Kelly Coleman with Gaelic Storm at Ireland and Old Lace
I know a magical place, about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, where a visit on any day of the week can get you some of the finest Irish things in life. And I mean the good stuff: Cadbury Time Out & Curly Wurly bars, Nestle Smarties, Erin Farmhouse Vegetable Soup mixes, bangers, rashers, black and white puddings, meat pies, HP Hot Sauce, Bisto gravy… and it only gets better from there.
Where is this modern-day, non-disappearing Brigadoon, you ask??? It’s a quaint and beautifully established store called Ireland and Old Lace, situated among the approximately 60 shops on The Village Greene in Historic Smithville, New Jersey. And much the same as Brigadoon, on occasional days like this Saturday, October 7, bagpipes and music wondrously appear as if conjured out of the mist as the town plays host to The Smithville Irish Festival.
From the beginning, owner Kelly Coleman has carved her own path for her Irish shop, from opening it on a whim in 2002 to the big name concerts she regularly sponsors on the premises (Dropkick Murphys, Gaelic Storm, Barleyjuice, Flogging Molly). This Saturday, the Irish Festival, which kicks off at 11AM, will feature performances by Bogside Rogues, Jamie and the Quiet Men, The Barley Boys and Amadaun, as well as the Mist of Ireland dancers.
But it’s the stuff inside the store that hooks people once the music stops. In May of 2010, Ireland and Old Lace launched the only licensed U.S. sales of Emerald Crystal, the company formed by several former glassblowers from Waterford after Waterford Crystal went out of business. In addition, Coleman has a large stock of scarves, hats and stoles from Branigan Weavers of Drogheda, County Louth, ladies and men’s hats from Hanna Hats and Shandon of Cork, and Belleek and Galway Crystal.
“We got a new load of woolen sweaters in yesterday, just in time for the change in temperature! We haven’t raised the price on our sweaters in five years, and still didn’t this year,” Coleman told me.
Coleman is committed to finding and selling real Irish goods, designed and made in Ireland. She makes several buying trips a year to make sure that what she has on offer is the real deal.
“My first buying trip, after I’d rented the store, I got on a flight to Dublin and started knocking on doors around Ireland and asking if I could see their products. I’d rented a hotel room, and went around to the gift shops, looked up websites and just started making phone calls. I had a week to put together an inventory.
“My big seller is always the fisherman’s sweaters, but I make sure that they are made in Ireland. Most Americans don’t understand, but they don’t mass produce, and they don’t create handmade junk. It’s a cottage industry over there, and that’s what is represented in my store. All the jewelry I sell has to be hallmarked.”
“I do have the filler stuff that changes around seasonally. I get a lot of repeat visitors who are looking for new things, so I’m always discovering new inventory. And I have the sort of stereotypical St. Patrick’s day items around that time of year. But I try to stay away from too much of that. I feel that Ireland is often misrepresented in the U.S.—it’s not all green beer and shamrocks.”
Coleman herself is Irish on both sides: her mom’s family is from Limerick, and her dad’s side is from Mayo. And even her husband, Mark Radziewicz, better known as “Razz” from Philadelphia’s country station 92.5 XTU, has Dublin born grandparents.
It was her husband who brought her to the area and provided the impetus to open Ireland and Old Lace (he also came up with the name). They’d been living in New York, where the two had met, when Razz got a job with the Philadelphia radio station. Coleman had been living out every 80’s child dream of working for MTV; she’d been a part of their international marketing department, a job that had required such arduous tasks as traveling to Cannes twice a year. Sigh.
But it was one of those visits to Cannes for MTV that had gotten her hooked on Ireland after she added on a vacation trip to the Emerald Isle. So, when she found herself living in South Jersey and jobless, she knew she had the grain of a great idea.
And nearly 10 years on, she is still excited about what she does.
This weekend promises beautiful weather, and Coleman knows just how it should be spent: “We recommend a Blacksmith — 1/2 Guinness 1/2 Smithwicks —to be enjoyed with The Barley Boys!”
For more information on Ireland and Old Lace, visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ireland-and-Old-Lace/72922972334. Information on Saturday’s Smithville Irish Festival can be found on their website: http://smithvilleirishfestival.com/index.htm
