 50 cents a share—its largest pretax profit in six years, and all due to higher sales, not a bailout.

You have a unique opportunity to find out how Ford did it on Wednesday when Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, the company’s chief economist and global director of strategy, speaks to the Irish American Business Chamber and Network at a lunch meeting at the Union League in Philadelphia. The event is open to non-members, but you’ll have to act fast to save a seat. Contact Alanna Barry McCloskey at abarry@iabcn.org.

This weekend will give you ample opportunity to flex your Irish. On Saturday, Bill and Karen Reid will roll out their fourth annual Phoenixille Celtic Street Fair. Those wonderful folks who bring you the Mid-Winter Scottish-Irish Festival and the new Brittingham’s summer Scottish-Irish Festival and more are stocking the 200 block of Bridge Street with the best in local Irish entertainment, including the always good Bogside Rogues, Charlie Zahm, Olier McElhone, Na’Bodach, Irish Thunder, and the New York Celtic Dancers. As always, there will be dozens of vendors and lots to eat and drink. Even without the festival, Phoenixville has a lot to offer, but with it, wow.

If you stay in Phoenixville for dinner, head over to Molly Maguire’s to hear the remarkable local group, Burning Bridget Cleary, performing starting at 6 p.m.

If your Irish ancestors came to America to work as servants in the homes of the wealthy, you will enjoy a talk by Margaret Lynch-Brennan, author of “The Irish Bridget,” the story of Irish immigrant servants from 1840 to 1930, at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday night, The Galway Society is holding its annual dinner dance at the Irish Center, with music provided by the Vince Gallagher Band.

On Thursday, Villanova University librarians Darren Poley and Michael Foight will speak at the Independence Seaport Museum about the digitization of the Commodore Barry papers, a joint project that brings together materials owned by Independence Seaport Museum and other family-related papers. Included are items that feature nautical related themes with content from Commodore John Barry (1745-1803), a Wexford native who lived and is buried in Philadelphia. The event includes a tour of the museum and its archives by Matt Herbison, director of the J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library, Independence Seaport Museum. Light refreshments will be served.

And for all you Saw Doctors fans, your guys will be performing at The Note, an intimate venue in West Chester on Thursday night.

Friday is “choose your own Celtic treat” day. Here’s what’s going on:

AOH Division 3 is holding its annual golf outing and dinner at the Pine Crest Country Club in Lansdale, a fundraiser for AOH charities.

Two of our favorites, Matt and Shannon Heaton, are performing at Immanuel Episcopal Church in Wilmington, DE. (They’re heading back our way on May 26 for a special show at the Shanachie Pub and Restaurant.)

Michael Flately’s “Lord of the Dance” extravaganza starts its weekend run at the Merriam Theater on South Broad Street in Philadelphia. (We talked to one of the leads, Adam McSharry, who plays Don Dorcha, the dark lord.)

Seven Nations, the Celtic heavy metal rockers, will be playing at Brittingham’s in Lafayette Hill (kilts, bagpipes, and nonstop guitar riffs—trust me, it works).

Coming up: On May 22, there will be a musical benefit at the Irish Center to raise money for the Philadelphia Ceili Group’s annual traditional music festival (that happens in September), featuring Paddy O’Neill with traditional Northern Ireland tunes on wooden flute, traditional and original music by John Brennan on fiddle and guitar; John McGillian on accordian; Caitlyn Finley playing fiddle tunes from the late Andy McGann and others; and Paraic Keane uses his fiddle to show how musical virtuosity is genetic (his father, Sean, is with the Chieftains, and uncle, James Keane, is such an accomplished button accordian player he has an instrument named after him). An open session will follow the concert, so bring your instruments. Tickets are only $15.

On May 23, the Irish Center and the Irish Immigration Center of Greater Philadelphia will honor 11 “Inspirational Irish Women” at a cocktail reception which will also open an exhibit of portraits done by Pat Gallagher, the son of Irish immigrants who grew up on Philadelphia’s Main Line. Tickets to the event are $35 and include hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer. You can order tickets online or by calling 215-884-1936 or 215-779-1466. Proceeds from the event benefit the Irish Center and Project H.O.M.E., a charity founded by one of the honorees, Sister Mary Scullion.

The other honorees are Princess Grace of Monaco; Emily Riley, executive vice president of the Connelly Foundation; Sister Kathleen Marie Keenan, senior vice president of Mercy Health; Rosemarie Timoney, founder of the Timoney School of Irish Dance; Kathy Orr, CBS3 meterologist; Denise Sullivan Morrison, president of a major division of the Campbell’s Soup Company; Liz Kerr of LAOH Brigid McCrory Division 25; Siobhan Reardon, first woman president of the Free Library of Philadelphia; Rosabelle Gifford, first recipient of the Rose of Tralee Mary O’Connor Spirit Award for her courageous spirit; and Kathy McGee Burns, first woman president of the Donegal Association, president of the Delaware Valley Hall of Fame, and first vice president of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association.

