Monthly Archives:

February 2011

Arts, Music, People

From Máirtín de Cógáin With Love

Máirtín de Cógáin is launching his new CD "From Cork With Love"

Those of us in the know are already well aware that the best tea comes from Cork, and goes by the name “Barry’s,” but Máirtín de Cógáin has discovered during his travels around the U.S. that it’s not always easy to get a proper cuppa. So, he has determinedly set his sights on remedying that by “educating as much of America” as he can with a little story he calls “How to make proper tea!” and wisely including it on his new CD, The Máirtín de Cógáin Project’s “From Cork with Love.”

If anyone can pull off a feat of such cross-cultural magnitude, it’s this two time All Ireland Storytelling Champion.

A true Renaissance man of the arts, Máirtín de Cógáin takes the concept of the triple threat a few threats further:  in addition to dancing, acting and singing, he is also a playwright, a songwriter, a bodhrán player and a master seanachie.  And with just the slightest of omissions (he‘s saving the dancing for the next CD), those talents are exuberantly displayed on “From Cork with Love.”

The album, recorded live at The Celtic Junction in St. Paul, Minnesota, last April, is a listen with an extremely high addiction factor.  There’s no use in even pretending otherwise; from the songs, to the tunes, to the stories—which were all chosen to reflect an aspect of the heart & soul to be found in County Cork—the CD should come with its own repeat button.

The Cork native, who relocated to Minnesota several years ago with his American wife, explained that the album is both a love letter to Cork, and an expression of the love that is to be found there. “It’s the way it is with immigrants, you lose a lot when you leave home. This is my tribute to songs that have been lost, as well as to songs that haven’t been lost.”

“There is a lot of coyness and romance about Cork. I met my wife Mitra there. She’s from Los Angeles, and had come to do a wee year abroad in a foreign land…and you couldn’t be more foreign from Los Angeles than when you’re in Cork.

“I won her heart with a brush dance. After that, she was putty in my hands. And, most importantly, she had all the ingredients for a proper cup of tea, including the Barry’s tea bags.”

Some signs are not meant to be ignored.

“I grew up in a house where there was always a pot of tea brewing.  There would be 4, 5, 6 or 10 people drinking from it. Lots of tea leaves. I don’t branch out much from Barry’s, but Lyons isn’t too bad. And then you have PG Tips and Red Lion, as well.”

But it’s not always about tea. After graduation from university, de Cógáin traveled around the world. “I was totally defunct of ideas about my future…like most of my fellow graduates.  I always stuck in everything in college.”

It was while in New Zealand that de Cógáin did his first paying gig, and from there it was on to Australia.  Upon his return to Ireland, de Cógáin found work for his multifarious talents in acting (the film “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” for which he also sang the theme song), playwriting (“De Bogman” in which he also stars, performing 20 characters in under an hour) and performing (he was a founding, and existing, member of The Fuschsia Band and also formed Captain Mackey’s Goatskin & String Band with Jimmy Crowley).

And de Cógáin the storyteller was also honing his skills as a seanachie, a talent that comes from his father, “a great storyteller himself. I really love telling stories when you hit the mark.  I do try to have a story or two wherever we go that’s suitable. I was never amazing at school, but my short term memory is amazing. If I hear a story, and retell it the next day, I’ll remember it. I’m kind of like a mockingbird that way.  It also helps in acting.”

Now there is the launch of The Máirtín de Cógáin Project and its CD, where he is joined by fellow Minnesotans Brian Miller and Norah Rendell, as well as special guest, fiddle player Nathan Gourley.

“I first met Brian when I was in college, and he came over to study in Ireland.  We played together over there, and then on my very first day in Minnesota, I went into Kieran’s Pub in Minneapolis, and Brian was playing there.

“I’ve been chasing Brian for years to perform with him, and I finally caught him. And along with Brian came Norah. They have such a fierce love of Irish music, and they understand the intricacies of how things work.  Both of them are very dedicated, and great to work with.”

And, no surprise here: it was in Cork that the now-married Brian and Norah met and fell in love.

The song that set “From Cork With Love” in motion, “Away Down the Marina,” was one that de Cógáin got from his musical partner and fellow Corkman, Jimmy Crowley. A love song with “verve and excitement,” it tells the story of a couple who courted along a walkway called The Marina on the River Lee.  It’s a trysting spot not much used today, but perhaps with the release of the album,  it will be rediscovered by a new generation of lovers.  And, as a tribute to his wife, de Cógáin very sweetly changed a line in the first verse from “My pretty Irish queen” to “My pretty Persian queen.”

