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February 2019

Arts, Music

Outbid By a Princess, Mick Moloney to be Reunited With a Royal Collection of Irish Music

Irish musician and folklorist Mick Moloney recalls a time when he was still living in Philadelphia, and L.A.H. O’Donnell, who had retired from EMI Records and lived in Chestnut Hill, contacted him with an intriguing offer: a vast trove of Irish-American sheet music.

“He was offering the collection for $3,000,” Moloney says. “Well, at the time, I didn’t have $300.”

Scholar that he was and is, Moloney looked about for another suitable home for the music, which hearkened back to the Tin Pan Alley days and a little before. No one, including the Smithsonian, had the budget. That was the last he heard of the music, although he never forgot about the offer.

Ten years later, when his circumstances had improved, he called O’Donnell again.

“I asked, ‘Is that collection still for sale?’ He said, ‘Mick, you’re one week too late. Someone just bought it.’”

February 28, 2019 by Jeff Meade

How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

It’s March, and we’re off and running.

First up, Saturday, and lots to do, more than we often have in a whole week:

From 7 to 9:30 p.m., we have the very first ever Middle School Social at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street in the Mount Airy neighborhood. The event is for 6^th, 7^thand 8^th (We’ve written about it before. Read the story.) It costs $10 to get in. Kids will be treated to D.J. music, pizza, snacks and soft drinks. Pre-registration is required. For details, contact Lisa Maloney at lisamaloney29@yahoo.com or call 215-514-1654. The social is well-chaperoned. Looks like a good time.
Silver Lake Nature Center, 1306 Bath Road in Bristol, hosts the inimitable Irish singer Mary Courtney in concert in the Visitors Center. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 a person in advance (by March 1 at 5 p.m.) and $15 at the door. All the details here.
Starting at 6:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Catholic School hosts Irish Night. The school is at 835 North Hills Avenue in Ardsley. This beef and beer is 40 bucks a ticket. Galway Guild provides the music, you provide the dancing. The tunes start at 8.
Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 6 Montgomery County is kicking off the month with a St. Patrick’s Party, from 7 to 10 p.m., at Blessed Teresa of Calcutta School, 256 Swamp Pike in Schwenksville. Music by Reilly’s Daughter, featuring Tommy Conwell.
The GAA hurling and camogie club Na Tóraídhe holds its biggest fund-raiser of the year at Tir Na Nog, 1600 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19103. It’s a formal, so you can play dress-ups. Contact Katkatrinaterrysterling@gmail.com or any club member. The fun starts at 7:30.
Later that night (starting at 10 p.m., lasting ‘til the wee hours) the John Byrne Band plays music of the Pogues, also at Tir Na Nog.
The Burlington County St. Patrick’s Day parade steps off at 1 p.m., marching down High Street from Fairgrounds Plaza in Mount Holly. In the neighborhood of 60 groups take part in the parade, including bagpipe bands and some of the area’s best Paddy Rock bands.
It’s Irish Night with Round Tower, at Upper Darby American Legion Post 214, 6914 Chestnut Street in Upper Darby. The party starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $25 per person in advance, $30 at the door; or $40 per couple in advance, $50 at the door. Call 610-352-0702 for more information. Includes food and bottled beer. 50/50, raffles, and much more fun.

February 28, 2019 by Jeff Meade

People

Ambassador’s Award Honoree Teleflex: Making a Serious Impact on Patient Lives

Liam J. Kelly

On March 1, the Irish American Business Chamber & Network will be hosting the 2019 Ambassador’s Awards Luncheon at Philadelphia’s Union League. Among the honorees is Teleflex, a global provider of medical technology products. recipient of the Ambassador Award. Accepting on behalf of Teleflex will be Liam J. Kelly, Teleflex president and CEO.

We recently spoke with Liam Kelly. Here’s what he had to say.

Irish Philly: Teleflex is a global provider of medical technology products and I’m wondering if you could give me some examples.

Liam Kelly: Teleflex has a number of divisions. We have a vascular division. There, our main product is a central venous catheter and a PICC catheter. And also a product called an EZ-IO. They all basically give vascular access to patient. If a patient has a heart attack, the one thing that they need is vascular access. We need to get fluid into the body and we provide a whole series of catheters that allow that to happen.

We also have an interventional access division. Our main products there focus on coronary disease states within the hospital. And that business is a business that has continued to save lives every day and we’re very proud of that fact.

