Sean Tyrrell comes to Monmouth College this week.
Recovered from last weekend? No, we didn’t think so. That’s why it’s a good thing that this is a relatively light week, Celtically speaking. There are three big events:
On Wednesday, the masterful and energetic Irish trad group Lunasa comes to Philly for a Crossroads Concerts’ show at Calvary Church.
Lunasa features, among others, piper Cillian Vallely and flute and bodhran player Kevin Crawford, who is also one of the funniest guys we’ve ever seen on stage. Music, comedy—it doesn’t get much better than that.
Then on Thursday, you can hear Galway folk singer Sean Tyrrell celebrate Ireland’s many poets in a one-man show called “Who Killed James Joyce?” at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. That starts at 7 PM.
Or you can hear Irish folk rocker Luka Bloom (brother of Christy Moore) at the Sellersville Theatre, also on Thursday night.
On October 2, photographer Brian Mengini is having his coming out party for the Spirit of the Fallen calendar, featuring his exquisite black and white photographs of dancers at Finnigan’s Wake in the Spring Garden section of the city. Proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to the Philadelphia Police Survivors Fund. There will be music and fun–because it’s Finnigan’s Wake, and that’s how they roll there.
You’ll get the equivalent of a hole in one by taking part in the Jack McNamee Masters of the Green Golf Tournament on Monday at the Paxon Hollow Golf Club in Media. You get to honor a great man—the late Jack McNamee, a longtime restaurateur and member of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association and a past Grand Marshal of the parade—and help raise some money to keep the parade marching this year.
There’s also a new session on the calendar—at The Bards on Walnut Street in Philadelphia—featuring Paraic Keane and Tom O’Malley both of whom you’ve probably seen at the Plough and the Stars. This session runs on Wednesdays starting at 6 PM.
And don’t forget the new Irish genealogy group that is meeting on Thursday in Cherry Hill featuring crack genealogist Deborah Large Fox and our own Lori Lander Murphy.
There’s a happy hour networking event on Thursday starting at 6 PM sponsored by the Irish Network-Philly at the Shanachie Restaurant and Pub in Ambler. It’s free (including the appetizers) with drink specials.
Next Saturday, Voice of the Faithful Greater Philadelphia, is holding a forum on “Saving the Catholic Church” at Chestnut Hill College. That means you can contribute your suggestions for rescuing a church under siege all over the world.,
In the next few weeks, lovers of Irish music will be treated to a house concert by singer Aoife Clancy (yes, of that family) in Lansdale (October 16); Begley and O Raghallaigh, two superlative trad performers who will be both at the Irish Center and Coatesville Culture Center (October 16, 17); and Blackthorn in concert to raise money for St. Laurence Parish in Upper Darby (October 16).
East of the Hebrides—those wonderful folks who bring us the Mid-winter Scottish-Irish festival, Brittingham’s Irish Festival, the Phoenixville Street Festival and many more—has added Lansdale to its repetoire: On October 17, they’re throwing a free street fair with Irish music and vendors near Molly Maguire’s Pub and Restaurant, which recently opened there. They’re calling it “Molly O’Ween.” Get it? There will be a costume contest, pumpkin carving, and kiddie activities.
For details on these events and more, check out our calendar.
