Monthly Archives:

March 2014

People

Springfield Delco: A Great Day for a Parade

She hitched a ride in the parade.

She hitched a ride in the parade.

Parade-goers staked out their spots on Saxer Avenue in Springfield, Delaware County, hours before the first marching band turned on to the street at Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. They were buying bottled water at the Wawa at the corner and, the closer it got to noon, eyeing pizza slices through the windows of Drexel Hill and Thunderbird Pizza.

It was so warm and sunny, most people were shrugging off the winter coats they donned out of habit that morning. And residents along the Sycamore-lined street were setting up tables, chairs, kegs and even barbecues—the Irish version of the lawn party.

We were there and took loads of photos.

March 20, 2014 by
People

Helping The Sisters Come Home

Paul Maguire with Sister Conchita McDonnell, left, and Sister Monica Devine, right.

Paul Maguire with Sister Conchita McDonnell, left, and Sister Monica Devine, right.

At the age of 26, after finishing her university studies and working for two years as a lay missionary in Nigeria, Monica Devine left her home in Roscommon to join the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary. She spent more than 30 years of her life working in Nigeria and Tanzania in Africa and today, in her 70s, she’s among a group of more than 20 retired nuns from her order who are about to move into a retirement home in Dublin. A home with a mortgage they can’t afford because, while they had experience raising money for their missions, they’ve never before done it for themselves.

The words “retirement” and “home” have different meanings for this order of nuns, founded in 1924 by Bishop Joseph Shanahan in Killeshandra, County Cavan, to minister to the underserved women in Africa. Their job: teach, heal, farm, help, and become part of the community in which they lived. “We were told, wherever you’re going, these are your people,” says Sister Monica, a tiny, slight woman with glasses and a cap of silver-streaked hair.

The Sisters took that guidance to heart. In the late 1960s, the Killeshandra nuns, as they’re known, even found themselves on different sides in the Biafran Civil War, in which more than 1 million civilians died as the result of the fighting and famine. They didn’t return home because, says Sister Conchita McDonnell, they were home.

“The sisters on both sides of the civil war made the choice to stay with the people with whom they lived,” said the nun, who, with Sister Monica, visited the Philadelphia area recently as part of a fundraising campaign coordinated by a group of local Irish community leaders to help them pay for their Dublin home. Sister Conchita was stationed with the Igbo people of Southeastern Nigeria who were farmers, crafters and traders; Sister Monica with the Tiv, mainly farmers living around Benbue river in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. And the two peoples were at war.

At one point in the early days of the conflict, says Sister Conchita, also in her 70s, she and her community were visited “surrounded by the local chief and the elders of our little village who assured me that I would be protected as one of their own.” Later, when famine began taking lives in Nigeria, Sister Conchita went to the US and Europe to the US to talk to whoever would listen about the plight of her people, a program called the “Save the Igbo People.” Last year, she was given a chieftaincy title by one of the communities she served.

The sisters’ devotion to their chosen people often had profound consequences, as Sister Monica found when she was approached by a Tiv man who told her that he had converted to Catholicism because “you knew trouble was coming and you stayed with us because of the God you believe in.” So it wasn’t surprising to her that when she reunited with some of her former students in Nigeria a year or so ago, they were perplexed by her talk about plans to build a retirement home in their native Ireland. “One of them said to me, ‘Why do you have to go to Ireland to go home? Isn’t this your home?’”

It’s how the sisters still feel—Africa is still home, though much of their work has been taken over by African Holy Rosary sisters and other congregations trained by the order, which was part of the original plan. “We were told our job was to work ourselves out of a job,” says Sister Conchita. “The whole idea was to develop the potential of the people so they could find their own giftedness.”

But as the sisters got older and began experiencing some of the illnesses that can accompany aging (“I was only at the brink of death once,” quips Sister Monica) they also felt the need to return to Ireland. ” An early plan to live in government-subsidized housing for the aged was eight years in the works when it died suddenly, along with the economic boom of the Celtic Tiger. The sisters were disappointed, largely because living with elderly poor people would have allowed them to continue to be missionaries, a calling that has not been silenced just because they’ve retired. “I would have given the sisters the opportunity to use their pastoral care experience,” says Sister Monica.