May 6, 2010 by
People

Ghost Story

 

The Irish Center's dining room: Site of a ghostly experience.

The Irish Center's dining room: Site of a ghostly experience.

By Susan Spellman Burns

You may not believe in ghosts, but 22 percent of Americans assured CBS news pollsters that they’ve been up close and personal with the dead.

Paul Gallagher is one of them. It has been several months since the Irish Center bartender’s startling experience that Friday night as he closed up the Center, which included cleaning up the Texas hold-em game in the front dining room. At the time, Paul felt a cold breeze pass through his chest, though he had just closed and latched all the windows. Then he heard someone say. “What are you going to do now, Paul?”

I sat down with Paul, and we talked about the ghost he encountered, who he is fairly sure was the spirit of a late customer who made a very heartfelt gesture to Paul before his death.

Paul told me that he has been teased often by patrons and his friends after his previous interview about the ghost with irishphiladelphia‘s Denise Foley so he was hesitant to talk about it again. But we both agreed that his visitation was a gift, and a gift that can be shared to perhaps give others new insight on such a personal experience.

Q. Has your “secret admirer”contacted you in any way since that memorable night?
A. No. I really don’t look for it, or try to think about it. Yes it happened. I have moved on.

Q. Do you have a better understanding of who may have visited you?
A. I feel it was a patron that passed away last fall. My gut tells me it was him. I know it was him.

Q. Why do you feel this spirit chose you to contact?
A. It was probably just his way of saying good-bye. I feel honored.

Q. The ghost asked “What are you going to do now Paul?” Did this have anything to do with your own personal struggles?
A. No, definitely not. I have thought about this several times. I have my own personal struggles like everybody. It was again, just his way of saying good-bye.

Q. Has this experience sparked a greater interest in the paranormal?
A. Not really. Sometimes I watch one of the ghost hunter shows on television, but when it comes to choosing that or sports shows, I prefer watching sports.

Q. I know you mentioned that you think the ghost has moved on since that night, do you feel there maybe other spirits in the Irish Center?
A. I have not sensed this in any way myself, but there is certainly talk that there are other ghosts here.

The Burning Question:

As I stood in the front dining room after my interview with Paul, did I experience anything paranormal?

Nope. However, I did feel something quite normal. I could feel that this building was filled with dear memories, dreams, happy times, and that magical Irish love.

Do you have a true ghost story to tell? Contact Susan Spellman Burns via the “contact us” link on the home page. She’s on the trail of Irish spirits—of the other-worldly kind—and will be taking us on ghost tours periodically.

May 6, 2010 by
Arts, History, People

How the Irish Maid Saved Civilization

The cover of Margaret Lynch-Brennan's landmark book on Irish domestic servants.

The cover of Margaret Lynch-Brennan's landmark book on Irish domestic servants.

A footnote in a book she was reading while studying history and gender led Margaret Lynch-Brennan to a hidden trove of information about the group of Irish immigrants she now believes finally brought the Irish into the American melting pot: the Irish domestic servant.

She calls these young women who emigrated from Ireland between 1840 and 1930 “The Irish Bridgets.” She’ll be talking about them, the subject of her 2009 book, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930,” at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion in Philadelphia on Saturday, May 8, from 2-4 p.m.

The book grew out of her 2002 American History Ph.D. dissertation.

“I was reading a lot of books,” she explained, “and one of the books mentioned that most Irish women started work as domestics.”

Lynch-Brennan wondered why there wasn’t more written on the topic. “The importance of Irish women generally has been underlooked, not overlooked,” she says. “Most of the history that’s been written about the Irish focuses on the men, but unlike other immigrant groups, the women who immigrated actually outnumbered the men…that’s very different.”

She began digging, and what she found convinced her that it was these Irish women, some as young as 13, who helped bring the Irish acceptance in American society where “No Irish Need Apply” was a familiar sign in many urban areas.

“The typical middle class WASP wouldn’t know any Irish men on a first name basis, but they would know Irish women because they lived in the house. Most Americans during that time period only employed one servant, and that was a ‘maid of all work.’ She worked 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, taking care of their homes and their children.”

It wasn’t an easy life, but these women found ways to have a good time.

“Going to church was a big part of their social lives. They could see people from their hometowns. The women who worked in domestic service didn’t live with other Irish people, so meeting and talking to others at church presented a way to keep up with the Irish community.”

