Move over hot dogs, hamburgers, and steaks; make room for a whiskey-enhanced grilled lamb and delicious grilled tomatoes to go with it. With tomatoes coming into season in a big way, I think you’ll enjoy these new recipes to add to your grilling agenda for August and beyond. You’ll find these and similar recipes in my Favorite Flavors of Ireland cookbook…now BOGO, buy one get one free! To order signed copies, visit www.irishcook.com
It’s not a jam-packed week to be Irish, but what there is, well, it’s truly outstanding.
If you want to watch three of the best and fastest moving field sports in all of athletics—hurling, camogie and Gaelic football—check out the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Annual Continental Youth Championships this weekend at Greater Chester Valley Sports Complex, 37 Line Road in Malvern. (There is no parking at the fields or on Line Road. There is a satellite parking lot at East High School, 450 Ellis Lane, West Chester, with shuttle buses running every half hour.)
Philly is this year’s host for the massive event, with up to 25,000 kids from 4 to 18, and it’s billed as the “biggest tournament of Gaelic sports outside of Ireland.” We’ve been before, and we can’t argue.
This week features a few big fund-raisers, so it’s time to hit the ATM and be prepared to give generously.
On Saturday, there’s a benefit for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It takes place at Keenan’s North Wildwood, 113 Olde New Jersey Ave., North Wildwood, N.J., from 3 to 7 p.m. It costs $30 to get in, and includes domestic bottle beer, wine, food, and music provided by a DJ. Tickets will be available at the door. For details, contact Kathy Fanning at 267-237-2953.
Closer to home on the same day, the Commodore John Barry Arts and Cultural Center, otherwise known as the Irish Center, is hosting a fund-raising bash at J.D. McGillicuddy’s, 8919 West Chester Pike in Upper Darby. The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m.
For $25, you get light food, music and raffles. There will also be a special raffle for four tickets to the Carl Frampton-Emmanuel Dominguez fight on August 10.
The musicians of Jamison are motoring noisily through sound check at Curran’s Tacony on a steamy Friday night, getting ready to begin their show. Off in a corner that is only marginally quieter than the rest of the area around the bar is the band’s fiddler Alice Marie Quirk, the humidity making her long curly hair even curlier.
She has just arrived from a 4thof July gig at a retirement community—a pretty fair indication of how busy and versatile she is. Her sound check is just a few minutes away, but for now she is taking a few moments to tell her story—how she made the transition from classical viola to fiddle in a Celtic rock band.
It’s an incomplete transition because classical music remains an important part of her life, but for some time she has been a fixture on the Philly paddy rock scene.
Quirk—who just goes by the name “Alice Marie” because people tended to mistake “Quirk” for names like “Kirk” and unfailingly mispronounce it—has come a long way from her Bachelor of Arts degree in music, with a minor in theology, from Immaculata University and her teaching certification from Eastern. (She also taught music for a time in the Philadelphia School District.)
Summer doldrums may be setting in, but fear not. There are two big Irish fund-raisers coming up—both of them next Saturday, July 13, with one at the shore and the other in Upper Darby. So unless you’re prepared to drive like the wind up the AC Expressway (it’s been done, of course) you might not catch both.
We’ll start with the shore gig, a benefit for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Yes, it’s months till the next parade, with the bands, the floats and all the dudes wearing funny hats, but it’s always a good time to support the cause.
It’s at Keenan’s North Wildwood, 113 Olde New Jersey Ave., North Wildwood, N.J., from 3 to 7 p.m. It costs $30 to get in, and your entry fee gets you a lot—domestic bottle beer, wine, chow, and tunes by a DJ. Tickets will be available at the door. Details, contact Kathy Fanning at 267-237-2953. The shore’s a great place to be this time of year, so if you’re planning on a beach trip, don’t forget to check in.
The world of Irish music and dance is mourning the passing of the supremely gifted fiddler Eugene O’Donnell. News of his death came Friday, June 28, from his longtime musical partner, multi-instrumentalist and folklorist Mick Moloney.
In the Philadelphia area, he is best known for that partnership. He was also a founding member of the Philadelphia Ceili Group.
As a fiddler, he was renowned for his mastery of slow airs—although he certainly had a broad repertoire—but for many in this region, he was also known as one of the greatest step dancers ever to have taken to the floor.
According to Compass Records, for which he recorded, O’Donnell “began Irish dancing at the age of three and was the first Irish dancer ever to dance on television in London at the age of 12, all the while playing and perfecting Derry-style Irish fiddling. As a teen, O’Donnell won an unprecedented five consecutive All-Ireland dancing championships.”
O’Donnell arrived in Philadelphia from Derry in 1957. From there, it didn’t take long for him to begin sharing his many gifts.
Many recall him for his superb musical skills, but they also remember him as one of the finest, most inventive, and occasionally the most exacting of dance instructors.