Celtic rockers Jamison.
If you’re at the Jersey shore, the Maryland coast or stay-cationing in or around Philly, you can easily be Irish this week.
For example, the Annapolis Irish Festival is in full swing this weekend at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds. You can see some local faves like Burning Bridget Cleary and Seamus Kennedy (and the Screaming Orphans who, while they’re not local, are big faves around here), among other great Celtic bands. There are also Gaelic games and vendors—two of our favorite things.
Speaking of our favorite things, Celtic rockers Jamison will be performing at Keenan’s Irish Pub in North Wildwood on Saturday night and at Shenanigan’s in Sea Isle City on Sunday. You might be able to find them on the beach in the daylight hours. Remind them to use Celtic-strength sunscreen.
If you’re staying close to home, think about heading to the Kildare’s weekly session in West Chester on Sunday night. The regulars are being joined by a few guest stars, including 12-year-old fiddler Alex Weir and 11-year-old whistle player and piper Keegan Loesel, who are heading to the All-Ireland Fleadh in August to compete against other young traditional musicians in Cavan Town. The session is a benefit for the two youngsters to help defray the cost of their trip. They have another benefit, organized by Belfast Connection fiddler Laine Walker Hughes, coming up later in July at Brittingham’s. More on that later.
Next Friday, hear Raymond and Mickey Coleman, two musical brothers from Tyrone, at The Plough and the Stars in Philadelphia. We haven’t heard the duo, but Raymond, whom we have heard, is worth the price of admission. You know, if there was one. There isn’t. It’s a great venue, great menu, and a great evening of music. (Listen to Raymond here. See, am I not right?)
Tickets are going fast for Maeve Donnelly and Conal O Grada, appearing on July 20 at the Coatesville Cultural Society. Donnelly is a remarkable fiddler, last in Coatesville with guitarist Tony MacManus (a highlight of my own personal trad concert-going). O Grada is a flute player from Cork who, we’re told, will blow you away, pun intended.
And hey folks, help us out here! If you have an Irish event, don’t make us look for it! Tell us about it! And we’ll tell everyone we know, promise. Yes, we troll Facebook and other sites to find you and yes, we’re probably on your mailing list if you have one, but most people looking for an Irish event to attend come HERE! You may reach a couple of hundred people by sending out a Facebook event invite, but we have more than 2,000 hardcore local Irish folks on our Facebook page and our Mick Mail list. You do the math.
We make it easy for you to put your event on our calendar yourself. (Tell them, Jamison and Belfast Connection and Irish Club of Delaware County!) Simply go to the orange bar at the top of the page, click on Irish Events Listing, click on “Submit Your Irish Event,” and fill out the form. If you fill in the full address of your event, our calendar will even draw people a map! (Clever calendar!)
If you really want to get people to pay attention, our ads are really cheap. So cheap, we make absolutely no money! Now, that’s cheap! (One of us has got to get a business degree.) If you’re interested, go to the same orange bar and click on “Advertise.” That will take you to a page that tells you everything you need to know except that those little ads at the bottom of the page are $25 a month each (they’re newish).
While you’re roaming the site, check out the calendar for all the details.