It’s these little stories behind the songs that add to the winning appeal of “From Cork With Love.” The oldest song on the CD is “The Star of Sunday’s Well,” which was composed by Cork writer (and lawyer) William B. Guiney and dates to the 1870’s.  Introduced to the recording of Donal Maguire’s version by Brian Miller, de Cógáin also counts Jimmy Crowley’s influence in his learning of it. “It’s great to get the old songs,” he enthused.

Among the newer compositions is one that I count among my own personal favorites: “Bridie and the Pole.” A song that de Cógáin heard sung at a wedding in 2009, “it’s very topical at the moment. It’s a social documentary of what’s going on now” in the aftermath of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger.  And a rollicking good song, with a Polish polka worked into the instrumental interlude.

With songs from Jimmy Crowley, one from John Spillane, the song “Timahoe” that he got from his father (who got it in 1960 from Peter Thompson who got it in 1957 at the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival), it’s no wonder that de Cógáin expresses his “great joy in putting together the album and getting it out there.”

“I’m looking forward to touring the album shortly…it’s a moveable feast,” de Cógáin said. “Full reflections, songs, stories, tunes, love songs.”

A moveable feast, and a satisfying banquet.

For more information on Máirtín de Cógáin, or “From Cork With Love,” check out his website:  http://www.mairtinmusic.com/

February 25, 2011 by
News, People

Monsignor Joseph McLoone Takes on a Difficult Task

Monsignor Joseph McLoone

Monsignor Joseph McLoone

The circumstances under which Monsignor Joseph McLoone assumes temporary stewardship of St. Joseph Parish in Downingtown are difficult, to say the least. But

McLoone—one of the best known and respected members of the Philadelphia’s extended Irish family—believes he is up to the task.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia this week appointed McLoone parochial administrator pro-tem of St. Joseph’s, following the release of a grand jury report alleging that the parish’s pastor, Monsignor William Lynn, 60, hid sexual abuse by other priests. The archdiocese placed Lynn on leave.

McLoone remains pastor of St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Chester, even though he will be spending most of his time ministering to the laity of St. Joseph’s. He is a 2010 inductee into the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame, and he has served as chaplain to that organization for a decade. He also is chaplain of the Donegal Association. McLoone is a 1984 graduate of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

An Olney boy, McLoone has spent most of his adult life ministering in city parishes. The ethnically diverse St. Katherine’s is a good example of that 13-year trend. “This will be the first time in my life that I will have ‘sub’ in front of ‘urban’,” he said in an interview Thursday. “It’s going to be a challenge for me. I like living in a city.”

St. Joseph’s is more culturally more homogeneous—and it is quite large, with 4,200 families. It is one of the top 10 parishes in the archdiocese, said McLoone.

Although McLoone recognizes that the parish is very different from what he’s used to, he welcomes the opportunity to minister to the people of St. Joseph’s. He has no special plans for dealing with the parish’s troubles. “I hope to just be there,” he said. “That’s the first step. They just need someone to be there with them. Sometimes you don’t need to do much more than that. You just walk with them. Sometimes that’s all you can do.”

He isn’t sure why he was chosen to take on this new task, but he suspects it is partly because St. Katharine’s is so stable. “And maybe it’s my personality,” he added. “I’m a happy, upbeat person, and I can keep the parish going forward.”

Without commenting directly on the situation at St. Joseph’s, McLoone said he finds the allegations of pedophilia by brother priests to be profoundly troubling. “It’s disheartening. It’s saddening,” he said. “”It’s evil, an abomination. But at the same time, I know Christ has called me to be a priest. Life has to go on.”

As of Thursday, McLoone has moved into a guest room in St. Joseph’s rectory. His temporary successor Rev. Stephen Thorne moved into a guest room at St. Katharine’s the same day. Even though he has his hands full in his new assignment, St. Katharine’s remains a vital part of his life. “I won’t be able to come back for everything,” he said, “but I’m still pastor here. I have my own bed here. There’s nothing like your own bed.”

February 25, 2011 by
History, People

Ghostly Doings at Philly’s Oldest Irish Pub

McGillin's owner Chris Mullins, Sr, left, and son Chris, McGillin's manager, don't let a little haunting faze them.

By SE Burns

Philly’s McGillin’s Olde Ale House on Drury St. in Center City was recently named “one of the coolest bars” in the U.S by Gourmet Magazine. But if you feel an actual chill there, it might be old Ma McGillin. She’s not “appearing nightly,” but her ghostly presence has been felt—and now captured in a photo—taken by paranormal investigators.