Irish dances were another social outlet for the young Bridget. “The Irish counties associations were concerned with finding ways for the girls and boys to meet, so Irish set dancing was arranged. Most Irish women eventually married. It was an aspect of Irish culture in Ireland that one was not considered an adult until one married, and most wanted to get married.”

The name Bridget, or Biddy, became so associated with the Irish domestic servants that women actually changed their names to distance themselves from that stereotype. “For a long time, the name Bridget wasn’t used. There’s a period where you won’t find any girls being named Bridget. Irish-Americans today have forgotten that association,” and the name has become popular once again.

Lynch-Brennan’s book contains many personal letters, never before published, as well as photos. I was curious as to how she tracked down such hard-to-find treasures.

“It wasn’t easy,” she said. “They didn’t have time and leisure to leave important documents behind, plus so many of them changed their names. It was a challenge.”

Two historians in particular, Kerby Miller and Arnold Schrier, provided Lynch-Brennan with invaluable assistance.

“Both had gone to Ireland [Miller in the 70’s and Schrier in the 50’s] and put in a call for letters from Irish-Americans sent home to Ireland. They put ads in newspapers.”

Lynch-Brennan spent a week poring over Miller’s collection of letters, and he generously allowed her to quote from the ones that were relevant to her work.

Her husband told her she should advertise. “I had a card made up, and I would pass it around at talks I gave. I posted on genealogical websites, and found a treasure trove. One woman had her grandmother’s letters, and let me have them for the book.”

“Another historian, Hofstra professor Maureen Murphy, has written the most on the topic; she’s written all the articles. She’s known to all the historians, in America and Ireland. She’s a lovely person, and was very generous.” Murphy wrote the foreward to Lynch-Brennan’s book.

I had to know one final thing: Were any of Lynch-Brennan’s own ancestors an Irish Bridget?

“I have one,” she told me. “My mother’s great-grandmother’s sister, Jane Shalboy. She came over during the famine. She worked as a domestic. The family was from the village of Summerhill, in County Meath. Owen Shalboy left Ireland in the 1850s and brought his mother with him. There isn’t anyone left today in Ireland with that name, but a few years ago I went back there, and it was the first time in 150 years that descendants of two branches of the family had met. There was a memorial service in the parish while I was there, to honor all those relatives who had died. People came from all over Ireland to the home parish to remember their ancestors. I felt like the circle was complete.”

For information on Margaret Lynch-Brennan’s talk at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, go to the Mansion Web site. Reservations are required.

For information on the book, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930,” go to the Syracuse University Press Web site.

May 6, 2010 by
Dance

Local Dancers Hit the World Stage

Rince Ri dancers

Rince Ri champions, from left, Marielle Baird (she's seventh in the world) of Upper Southampton; Kerry Freas of Warrington, and sisters Tara and Emily Schmidt of Newtown.

Marielle Baird, who dances with the Rince Ri Dance School in Southampton placed seventh in the in the Cumann Rince Naisiunta (CRN) 2010 Irish Open Championships in Dublin last week, a competition open only to the best dancers in the world.

The standard of dancing was sky high so this was great,” says Rince Ri founder and instructor Olivia Hilpl who accompanied four of her qualifying dancers to the City West Hotel, where the international contest was held.

The Rince Ri dancers qualified at a regional competition in Harrisburg in January.

Cumann Rince Naisiunta is a major Irish dancing organization founded in 1982 by a group of Irish dance teachers. The group’s regionals were held at the Philadelphia Irish Center in 2009.

May 6, 2010 by
Dance, Music

Stranded in Nashville

Nashville flood

The flooded road that stranded 51 tourists from Philadelphia.

When the Irish emigrated to America, they brought with them their love of music and song. Much of this heritage was instilled in future generations in the form of country and bluegrass music. The songs of love, hardship, and tragedy, the reels and other tunes battered out on barn floors and stages, live on in Nashville, Tennessee.

On April 27, a group of 51 travelers left from Philadelphia to visit this mecca of traditional, old-time country music. The group was a cross-section of folks who had heard about through the Irish Center on or on the Sunday Irish Radio Shows when it was announced by Vince Gallagher and myself. Out of the 51 folks, well more than half were Irish-born and had grown up listening to Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, among others. This was their first time to see the halls and honky-tonks where the music had been played for years.

Little did any of us know that we were going to be caught up in the extreme weather story of week—the torrential rains and flooding that left much of Nashville and its environs under water and as many as 19 people dead.

