Home-grown Irish music
With the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival, the Delaware Irish Fest, the Mercer Irish Fest, the Celtic Classic, the Gloucester City Shamrock Festival, and the North Wildwood Irish Festival all coming up in September, feel free to consider this week the calm before the storm.
What’s going on is what goes on all the time—but what goes on all the time is amazing, and never to be taken for granted. It’s all great craic.
First off, the radio shows, which we’re incredibly lucky to have:
- John Buckley’s Celtic Globe, Saturday from 7 to 8 a.m. on WNWR AM 1540
- Mike Concannon’s Irish Hours, Saturday from 12 noon to 2 p.m. You can find Mike at WVCH-740 AM.
- Vince Gallagher’s Irish Hour, on WTMR 800 AM, on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 12 noon
- Followed at noon on the same station by Marianne MacDonald’s Come West Along the Road
Second, discover all the traditional Irish music sessions, including Sunday’s big session at the Plough and Stars on Second Street in Olde City, starting at 5 p.m., going until 9. Also check out one of the oldest and most revered Irish music sessions in the Delaware Valley at the Mermaid Inn on Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, Wednesday night at 8.
You’ll also love the Session and Supper at Molly Maguire’s in Lansdale, Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. Terry Kane anchors a session at another Molly Maguire’s, this one on Bridge Street in Phoenixville, starting at 4 p.m.
They’re all the very next best thing to actually being in Ireland. Consider them the sound track of Irish Philly. If you play a musical instrument, most locals music sessions welcome newcomers. Check out our calendar to find even more of them. We’ve just scratched the surface.
And third, take advantage of the serendipitous confluence of local Irish bands and local Irish pubs. This week, the Broken Shillelaghs rock out at Tucker’s Pub on Atlantic Avenue Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The next day, catch Jamison at Shenanigan’s in Sea Isle Sunday from 8 p.m. to midnight. If you’re at the shore, do drop in.
Paddy Whack’s Pub on Roosevelt Boulevard hosts some of the area’s biggest Irish bands every Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m.
So support our local bands and our local watering holes.
And again, you’ll find more on our calendar.
That’s it for now, but stay tuned for much more stuff in the next few weeks.