Like anyone else, Ma continues to be welcome at the 150-year-old pub. Manager Chris Mullins and I sat down not long ago to talk about the paranormal activity that has haunted, so to speak, McGillin’s over the years.

The  particular ghost in question is presumed to be  that of “Ma” McGillin. She owned the restaurant with her husband William McGillin, starting in 1860. On August 31, 1901 “Pa” McGillin died and “Ma” McGillin took over running the restaurant until her death in 1937 at the age of 90. Here’s what Chris has to say about McGillin’s spectral hostess:

Q. Do you like the idea of your restaurant being haunted?

A. The concept is both scary and intriguing!  We realize that we are just the current hosts of McGillin’s, there were great characters before us and it is great to know that they are keeping us company. Hopefully we make them proud.  I am not sure we are as wild as they were generations ago, but we try!  At the same time we are proud to be in their midst.

Q. Can you give us some examples of some paranormal activity that goes on in the restaurant?

A. Back in the 70’s and 80’s our longtime manager Anita would insist that Ma McGillin would follow her through the first floor, she said she saw Ma on several occasions.  The irony of this is that when the South Jersey Paranormal group did their overnight analysis of our building, they shot a photo of a “Lady in White” in a reflection of our mirror over the fireplace, pointing to the front door.  This image seemed to be Ma!

Q. Are you afraid to be in the restaurant alone?

A. It can be a little scary when we are alone in certain areas of the building. Our late night cooks feel a bit creepy when they sense a ghost, or see a shadow. When a full pot unexpectedly falls off a counter it gets your goat!

Q.  Why do you believe that this ghost is actually “Ma” McGillin?

A.   Ma spent the longest time on this property of any past owner – she raised her children on the second and third floor, her husband, the famous William McGillin, died in the basement; after his death in 1901 she  ran the tavern until her death in 1933. Who else would it be?  McGillin’s storied past surrounds Ma so much that it seems obvious that even in death she would reside here.

Could that be Ma in the looking glass? See insert for a close-up.

Q. Was “Ma” McGillin well-liked in Philadelphia?

A.  Ma was beyond well-liked here in Philadelphia – she was beloved!  She ran a very clean, very respectable tavern, and was one of the few female proprietors of her time.  For most of her ownership, women were not even allowed in the major part of the bar, so to have her own the place is pretty extraordinary.  Hundreds descended on Drury Street on the night of January 17, 1920 to watch Ma symbolically lock the front doors of McGillin’s and mourn the end of legal consumption of alcohol.  Each November 12, thousands came to McGillin’s to receive a white carnation from Ma herself, on her 89th birthday, her last, 4000 carnations were distributed!  When Ma died, she was the oldest living parishioner of St. John’s the Evangelist, and was one of the first women to have Broad Street closed for her funeral procession.

Q. What was “Ma” McGillin’s favorite dish to eat in her restaurant?

A.  Quite honestly during most of her time at McGillin’s there were few options, mainly a roasted potato from the hearth, beer was the liquid food of choice.  During Prohibition however, Ma hired the Executive Chef from the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, then the finest hotel in the Philadelphia, to create the first real menu.   Even then the menu was fairly simple: Broiled steaks, lamb chops, ham and egg platters, and oysters, along with surprisingly similar sandwich options that we offer today.

[Chris told me that his great uncle was found dead in the alley behind the pub.]

Q. Is anyone ever nervous about going to the back alley where your great uncle was found dead?

A. No, in fact this is the way most of our “in the know” guests enter and leave daily.  My great uncle left on a very high note, I am not sure he had any regrets!

Q. Has anything unusual happened in the alley since the death of your great uncle?

A. No not so much, though on an anniversary of his death, when my grandfather and a few staff were enjoying a few cocktails after a long night of work, they were sharing stories of their deceased relative and friend, Steve, my grandfather made a crude comment about his ghost telling him to just leave the bar and its patrons alone. Then he threw a wet rag at the window above where my great uncle had passed the last year, and the entire window fell right out of the pane – from what I understand, the entire group fell as white as a ghost, so to speak!

Q. Do you feel your great uncle’s death, or the window breaking, had anything to do with the ghost of “Ma” McGillin?

A. I think that each of these characters miss the fun and are slightly jealous of the living enjoying all that they worked so hard for.  I think it is all in good fun, and they find there is something irresistible and need to come back!  Let’s hope our living customers feel the same way!