The retired nuns are temporarily living in house provided by other orders while their own home, which will provide a “simple small bedroom for every sister,” is completed, says Sister Monica.

But even when those little bedrooms are ready, the Sisters will still have to find a way to satisfy the debt they incurred to build them, says Paul Maguire, a Kildare native and principal in the accounting firm Maguire Hegarty LLC, who learned of the nuns’ plight from Father John McNamee, retired pastor of St. Malachy’s Church and School in Philadelphia.

“We’re launching an international campaign to raise $4 million for the nuns, with $2.5 million to come from America and the rest from the Irish,” explains Maguire, who is on the board of the nonprofit Friends of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, Inc. and a principal in Archeim Solutions, a marketing and strategic planning organization that’s coordinating the campaign.

“We have as our patron, Sabina Higgins, the wife of Irish President Michael Higgins, whose two cousins are members of the order,” says Maguire.

Over the next three years, he explains, the campaign will spread across the country with fundraising events in cities with large Irish populations, such as New York, Boston, and Chicago, but the start in Philadelphia is appropriate. One of the order’s founding nuns was Sister Philomena, born Isobel Fox, a graduate of Hallahan High School in Philadelphia, who died in 1999 at the age of 97 after spending many years in Nigeria. Maguire has introduced the sisters to some of the influential people in the region’s Irish community and to many of the county societies, asking for their financial support.

It hasn’t been easy for the nuns. “We’ve never done any fundraising for ourselves; it’s all been for the missions,” says Sister Conchita. They had really never given any thought to their own futures until now.

But what made it less awkward for them is that they’ve always seen those who contribute to them as “co-missionaries,” she says. And they’ve always had something valuable to give back in thanks. ”We pray for them every day,” she says. “many times a day.”

There are some who would say that’s better than a tax write-off.

To donate to the Killeshandra nuns, make checks payable to the Friends of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, Inc., and send it to P.O. Box 589, Norristown, PA 19404. For more information, email Donations@knuns.org. The organization has filed for charity status so donations can be tax deductible.

March 20, 2014 by
News

Conshohocken 2014

Valley Forge Pipe Major Joe Raudenbush

Valley Forge Pipe Major Joe Raudenbush

There’s always a crowd at the Montgomery County St. Patrick’s Day parade. Saturday in Conshohocken was no exception. If anything, the balmy near-60 degree weather brought out many more Irish, and wannabe Irish. We also saw the first flip-flops we’ve seen in months, a harbinger of spring if ever there was one.

Grand Marshal Jay Murray, wearing the maroon kilt of Irish Thunder—he plays pipes—led the bands, dancers, fire trucks, local pols, Hibernians and more down Fayette Street.

Check out the photo gallery.

March 16, 2014 by
News, People

Paying It Forward

Jim MurrayA lot of people in Philadelphia would say Jim Murray ought to be canonized on the strength of a single miracle: As general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, he determinedly and methodically drove the team from its status as perennial cellar-dweller to its very first Super Bowl in 1980.

Sadly, the Birds lost to the Raiders, 27-10. Miracle workers can do only so much.

What many Philadelphia don’t know, perhaps, is that Jim Murray has devoted his entire adult life to miracles, not just the kind that occur within the confines of a gridiron. Those other miracles are far more enduring, and they have had a deep impact on thousands of people—maybe more.

On Sunday, Murray’s contributions to the betterment of the city and well beyond the city limits will be recognized as he marches up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as another kind of GM—this year’s grand marshal of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day parade.

