It’s almost here!
The first fundraiser for Philadelphia’s St. Patrick’s Day gets the season off to a good start, with Jamison, the Bogside Rogues, and No Irish Need Apply providing the music at The Heroes Ballroom at the FOP Lodge 5 in Philadelphia on Sunday. A second, set for March 3, has moved from the Springfield Country Club to Cardinal O’Hara High School on South Springfield Road in Springfield. It features the music of Slainte and Round Tower, with performances by the McDade, Cara, and McHugh Schools of Irish Dance.
Also this weekend: Gael Scoil! That would be Irish school, an annual two-day event during which kids between the ages of 7 and 17 learn about Irish history, sports, dance, mythology, and language at Notre Dame High School in Lawrence Township, NJ.
On Sunday, the Burlington County St. Patrick’s Day Parade is holding its grand marshal dinner at the High Street Grill in Mt. Holly, NJ. This year’s grand marshal is Francis X. McAneny, EdD, a longtime educator and currently the principal at St. Mary School in Bordentown, NJ. He is also a longtime Irish dancer who has appeared with the Crossroads School of Irish Dance and won many awards. The parade, always the first in the region, is scheduled for Saturday, March 2.
Irish language lessons are available in the Glenside area starting on Monday. See our calendar for more details.
“Jimmy Titanic,” a new play from Belfast-born playwright Bernard McMullan debuts at the Second State at the Adrienne in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Feb. 27. It explores “the Irish side” of the Titanic disaster through the eyes of a former shipyard worker turned sailor who died on the voyage. Colin Hamell stars in this one-man play which runs through March 10.
And Lunasa will be on stage at the Sellersville Theatre on Wednesday night.
At a luncheon on Thursday at the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia, the Irish Ambassador to the US, Michael Collins, will present the annual Irish American Business Chamber and Network’s Ambassador’s Award to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the Taoiseach Award to James and Frances Maguire and the Uachtaran Award to Sr. Marguerite O’Beirne, OSF. The Maguires are principals of the Maguire Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds education. Sister Marguerite O’Beirne, OSF, is vice president of mission and ministry at Neumann University.
If you didn’t get a chance to get your copy of “Irish Philadelphia” signed at the Irish Center a few weeks ago, author Marita Krivda Poxon will be autographing again on Saturday at McKenna’s Irish Shop in Havertown.
Also next Saturday, March 2, the Glenside Gaelic Athletic Association is holding a beef and beer at the Irish Center on Emlen Street in Philadelphia.
Don’t forget: The Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade is coming up on March 10. Stake out your chunk of curb now.