But when we arrived in Nashville a week ago, we started out as enthusiastic tourists. Our first stop: the Country Music Hall of Fame. One of the current exhibits was “The Williams Family Legacy” charting the tragic, short life of one of country music’s biggest stars, Hank Williams. Providing on-board entertainment were three of Philadelphia’s finest musicians (and comedians): Luke Jardel, Fintan Malone and Pat Kildea. The three of them have played in a dozen or more local Irish groups, duos or bands, experience that served them well when they were called on to lift the spirits of some stranded travelers and beleagured locals.

Although we were in the home of country music, we managed to end our first evening in Mulligan’s Pub singing along to Irish music. Our second day, bright and sunny, was spent wealthy musicians’ homesteads and the haunts of Nashville. We spent some time at the Ryman Auditorium and then the Grand Ole Opry.

It started to rain on Saturday, and we made our soggy way to the Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson, then to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel Complex, luxury hotels are set completely under glass with beautiful indoor gardens, restaurants, a small river flowing through, shops and even a boat ride. Most of the group went to the historic St. Mary’s Cathedral in Nashville, dating back to the Civil War, to go to Mass where we discovered the visiting priest was from Dublin, Ireland. Our prayers were to serve us well over the next few days.

We started a special evening at the Cock of the Walk Restaurant—where dinner is served on tin plates—then on to the legendary music bar, John A’s where one of the regular performers is an amazing singer named Brenda Mullin, whose grandaunt, Rosemarie Timoney, was on the tour with us. Originally from Canada, where she won on the T show “Canada’s Most Talented”, she was recruited by a Nashville record company to record and perform in Nashville.

During the overnight hours, the steady rain started to pelt down. The wind started howling, the tornado sirens started blasting. We weren’t sure we were going to be able to make it to Memphis that day on our tour coach, but the driver decided to go after checking weather reports and conferring with other drivers. But this weather hadn’t be predicted. We weren’t far out of Nashville when we realized we were not only not going to make it to Memphis, we might not make it back to Nashville. The highway became a shallow stream, then a roaring creek, then a raging river.

So what did our travelers do? They started to party on the bus. Musician Luke Jardel kept the group laughing with his jokes and stories, and even managed to squeeze into one of the overhead luggage compartments to take a short nap.

After several hours of vehicle jockeying, Ronnie, the amazing man behind the wheel of our bus, was able to back the bus over a mile down the thruway, maneuver a K-turn and drive off the on-ramp. But once back on the main road, he discovered that all roads leading back to Nashville were closed. This left just one option, find a gas station and confer with other drivers about possible detours.

In the small town of Kingston Springs, sits a BP station, two or three small motels, a Mexican restaurant, an Arby’s, a Mapco and a Quizno’s. This turned out to be the tours’ home-away-from-home-away-from hotel for the next several hours. Several folks went off to the Mexican restaurant for two-for-one beers and margaritas. Other folks chose to buy food and watch the movie on the bus for a while. A few more walked up to Quizno’s. When they told the manager about the bus stranded in the BP parking lot, we were surprised and thrilled to see the employees coming down to the lot with trays of subs and cases of cold water for us.

It is said that the Irish can always make their own fun, as long as they can sing or dance. How true this proved to be! As the sky grew dark and the rain started to lift, an amazing thing happened. Luke, Fintan and Pat set up their instruments outside the BP station. A cooler full of beer appeared for all to share. The music started and before you could say “Gas Pump Ceili” the parking lot was full of Irish folks dancing the Gay Gordon, the Highland, and the Two Hand Reel. Locals joined in not just for the dancing, but also got up to sing. After two or more hours of total craic, Ronnie met a local gas company worker who told him there was a way to get back to Nashville! With a final singing of the Irish National Anthem, led by Rosemarie Timoney and the American National Anthem, led by Luke Jardel, we said goodbye to our new friends, filed back onto the bus and made our way back to our beds at one of the few hotels in Nashville that hadn’t been flooded.

When we got up the next morning for the bus trip to the airport, we were shocked to see how much damage the storm, which dumped as much as 12 inches of rain over 24 hours on the Tennessee Valley, had caused. Homes were under water. Bridges had collapsed. Schools were destroyed. Even the Grand Old Opry sustained damage as three inches of water seeped into this icon of country music, forcing shows to other, undamaged venues Nashville for the week.

Hearing the news reports—$1 billion in damage, 10 people dead in Nashville alone, two people missing—we realize just how lucky we had been.

To help repay the kindness of the people we met in Kingston Springs, TN, we are now planning a benefit concert to raise money to help those who have lost their homes and businesses. If you’d like to volunteer your band or just a hand, please contact me at rinceseit@msn.com.

Editor: Some Texas tourists were so delighted to have stumbled onto the impromptu ceili dance at the BP station, they filmed it and posted it on YouTube. You can see it here. 

Check out Marianne’s photos here.

May 6, 2010 by