To hear Murray tell it, his selection as grand marshal is just another shining example of the incredible good fortune that has followed him all his life. He is blessed with a genial, some might say “irresistible” personality, and you have to figure that helped. Murray could probably jolly the Israelis and the Palestinians into coming to the table, and afterward persuade them to play a pickup game of touch football in East Jerusalem. He has received every kind of award and honorary degree you can think of. He was inducted into the Philadelphia City All-Star Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, and he received President Ronald Reagan’s Medal for Volunteers of America in 1987. For a man of so many achievements, he is curiously self-effacing.

Not bad for a guy from 812 Brooklyn Street in West Philly, where Murray spent his early years before moving with his family to Clifton Heights. There was nothing in Murray’s life that might have predicted the successful life he has had. But it wasn’t as if there was anything standing in his way, either, and early on Murray set out to make the most of his gifts. Murray, the son of Mary (nee) Kelly and Jim Murray, has always been possessed of an indomitable and optimistic spirit.

“We were poorer than poor, and richer than rich,” he says, “but West Philly was a wonderful place to grow up. Officer Gallagher was down at the corner.  Everybody would turn you in if they saw you doing something wrong. Your street was your playground. We had no organized athletics, nothing like that, but I was always a sports fan. I don’t think you can put limits on prayer, God and good parents. Great teachers and mentors are a vital part of the equation. And it doesn’t hurt that you get lucky.”

When you hear Jim Murray speak, as he has had the opportunity to do several times since his choice as grand marshal, it is clear that he is a presence. Part of that particular aspect of his personality might have to do to with his build. He’s the first to joke about his belt size. Thursday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Center City, where he received his silken tricolor grand marshal’s sash, he worried aloud about whether it would fit. Every time he’s made a public appearance, he’s worn at least one hat. Last week at the CBS3 pre-parade party, he donned a gold yarmulke in tribute to his flawed, flamboyant, but nonetheless generous and beloved boss Leonard Tose. Yesterday, at a City Hall ceremony to declare March Irish Month, he wore a green Eagles cap. In neither case did it look like the headgear was a good fit for his head. His eyebrows are like furry little rain gutters. His cheeks are ruddy, and they rise like little helium balloons every time he smiles—which is often. He’s always good for a laugh—and often he’s the butt of his own jokes.

In short, Jim Murray is a big guy, but with a heart to match. He’s a hard guy to say no to.

And people have been saying yes to him for a long time.

But at least in one one case, someone said no early on. No matter who you are, you can’t escape hard knocks.

“I felt that I had a vocation, so in eighth grade, I went into the seminary, the Augustinian Academy on Long Island. In junior year, they thought a few of us had snuck out to see the Christmas show at Radio City. We didn’t actually go. We overcame the temptation. Long story short, we were expelled. That kind of thing is traumatic when you’re trying to decide. But once again, God has a sense of humor. I ended up getting thrown out and going to West Catholic. Being taught by the Christian Brothers was a great spirit.

After West, he attended Villanova. One day, he answered an ad for a student baseball team manager. He approached former Phillies first baseman and ‘Nova baseball coach Art Mahan. Murray admitted he wasn’t a baseball player, but he really wanted the job and was eager to learn. “Art Mahan changed my life,” says Murray. “When he died two years ago, he was 97 years old, the oldest living Phillies and Red Sox player. He gave me a lot of my personality training.”

It was Mahan’s advice that gave Murray his first break, in sports administration with the Tidewater Tides of the South Atlantic, or “Sally” League. After that, he served a tour in the Marine Corps Reserve, and then returned to baseball as assistant GM of the politically incorrectly named Atlanta Crackers. He went into the restaurant business for a time, but Mahan, who by then was Villanova’s athletic director, persuaded him to return to the university for a sports administration job.

“He called and said, ‘You have 24 hours to decide whether you want to come back here to be sports information director at Villanova.” Murray said yes. It didn’t take anywhere near 24 hours.

Murray loved the job, but a few years later, Mahan changed his life again.

“I was in the best job I ever had, but one day Artie said, ‘The Eagles are looking for an assistant PR director. You should go down and get interviewed.’”

Murray got the job. In time, through a lot of hard work and creative thinking, he moved up through the ranks to become the team’s general manager, and it was during those years that the team had its spectacular run.

