Catch the Notre Dames on Sunday. Ladies football rules!
Father’s Day is on Sunday. Here’s a gift your dad will love. Take him to see the Mairead Farrell Ladies Gaelic Football Club take on the Notre Dames on Sunday. They’re national senior and intermediate football champs—that’s national, as in, they beat everyone else in the country—in the Gaelic Athletic Association games.
The game starts at 2:30 PM at Cardinal Dougherty Fields on 2nd Street in Philadelphia, followed by the Kevin Barry’s and St. Patrick’s.
Speaking of games, way to lose, Ireland! Check out the video of the Irish fans singing “Fields of Athenry” after Ireland lost to Spain in the Euro 2012 in Poland for a major lesson on how to stay classy even if your team goes down for the count.
This Saturday is also Bloomsday at the Rosenbach Museum and Library on Delancey Place in Philadelphia. Dozens of volunteers will be reading from James Joyce’s “Ulysses” starting at noon, including Frank Delaney, author of “Ireland” and “Tipperary,” a BBC host and Booker Prize judge. “Ulysses” chronicles one day in the life of Leopold Bloom as he meanders through his Dublin neighborhood. The Rosenbach has an original copy of the book in its collection, so go inside afterward to take a look.
If you’re out near York, PA, on Saturday, check out the annual Penn-Mar Irish Festival in Glen Rock, where you can hear the Screaming Orphans, Amhranai Na Gaelige, Irish Blessing, Nua, and the Spalpeens on stage. Also on hand, the Rovers from Annapolis and Mossy Moran. There will be screenings of the documentary “Beautiful People,” about New York’s longest running traditional Irish music session, throughout the festival, with a Q&A session scheduled with the film’s producer.
Of course there will be Irish food, vendors, dancers, and plenty of activities for the kidlets.
On Saturday night, one of Ireland’s legendary singers, Niamh Parsons, will be appearing in concert with Graham Dunne at the Irish Center as part of the Philadelphia Ceili Group’s Songs from the West of Ireland series.
Fisher and Maher are appearing at Catherine Rooney’s Irish Pub in Wilmington, on Saturday, as part of the summer Irish music series. We’ve been hearing good things about this place.
Once you’ve treated your dad to some ladies football, take him to the Albert Miller Memorial Park in Exton for a free concert by Blackthorn. Believe me, your dad will leave you way more in his will if you do these few things. (Blackthorn is also playing free at Park Square in Prospect Park on June 21.)
And it’s the event you’ve been waiting for—Irish night at the Phillies, where we see if the luck of the Irish is contagious. If it’s not, you can still hear Blackthorn, Jamison and Galway Guild, and enjoy the Irish dancers when they take the field. That takes place on Tuesday night.
On Thursday night, catch the Glengarry Bhoys at the Sellersville Theatre and start packing your bag for the Celtic Fling and Highland Games that start on Friday at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim. Friday is also when Timlin & Kane headline at Catherine Rooney’s Irish Pub in Wilmington, DE.
Next Saturday, catch Celtic Thunder’s George Donaldson solo at the Plough and the Stars. Also next Saturday, head to Bristol Borough for its annual Celtic Day in Lions Park, a very pretty place right on the banks of the Delaware