SE Burns writes frequently for www.irishphiladelphia.com about the Celtic paranormal.

February 25, 2011 by
Dance, Music, News

The 2011 Mid-Winter Scottish & Irish Festival in Pictures

The lads of Albannach dropped by.

The lads of Albannach dropped by.

Yea, a mighty wind whipped through the land. In a flash and in the twinkling of an eye, darkness descended over the floor of the Valley Forge Convention Center.

Not the least bit put off by the gloom, the Celtic tribal band Albannach took to the stage and banged their drums. And it was good. Really loud, but still really good.

The good news about the annual Mid-Winter Scottish & Irish Festival: There was no snow or ice. The bad news: The massive windstorm that swept through Montgomery County on Saturday blew out all the power to the convention center. But even here, there was a silver lining. Celtic people kept on pouring through the gates. Bands continued to perform onstage. And with battery-powered lights marking the way, bargain hunters cruised the vendor floor in search of claddagh rings, thistle brooches, kilts and swords. They lined up for meat pies, Welsh cookies and Highland Creamery ice cream.

When the lights did finally come on, a roar went up from the crowd. And that’s the point: Even with a power-out, there was still a crowd, and it grew as the day went on. It was pretty sizeable on Sunday, too.

We captured memories of both days. To see what we saw, play the interactive photo essay up top. To see photos with captions, click here.

February 25, 2011 by
Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish In Philly This Week

You know what this means: St. Paddy's month is about to start!

Hope the words “busy week ahead” don’t scare you because you’re going to be hearing it for the next month. This weekend alone is jam-packed with Irish-themed events, including a visit from Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones (at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside on Saturday) and the John Byrne Band, fresh from their appearance this week on The 10! Show, appearing at World Café Live on Saturday night – in the big room downstairs!

AOH Division 51 is having its pre-St. Patrick’s Day party at the Holy Name of Jesus Hall on Saturday night, with live music by Jamie and the Quietmen (why do we think they’re probably not all that quiet?).

The Second Street Irish Society is throwing a fund-raising bash for the benefit of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday night. This is the second to the last fundraiser before the parade on March 13 (the last one will by at the Springfield Country Club, featuring Blackthorn).

St. Denis parish of Havetown is holding its annual St. Denis Irish Night on Saturday too, with entertainment by Misty Isle, a group that will get you up and dancing whether you like it or not.

The Broken Shillelaghs will be at McMichael’s Pub and Grill in Gloucester City, one of New Jersey’s most Irish towns, right on the river.

It gets serious on Sunday: A group of Irish community activists are gathering at Spencer Gifts at the Franklin Mills Mall to protest the derogatory Irish merchandise the store carries. (You’re welcome to join them at noon.) Expect to see more of this—we heard recently that a local supermarket agreed to pull its collection of Irish t-shirts after customers of Irish descent complained. What do the products say? Usually drinking and fighting are involved. We’re waiting to see what happens at the festivals—including the AOH festival in Wildwood—where you can see the same t-shirts and paraphernalia. Will ethnic pride triumph over capitalism? In a recession? We’ll see.

On Sunday afternoon, head to The Shanachie Pub and Restaurant in Ambler for the afternoon-long Sunday Irish Radio Shows benefit, featuring many great local musicians (including the aforementioned John Byrne), raffle prizes and auction items (and the stand-up auctioneering comedy routine of Publican Gerry Timlin).

If you’re in Lehigh County, Jack Callaghan’s Ale House on Tilgman Street is the headquarters for the Allentown St. Patrick’s Day parade fundraiser that features a Chinese auction, a DJ, and Jello shots (hey, sign me up).

Like to play the flute or tin whistle? There’s a free workshop at West Chester University’s Phillips Autograph Library by one of our favorite librarians and musicians Dennis Gormley. He’ll have a limited number of tin whistles for sale if you’ve been thinking of taking it up. Follow it up with am Irish session with Dennis and his wife, Kathy DeAngelo (a harper), at Kildare’s Irish Pub in West Chester.

On Tuesday, the Celtic folk group DeDannan, with founding members Alec Finn and Johnny “Ringo” Mcdonagh will be on stage at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington with special guest Eleanor Shanley. Mention Green Willow for a ticket discount—this is a Green Willow production.

We’re sorry we won’t be getting to those one – a fundraiser for the York St. Patrick’s Day parade for which a dozen York restaurants are creating a menu item containing Guinness. It’s called “There’s Guinness In It,” and we think it’s a great idea! This happens next Friday, March 4.