One day, one of the Eagles’ players received the phone call no parent wants to receive. Murray remembers it well. It was a turning point for him, too.

“Fred Hill, who was a central casting tight end from Southern Cal, got a call from wife Fran at St. Christopher’s. His daughter Kim was diagnosed with leukemia.”

Leonard Tose being Leonard Tose,  he rallied to the support of Hill and his family, and looked for bigger ways to help. He threw his support and his money into “Eagles Fly for Leukemia,” and he asked Murray to lead the effort.

“We had the first big event,” Murray recalls. “It was a fashion show. Then the boss called me over. He had many addictions, but No. 1 was his generosity.” Tose asked Murray to go go to St. Christopher’s to find out how else the Eagles might help. “I had no idea how that would be part of my life.”

Murray visited St. Christopher’s and talked to one of the top docs, who admitted the hospitals had many crying needs, but he knew someone who needed help even more. “He looked around, and he says, ‘We need everything, but there’s somebody with a greater need. He said, ‘Her name name is Dr. Audrey Evans, and she’s a world famous oncologist. She’s at Children’s Hospital at 18th and Bainbridge.’ So I went to see this lady, Dr. Evans. I said ‘My name is Jim Murray. I’m from the Philadelphia Eagles,’ and she says ‘What are they?’ I said we’re on TV every week,’ and she says, ‘I don’t have a TV.” I said, ‘We have money.’”

That got Dr. Evans’’ attention.

Tose wound up supporting Evans’ proposal to create  special rooms for pediatric patients called “Life Lanes.”

But a later meeting with Dr. Evans led to something even bigger.

Murray met up with Evans at the Blue Line, a bar at the Spectrum, where he was going to present her with a check. “I said, now, what else do you need?’ and she said ‘It would be great if the parents of these children had someplace to stay.’ She said, ‘I want to buy a YMCA.’ I said, What you need is a house’ So she said, ‘Well, get us a house.’ Now I’m back to the rosaries.”

Murray had contacts in the MacDonald’s chain, and that was how he found out the restaurants were about to introduce the Shamrock Shake for St. Patrick’s Day. Murray asked for 25 cents off the sale of every Shamrock Shake to go toward the house. But then Murray got a call back from McDonald’s CEO Ed Renzi. ‘He said, if we give you all the money, can we call it Ronald McDonald House?’ I said, you can call it Hamburger House, anything you like.’”

That was in October 1974. Today there are 336 Ronald McDonald Houses in 35 countries.

Forty years later, Murray still can’t believe the project has come so far. And he still visits Ronald McDonald Houses just to see how the project still changes lives.

He recently visited the Philadelphia house with Dr. Evans.

“I never get used to it. There was a beautiful young girl from West Virginia, and her baby had a serious condition. I looked at Dr. Evans as she was looking at this young girl’s face, and I thought, it was exactly 40 years back at the Blue Line Bar that this started, and I thought about the kind of heart it took to bring these things together.”

March 14, 2014 by
People

Getting a Jump on the Parties

Philly Grand Marshall Jim Murray with Miss Mayo, Erin Carroll, and that Super Bowl ring.

Philly Grand Marshal Jim Murray with Miss Mayo, Erin Carroll, and that Super Bowl ring.

We’ve already been to three St. Patrick’s Day parties. You? Well, if you’ve yet to have your first Irish potato—of the fluffy and buttery or the coconut  cream Philly-style versions—or hear your first diddly-eye tune, come along with us virtually to the parties that got a jump on St. Patrick’s Day.

View of our photos of:

The Irish Immigration Center’s shades of green senior lunch, featuring the music of John Byrne with Cormac Brady and Vincent Gallagher.

Then, let’s head over to the Philopatrian Mansion in Center City for the Brehon Law Society’s after work cocktail soiree.

And then to the Grand Marshal Gala for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade, where everyone wanted to touch Grand Marshal Jim Murray’s Superbowl ring (he was GM of the Eagles when they made it there).

