Hall of Famers Dennis Gormley and Kathy DeAngelo
If you want to hear live Irish music in the Philadelphia area, you have plenty of options. You can go to concerts, of course. They’re usually pretty polished.
But if you prefer a bit more spontaneity in your music—even if, and maybe especially if it’s just a little bit rough around the edges—then what you’re looking for is a real traditional Irish music session. And there are plenty of those, too.
One of the newest is at St. Declan’s Well, a beautiful pub just on the fringes of the Penn Campus, 3131 Walnut Street. If you know World Cafe Live, St. Declan’s is just a couple of blocks away. We visited one recent Sunday (the session is from 4 to 7 p.m.) to see what the St. Declan’s session is like.
And what it’s like is very good, but a bit looser than some of the more established sessions in the area. Indeed, many of the musicians who crowded into a corner of the well-appointed dining room were all-too-familiar faces, like Fintan Malone, Allyn Miner, and soon-to-be Mid-Atlantic Region Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Hall of Famers Dennis Gormley and Kathy DeAngelo. There were also a couple of the kids who play in the Next Generation young peoples’ Irish group, which Dennis and Kathy lead, together with Chris Brennan Hagy. The food’s great, the beer’s great, and the music is maybe even a little better. Catch it if you can.