In Bucks County, the Bucks County St. Patrick’s Day group is honoring its grand marshal, John T. Galloway, at the Irish Ball at Kings Caterers in Bristol on Friday night, March 4.

That same night: Catch Solas in concert at the Sellersville Theatre or the play, “Brendan,” by Ronan Noone, about an Irish immigrant in Boston who is visited by the ghost of his mammy, at McCoole’s Arts and Events Place in Quakertown.

On stage all week is The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Plays and Players Theatre in Philadelphia.

There’s loads going on next week, including Gael Scoil—and immersion weekend in Irish—in Lawrenceville, NJ, the Erin Express has a warm-up voyage, Queen of Peace Parish in Ardsley is holding its annual Irish night, Celtic Kilt night kicks off at the Temperance House in Newtown,  the Gloucester County AOH is throwing its St. Paddy’s Party, and Blackthorn is rocking it for the Philly parade.

Plenty more where that came from—on our calendar, as well as details on all these events.

February 24, 2011 by
Columns, People, Travel

Return of the Wild Geese

Tom Finnigan: Son of Irish immigrants who moved to England, he's emigrated to Ireland.

Editor’s Note: Tom Finnigan is the son of Irish immigrants who moved to England, where he was born. This is the first of a series of essays he wrote about being an immigrant of a different sort: an Englishman of Irish descent who emigrated to Ireland–to the country’s northern most point, Malin, County Donegal.

We came to Malin and built a house in Goorey, on rocks above Trawbreaga Bay. My neighbor Connel Byrne calls it Ard na Si and tells us that Niall – king of all the fairies of Inishowen – holds court here. Barney Doherty used to come for gooseberries. Enid Stewart remembers it as a place full of hazel bushes, where fishermen came for wands to make lobster pots. She came for nuts when she was a child.

‘You’re nuts!’ shouted my father in Manchester when we announced our plans.

He remembers the poverty of Mayo in 1930; how De Valera suggested that he dance at the crossroads; how Doctor Walshe demanded a pound note before he would mount a trap in Ballyhaunis and visit my sick grandmother. Donegal, insisted my father, is full of rain and wind. The women wear shawls and fishermen drown.

“If ye go back and show an English number plate, some eejit from Derry will shoot ye.”

He couldn’t conceive of anyone choosing to live here.

And there’s the point. We have chosen. My father’s generation did not have choice. The Inishowen of holiday homes and art studios is inconceivable to the mind of my mother-in-law, the eldest of 13 children from Ballygorman in Malin Head. She has lived in Manchester for 70 years. When she comes to visit us, she doesn’t watch light stream through cloud. She has nothing to say about how mist hovers. She marvels at lights on the Isle of Doagh, the spread of houses in Carndonagh. Her memory is of blackness at night, the lighthouse at Inistrahull flashing, oil lamps smelling of kerosene. Her talk is of neighbours and where they went–to the tunnels in Glasgow, the towers of Boston.

And we?

We observe the light. We read John McGahern or something by Seamus Heaney. We identify birds–herons rigid on the shore, wood pigeons flapping, oystercatchers piping. We wonder if we shall cook scallops from Malin Head or some pasta from Sainsbury’s. We listen to Lyric FM or watch a DVD, put a bottle of Frascati in the fridge and rustle the business pages of the Irish Times. We are anxious about our SSIs. We lobby for broadband and sing in church. We e-mail Holland and Singapore, sell in Ballsbridge and Cork. We book a flight to Stanstead, then walk on Five Fingers strand, amazed at the light.

The children of the Wild Geese are back. We have sold our English property and returned to claim our heritage. We talk of Colmcille, visit Gartan and Derry, discuss the peace process. In Malin, once the demesne of the Harveys, Gaels with broad English vowels oust Planters with rich Irish consanants. Our Jeeps climb Knockamany and frighten the goats. We learn Irish, join writing groups, take up water colours.

On Five Fingers strand, wind lashes the Atlantic. Gulls scream. I raise my binoculars and scan the Bar Mouth. A sail billows, then another. Oars flash. Steel glints.

The Vikings are back.

Editor’s note: Who are the Wild Geese? Read more about them here.

February 24, 2011 by
Dance, Music, News

Video Highlights: 2011 Mid-Winter Scottish & Irish Music Festival

The pipes were calling

The pipes, the pipes were calling. And these two little Campbell School dancers were having none of it.