We also dropped by the annual Friendly Sons of St. Patrick wreath-laying and the mayor’s proclamation of March as Irish month, both at City Hall.

March 14, 2014 by
People

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

Aisling Travers

Aisling Travers

Okay, let’s just get to it. There’s a lot to cover—this weekend and St. Patrick’s Day take up an entire page of our calendar (and that’s not even the half of it—not every performer adds gigs to our calendar). Here’s the week, day-by-day, hour-by-hour:

Saturday, March 15

Parades today: The 26th Annual Bucks County St. Patrick’s Day parade kicks off at 10:30 from the parking lot of St. Joseph the Worker Church on New Falls Road; the Springfield (Delco) parade launches itself down Saxer Avenue at noon; the Wilmington, DE, parade also starts at noon; Bethlehem starts its march at 1 PM, and the Conshohocken St. Patrick’s Day Parade takes over Fayette Street at 2 PM. We’ll be at three of these parades—Bucks, Springfield, and Conshohocken—so look for us and smile for the camera. Yell, “Irish Philadelphia” to get our attention.

There are some great after-parade parties too, including one at St. Kevin’s Church in Springfield and a post-Bucks bash with the Broken Shillelaghs at the Fraternal Order of the Eagles Hall in Fairless Hills.

Here’s how the day shapes up otherwise:

10:30 AM
The 69th Irish Volunteer reenactors will participate in a special flag ceremony at Independence Hall and will be marching in Sunday’s Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day parade with a new flag they’ll receive at this event.

11 AM
The First Highland Watch (bagpipes and rock ‘n roll) at Molly Magiure’s Pub in Lansdale

“The Legend of Finn McCool,” will be showing at the Ambler Theater in Ambler.

Noon

St. Patrick’s Event in the Tent with Blackthorn at the Ridley Marina in Ridley Park

1 PM
Galway Guild at Chickie and Pete’s at the Tropicana in Atlantic City

Irish music and wine at Crossing Vineyards in Newtown, PA

Belfast Connection will be starting its multi-pub marathon at Halligan’s Pub in Flourtown.

5 PM
The Bhoys of County Bucks will be playing at the historic Brick Hotel in Newtown

5:30 PM
The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick is holding its annual banquet at the Union League in Philadealphia

6 PM
The Knights of Columbus has its holiday gala at the Red Clay Room in Kennet Square

7 PM
Get ready to rock out with the second annual Jamison Paddypalooza at Curran’s Irish Inn on State Street in Philadelphia—look for the big tent.

The Sumney Tavern in Lansdale is hosting the 69th Irish Volunteers for an evening of Irish Civil War period music.

7:30 PM
We look forward every year to a visit from musicians from St. Malachy’s College in Belfast, and they’ll be performing tonight at Bonner-Prendergast High School in Upper Darby.

Berklee College of Music grads Mark Kilianski, Lukas Pool, and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes will be performing a combination of Celtic, bluegrass, and jazz at this concert at Birdhouse Center for the Arts in Lambertville, NJ.

8 PM
Sharon Corr, of the Corrs, will be on stage at World Café Live in Philadelphia.

Celtic Nights, featuring some of the best young Irish performers—both singers and dancers—will be at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

First Highland Watch will be rocking out at the Shamrock Café in Wildwood, NJ.

The Glengharry Boys bring their Celtic rock style to the Sellersville Theatre. Dancing in the aisles is encouraged.

Some of the greatest trad performers in the world will be at the Irish Center in Philadelphia—Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis, and Billy McComiskey, with special guest Michelle Mulcahy—thanks to the Philadelphia Ceili Group, along with The Irish Center and irishphiladelphia.com. Put this in the “must see” category.

The Shantys will be at JT Brewski’s Pub in Secane, Delco.

