Ten years in, the Irish Memorial has become a tourist attraction.
The Irish Memorial is celebrating its 10th birthday this week with a re-dedication ceremony at the site at Front and Chestnut at 4 PM on Saturday followed by a gala event at the nearby Hyatt’s Penn’s Landing. The sculpture by Glenna Goodacre, designer of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC, features 35 bronze figures arranged in vignettes portraying each phase of the Irish immigrant’s path to the new world, from the famine to prosperity in America. The rededication ceremony is free to the public.
Snag some great bargains (think Christmas) at McKenna’s Irish Shop’s annual parking lot sale on Saturday from 11 AM to 3 PM in Havertown. Some items are up to 80 percent off! They’re only doing this one day a year, and it’s rain or shine. So load up!
On Sunday, kick up your heels at the AOH Ceili at the AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 hall in Swedesburg between 2 PM and 5 PM. And if you see any of the members of Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums, which calls AOH Div. 1 home, give him or her a pat on the back. The band raised money through the sale of special t-shirts for the Susan B. Komen Foundation—to the tune of $2,500.
You can combine your love of Irish music and help raise money for breast cancer research on Sunday by attending a special benefit at The Irish Center in Philadelphia featuring Cletus McBride, Tom Brett, McHugh and O’Neill, Clyde Croasdale, Oliver McElhone, Andy Maher and his band, with a special reading by 2010 Bucks County Poet Laureate, Bernadette McBride Duffy.
On Sunday evening, there will be a spooktacular event at St. Malachy’s Church in Philadelphia. A group of local actors, including Mal Whyte, Dr. William Watson, Thom Nickels, and Marita Krivda Poxon, will provide an evening of Irish ghost storytelling—all local ghosts of course. Poxon is the author of several books of Philadelphia history, including her most recent, “Irish Philadelphia, “ as well as one on historical ghosts, “Oak Lane Ghost Stories.”
On Tuesday, Mick Moloney will be back in town to continue the “Two Roads Diverged” lecture at Villanova University along with Lenwood Sloan, Pennsylvania film commissioner.
On October 29, The musical play, “Once,” based on the hit movie, will launch a run at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia through early November. The play tells the story of a Dublin street busker who meets a young Czech woman who is entranced by his music.
Next weekend, the Mayo Association will be crowning its new Miss Mayo for the 50th time and celebrating a dancing through the night for the 108th time at the Irish Center.