We were there for the whole weekend. We saw what you did. We know who you are.

Seriously, we tried to capture all of the essential elements of the 2011 Mid-Winter Scottish & Irish Music Festival in a video retrospective. Washington Memorial Pipe Band, the insane drummers of Albannach, our favorite juggler, and dancers of both the Scottish and Irish persuasions—we have it all.

For Saturday, we piled it all into one big honkin’ video; for Sunday, we broke things up a bit. If you were there, relive the experience. If you weren’t, well, let us fill you in on what you missed. (And make plans for next year.)

Thanks to Bill and Karen Reid for another great party.

Click on the arrows to right and left of the video frame to see all the videos.

February 22, 2011 by
News, People

All That Glitters

The Newbridge Ladies: Kathleen Reagan, Fidelma McGroary, and Linda Maguire.

Since the 1930s, many Irish newlyweds were choosing their silver pattern from a small company in Newbridge, County Kildare, that grew out of an economic vacuum after the British Army abandoned its garrison there in 1921, leaving Newbridge in financial crisis.

It didn’t take long for Newbridge Silverware to take over the cutlery market from the English companies, such as Sheffield, to become the iconic Irish wedding gift. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that Newbridge made a move that gave the company, feeling the pinch of cheaper foreign imports, a whole new life. It started when one of the company’s craftsman started playing around with the scraps of silver left on the factory floor, making pendants and bracelets out of the valuable detritus of soup spoons and butter knives. Owner William Doyle knew a good idea when he saw one, and the Newbridge Jewelry line took off.

Until this year, though, if you wanted a piece of Newbridge, you’d have to get it on your trip to Ireland or in one of the rare shops in the US that carried it. Today, thanks to an Erdenheim woman, Linda Maguire, you can get a Tara pendant, Rose earrings or a sterling silver baby frame right in your own livingroom.

Maguire recently founded Curragh LLC, the only company in the US licensed to sell Newbridge, and she’s taking a page from hugely successful companies like Silpada, Pampered Chef, and Avon and going the home show route.

A jewelry designer herself, Maguire had a special place in her heart for Newbridge. Her husband, Paul, a native of Newbridge, often bought a piece for her when he was home for a visit. “I absolutely love Newbridge and always have,” Maguire said as she took a moment from toting up a jewelry order at a recent Newbridge party hosted by the Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Centre to talk about her brand new venture. “It’s a simple, classic design, and even though it’s very modern for the most part, it does harken back to traditional Irish images.”

Many pieces are the modern equivalent of Celtic knots, spirals, and the interlacing Book of Kells calligraphy patterns that are so recognizably Irish. Even more modern is the giftware, also sold a home shows, from executive desk clocks to baby gifts to wine holders. But there are also replicas of vintage items—Grace Kelly’s string of pearls and pendants based on William Doyle’s Paris flea market finds—as well as the chunky bead bracelets that have become so popular in the US. And they’re all relatively modestly priced.

If Paul Maguire hadn’t been buying his wife a piece of Newbridge the last time he was in Ireland, there might not be a Curragh LLC. “Paul and William Doyle went to school together,” explains Maguire. “He hadn’t see the Doyles in 30 years and be was buying me a bracelet when he ran into Oonagh Doyle (William’s sister).”

The idea that eventually became a serious move to market Newbridge in the US came with the innocent question Paul Maguire asked. “Why don’t you think about coming into the US market?”

And the home show seemed like the perfect fit. “I’d done them before with my own jewelry,” says Linda Maguire. “Home shows and fundraisers are a big area. I remember doing one to benefit Heifer International. It was very successful.”

When Linda Maguire set up her company, she called her sales people “Irish ambassadors” and the two in the Philadelphia area really are Irish—Kathleen Regan and Fidelma McGrory, both immigrants. She also created an incentive program for the home hostesses who can earn up to a 50 percent discount on any Newbridge silver product—with lots of smaller discounts, depending on how much is sold at the show.

“It’s a really attractive program and women seem to really like it,” says Maguire. Around her, the din of chatter had died down as the party-goers got down to the serious business of actually deciding what to buy, their heads bowed over their catalogs and order forms. “I think it’s going to be very successful.”

To find out more about Newbridge in the US, you can contact Linda Maguire through her website.

Check out our photos of the Newbridge party that was a fundraiser for the Philadephia Rose of Tralee Centre. (Newbridge is a longtime sponsor of the Rose of Tralee Festival and Pageant in Ireland.)

February 18, 2011 by