9 PM
Joe Magee and the Galway Guild will be at The Deck in Essington.

SUNDAY, March 16

It’s the big one—the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches down the Parkway starting at noon, following a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Charles Chaput at St. Patrick’s Church at 20th and Locust. Many of your favorite pipe and Celtic rock bands will be in the parade, along with world class Irish dancers (really, they win awards on the world stage too), local celebrities, and floats. Dress warmly-it might be a little brisk, but hey, we’re used to that here. At least it’s not supposed to snow.

Here’s what else is going on:

9 AM

You can stay warm if you keep up with the runners at the 29th Annual Leprechaun Run at The Navy Yard which benefits the Special Olympics. (There’s also a two-mile walk for you slowpokes.)

11 AM
Head House Irish Festival features music and dance at O’Neals and Cavanaugh’s Head House—free admission if you have a parade badge.

3 PM
McDermott’s Handy—that’s the soon to be Comhaltas Hall of Famers Dennis Gormley and Kathy DeAngelo—are performing at the Princeton Public Library.

3:30 PM
Post-Parade party at the Irish Center, featuring music by the Vince Gallagher Ban and the Derry Brigade, with dinner catered by The Irish Coffee Shop. The Cummins School of Irish Dance will perform and there will be sets and other dances in the Fireside Room. This is your chance to buy tickets for a huge raffle basket filled with all sorts of Irish goodies. The new Glenside GAA will have an information booth.

If you’re staying in town after the parade, head over to the Philopatrian at 19th and Walnut for a free post-parade party sponsored by the Irish American Business Chamber and Network, the Brehon Law Society, and the Irish Immigration Center.

4 PM
Tryone’s own Raymond Coleman will be featured performer at Philly’s newest Irish pub, St. Declan’s Well on Walnut Street, near World Café Live and the Penn/Drexel campuses.

4:30 PM
Blackthorn is also throwing a post-parade party at the Springfield Country Club.

6 PM
Local singer Rosaleen McGill will be performing at Jack McShea’s in Ardmore.

And catch Galway Guild at the Green Parrot in Newtown, which has Irish music pretty much nonstop throughout the weekend.

Monday— March 17

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
The weather report is calling for snow today, which a Canadian friend of ours tells is is common up North, where they call it “Shelagh’s Snow,” after St. Patrick’s wife. . .or housekeeper, she wasn’t sure which. Let’s hope the weather report is wrong.

Start your day with a nice hearty Irish breakfast. There are two on offer this morning, one at Fado Irish Pub on Locust Street and the other at the Plough and the Stars on Second Street in Philadelphia. Both raise money for charity (and we know people who go to both, so it’s possible).

Or, start your day with some live GAA sports. The Irish Center is showing two games on pay-per-view this morning starting at about 10 AM.

10 AM
“The Legend of Finn McCool” gets a replay at the Ambler Theatre.

11:30 AM
Consider giving back (it’s the Irish thing to do): Einstein Healthcare Network on Broad Street in Philadelphia is holding a free Tay-Sachs disease screening for Irish people as part of a long-term study looking at the prevalence of this deadly disease of babies in the Irish population. It’s believed that the Irish are at higher risk than the general population for Tay-Sachs which has traditionally been considered disease of European Jews. The results of this study may help determine if people of Irish descent need to be tested routinely. Even if you don’t have anyone in your family with the disease, you may still be a carrier. The always fatal disease manifests in babies born to two carrier parents.

The Shantys are appearing at Erin Pub in Norwood.

Noon
The John Byrne Band, Belfast Connection, and Irish comedian Joey Callahan are the headliners for an all-day festival at Canstatters on Academy Road in Northeast Philadelphia.

The Theresa Flanagan Band will be playing all your dance favorites at McGillicuddy’s in Upper Darby.

1 PM
Seniors can enjoy a special luncheon at the Irish Center.

1:30 PM
You may not be able to bust the moves of the young Irish dancers you see, but anyone of any age can learn sean nos dancing. That’s old style Irish dancing that doesn’t require great leaps. One of the finest sean nos dancers in the country, Siobhan Butler, will be holding a dance workshop at Villanova in the Alumni Hall gymnasium.