February 28, 2019 by Jeff Meade

News, People

A Leader in Construction and an Environmental Lawyer: Reflections on Life and Giving

Sarah and Dan Keating

On March 1, the Irish American Business Chamber & Network will be hosting the 2019 Ambassador’s Awards Luncheon at Philadelphia’s Union League. Among the honorees are Daniel J. Keating, III, executive vice president, Gilbane Building Co., and Sarah P. Keating, Esq., principal owner and chief executive officer of Keating Environmental Management. They will receive the Taoiseach Award.

We recently spoke with Daniel Keating. Here’s what he had to say.

Irish Philly: Did you and Sarah have any idea you were in the running?

Daniel Keating, III: Actually, we did not have any idea we were in the running, but we’re certainly honored.

Irish Philly: I imagine you’re pretty pleased about that.

DK: Well, you know, it’s a wonderful group of guys and gals, and they all get along and a nice company to be involved with.

February 26, 2019 by Jeff Meade

News

Continuing a Fatally Wounded Marine’s Proud Tradition: The Travis Manion Foundation

Ryan Manion

On March 1, the Irish American Business Chamber and Network will be hosting the 2019 Ambassador’s Awards Luncheon at Philadelphia’s Union League. Among the honorees is the Travis Manion Foundation, recipient of the Uachtarán Award.

Accepting on behalf of the Travis Manion Foundation will be Col. Tom Manion, USMC, Ret., chairman emeritus, and Ryan Manion, president.

The Travis Manion Foundation is a character-driven leadership organization named after Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, fatally wounded while searching a suspected insurgent house in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.

We spoke with Ryan Manion. Here’s what she had to say.

Irish Philly: What does the award from the business chamber mean to you and your foundation? I mean, the foundation’s had some accolades. It’s time.

Ryan Manion: I think this is a really a cool offer or award to receive because most of the recognition that we get is not the military network, but through the military community. So we have a lot of great recognition through different branches of the military and different organizations that support military foundations.

To receive an award for that is a great recognition—to be appreciated for the work that we’re doing just kind of outside of this space. On a personal level, I know my dad and I were both kind of thrilled being from an Irish background and the heritage there. And so, you know, it just kind of brings everything full circle for us. So it’s a really cool honor and we’re super excited for it.

February 26, 2019 by Jeff Meade

News

Podcast: Interview with Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall

On March 1, Irish Ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall will be on hand to present the Irish American Business Chamber & Network‘s 2019 Ambassador’s Awards.

Recently, we interviewed him about the awards, the Business Chamber and the broader significance to Irish-American commerce. We also chatted about a wider range of issues—from the involvement of Irish-Americans in Irish government interests, such as United States immigration policies, to Brexit and the Northern Irish peace process.

Here’s what he had to say.

February 25, 2019 by Jeff Meade

Sports

In Glenside, Raising the Next Generation of Gaelic Athletes

On a recent Saturday night, the voices of more than 60 kids, many of them 10 or younger, echoed off the roof of a huge inflatable dome on the campus of Arcadia University in Glenside. Often with more enthusiasm than skill, they grabbed, tossed and kicked a white ball into mesh goals and through uprights up and down adjoining courts, with adult coaches shouting instructions and doling out liberal doses of encouragement.

At times, it seemed like chaos, but if you looked closely and paid attention, you could see that there was an organization underlying it all.

This was Gaelic football for kids, a primer on how to one day play the game in all seriousness. Serious, because they represent the future of Gaelic athletics in the Philadelphia area—and to a larger extent, the United States.

February 23, 2019 by Jeff Meade

How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Think of this week as a warm-up for March, which promises to be jam-packed. March 17—the big day itself—merits a “How to Be Irish in Philly” all by its own at this point, and the events keep pouring in.

It seems right to start with an event that can get you into the proper spirit for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It’s a parade fund-raiser Sunday at Heroes Hall FOP Lodge 5, 11630 Caroline Road in Northeast Philadelphia. The event starts at 3 p.m.

You’ll get a chance to meet this year’s grand marshal, Sean McMenamin, as well as the Ring of Honor.

If you’re going—and by all means, go—the fund-raiser promises to be one super-fun afternoon. It costs $40 at the door, and $20 for children 13 and under. (Checks to be made out to SPDOA.) For your money, you get music from local Irish bands and the Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipe Band, and some high-stepping from the Cummins School of Irish Dance. There will be baskets of cheer, too, and plenty of food and draft beer. You get a lot for your money, and you can help support one of the best causes we can think of.

February 22, 2019 by Jeff Meade

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