2 PM
Jamison is performing at Finnigan’s Wake in Philadelphia.

5 PM
Belfast Connection has left Canstatters and is now celebrating St Patrick’s Day at Doc’s Pub in Burlington, NJ.

The Bhoys of Bucks is taking the stage at Kenny’s in Southampton.

6 PM
The Gloucester County AOH is holding its St. Patrick’s Day Open House at Rossiter Memorial Hall in National Park, NJ (that’s right over the bridge from Philly) with The Broken Shillelaghs providing the musical entertainment (they’re also supposed to be at McMichael’s in Gloucester City, but this is St. Patrick’s Day and magic can happen).

7 PM
Blackthorn is performing at the Ardmore Music Hall.

First highland Watch is at Magerk’s Pub in Fort Washington.

8 PM
Jamison is at RP McMurphy’s in Holmes.

8:30 PM
The Shantys are at Reedy’s Pub on Frankford Avenue in Philly.

9 PM
Galway Guild is at Ri Ra at the Tropicana.

Monday, March 18
You’d think it would let up, but no.

7:30 PM
View the movie, “Kings,” about a group of Irish immigrants who do not make good in the promised land, starring Colm Meany. It’s at Villanova.

Tuesday, March 19

4:30 PM
Eamonn Wall, the Heimbold Chair at Villanova, will discuss Irish writing in American with Daniel Tobin, a professor of writing, literature and publishing at Emerson College.

Thursday, March 20

6 PM
The Consulate General of Ireland is partnering with International House Philadelphia to present a special showing of “Death on the Railroad,” the story of Duffy’s Cut. Dave Farrell, the producer of the documentary, will be flying in from Dublin to join Bill and Frank Watson, who discovered the mass grave in Malvern of the Irish immigrant railroad workers who died of cholera or were killed, will join the discussion and Deputy Consul Peter Ryan will be there for a reception.

Friday, March 21
4 PM
Experts from The Ulster Historical Foundation and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania will help you explore your Irish and Scots roots at the Haverford Township Community Rec and Environmental Center in Havertown.

8 PM
Cap off the perfect St. Patrick’s Week with a pint and the musical stylings of Andy Maher and his Band at The Irish Center. It’s ’70s and ‘80s music, which you may not have heard at all this week.

Please check our calendar frequently for late-breaking events and for details on these.

March 14, 2014 by
People

Local Friends Mourn Celtic Thunder’s George Donaldson

Ray Coleman with George Donaldson

Ray Coleman with George Donaldson

George Donaldson may have been a Scot, but the Celtic Thunder lead singer, who died yesterday at the age of 46 of a massive heart attack, held a special place in the hearts of Philadelphia’s Irish community.

“He was a great man, down-to-earth, a good friend, great musician, was great craic to hang with,” said Raymond Coleman, a Tyrone-born musician now living in Philadelphia who often performed with Donaldson at the Plough and the Stars on Second Street.

Coleman recalled going out one night with Donaldson after their show. “And the great fella he was, we were out and didn’t get home till 4 in the morning. Jaclyn [Coleman’s wife] was pregnant and ready to pop, and we landed at my house and I didn’t have my key, so we banged on the door and Jaclyn came down and I was like, ‘George, you’re going through the door first, it’s your fault, you gotta take the blame and fair enough he did!”

It was also Donaldson who “got me in with those crazy Thunder Heads,” said Coleman, referring to Donaldson’s many fans, most of them female.

Like Maggie Costello of Philadelphia, who was part of the George Donaldson Street Team—a group that promotes concerts and events on a grassroots level—which now numbers about 1,200.

“George was a big bear of a man, his hugs were wonderful and given out to his fans and friends alike,” said Costello. “ He called his guy friends and costars in Celtic Thunder, “brother, , was loved by everyone who knew him. He was an extraordinary folksinger, song writer and history teacher to his fans. We learned more about Scottish history than if we took a college course, through his songs and stories. . .He wasn’t just a folksinger, he was our friend.”

One of his favorite books, she said, was “The Alchemist,” a novel about finding one’s own destiny. “He said it taught him it was never too late to follow your dream,” she said.

George Donaldson was one of nine children who grew up in Glasgow where he started his singing career in local pubs and clubs while working as a bus builder. In 2008, at the age of 39, he joined Celtic Thunder, a group introduced to Americans through many concert specials on PBS and which went on to gain international fame. But when he was home in Glasgow, in between tours, Donaldson still gigged at his local, Jinty’s, on Sunday night.

Margaret King met Donaldson in 2008 at WHYY in Philadelphia when he and his Celtic Thunder “brothers” were doing the first of many PBS specials and she was manning the phones along with others from the Cara School of Irish Dance in Delaware County. “They all got on the phones to talk to the people calling in and they were so nice to the dancers,” King recalled. She spent a little time talking to Donaldson during the breaks. “He was such a nice guy. He told me about his wife and daughter and how exciting it was to be starting this tour, which was their first.”

She even remembered some of the lyrics of the song he sang, called The Voyager. “Life is an ocean, love is a boat, In troubled waters, it keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage, there was just me and you. Now, gathered ’round us, we have our own crew.”

“You could tell it that he meant it when he sang that song, that he was thinking of his wife and daughter who were at home.”

Donaldson leaves a wife, Carolyn, and a 13-year-old daughter, Sarah.

The Plough and the Stars, where many Philadelphians and others came to hear the big Scot sing and play, issued this statement on its Facebook page:

“George was a longtime friend of the Plough and was loved by his loyal and devoted fans who traveled here from all over the USA and even as far as Australia, his concerts at the Plough were always sold out. He was a gentleman. Good humored, kind and thoughtful, when we had to reconfigure the whole restaurant for his concert he was always amused and very patient. His concerts were a lot of fun, we will remember the good times during and after. I was talking to him this past Tuesday he was looking forward to playing at the Plough on 17th July it is shocking and tragic. May he rest in peace.”

View more photos of George Donaldson in Philadelphia, courtesy of Maggie Costello, Raymond Coleman, and Margaret King.

March 14, 2014 by
People

Recipe: Bar Cookies. . .With Guinness

The key ingredient!

The key ingredient!

When we’re looking for a special St. Patrick’s Day treat, we turn first to our favorite Irish cook, Margaret Johnson, author of “Flavors of Ireland” and nine other cookbooks celebrating Irish cuisine. And she has something special for us this year—Guinness for dessert!

We’ll let her tell it:

“No one was more surprised than I to learn that desserts could be made with Irish stouts, beers, and ales. Drinking them was a no-brainer, and using them for marinades and flavoring stews was a great idea, but I thought desserts were another matter. That was before I realized that the sweet flavor produced by yeast and hops could easily translate to cakes, breads, and bars like these (see recipe below). This recipe originated with the brewers of Guinness more than three decades ago. Note: you can also make this in an 8- or 9-in. square pan for more of a cake-like finish.

Guinness Applesauce Bars with Lemon Drizzle
Makes 27 bars

Bars
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup Guinness stout
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Lemon Drizzle Icing
1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350º F. Grease a 9 x 13 in. baking pan and dust with flour; tap out excess.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, stir together the applesauce, brown sugar, oil, and Guinness. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the raisins, dates, and walnuts.
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Cut the bars into 9 rows by 3 rows.
5. To make the drizzle, in a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk, and lemon juice. Drizzle the mixture over the bars and serve immediately.

You can join Margaret M. Johnson on a culinary tour of Ireland next October 8-15 when you can visit and have a tasting at the Guinness factory yourself. The 8-day escorted tour ($2,468, land only price based on double occupancy) includes deluxe accommodations plus visits and tastings at the Burren Smokehouse, the Jameson distillery, and a half-day, hands-on cooking class with Chef Catherine Fulvio at Ballynocken House in County Wicklow, among other things. For more information and a complete itinerary, go to Margaret’s website.

March 11, 2014 by