Monthly Archives:

May 2021

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us, and it looks like one of the best places to be is at the Jersey shore. You’ll find music in a few other places, but the beach is the hot spot.

Friday, May 28

Starting at 7:30 p.m., Neil Mac Thiarnáin and Moira will perform at the Anglesea Pub, 116 West 1^st Avenue in North Wildwood, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Jamison Celtic Rock appears at The Wharf, 708 West Burk Avenue in Wildwood, from 8 to 11 p.m.

Saturday, May 29

It’s worth getting up a little early to hear one of the best in the business—County Kerry singer Mary Courtney, appearing on Facebook Live for the East Durham Irish Festival, presented by Irish Music Magazine. Her set begins at 9:39 a.m. All details here.

May 28, 2021 by Jeff Meade

Food & Drink

Bake Up a Springtime Quiche

What’s not to love about spring vegetables?

Everyone welcomes asparagus, spinach, and pencil-thin spring onions for salads, soups and side dishes, but I love them in cheese-filled tarts and quiche.

Make your own crust, use refrigerated or frozen pie crusts, prepared puff pastry, or make one with no crust at all.

All you need to complete your meal is a crisp salad, a great loaf of bread, and an equally great bottle of wine. Cheers!

May 28, 2021 by Margaret M. Johnson

How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly this Week

More live Irish tunes this week, and looking out into the not too distant future, one of the Jersey Shore’s great Irish events is back.

Here’s what’s up:

Friday, May 21

Singer-guitarist Seamus Kelleher is performing at Bucks County Brewery and Hewn Spirits starting at 5:30 p.m. Bucks County Brewery is at 31 Appletree Lane in Pipersville.

Jamison Celtic Rock takes the stage at Sweeney’s, 13639 Philmont Avenue in Philadelphia. It’ll be the last full band gig in Philly until the fall. The show starts at 7 p.m. Reservations recommended: (215) 677-3177.

May 21, 2021 by Jeff Meade

News, People

Irish Diaspora Center Hosts Mindfulness Event

It has been an incredibly difficult time for many, if not most of us. The covid-19 pandemic has triggered bouts of stress, anxiety and even depression for people who normally might not be subject to those mental health issues.

As we begin to emerge from the worst of the pandemic, maybe now is a particularly good time to take a candid self-assessment and explore ways to give our emotional health a boost.

The Irish Diaspora Center, working through its CHAT committee—it stands for Community Help Awareness and Trust—is hosting “Mindful in May,” an open-air event providing a day of opportunities to do just that.

May 21, 2021 by Jeff Meade

Arts

Pour a Pint and Drink in Joyce’s “Ulysses”

Next year James Joyce’s iconic novel Ulysses will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its publication. It is a book that is notoriously difficult to read for some. Currently, artist and educator Robert Berry is gearing up to teach an 18-week course on the novel called “A Pint of Ulysses.” The name is derived from the fact that each class comes out to be about the same price as a pint of Guinness.

“We intentionally made it just a very low cost, like 180 bucks for 18 weeks, and made it sort of the price of a couple of pints,” Berry says.

Anyone interested in taking the course can expect to hear from a wide range of guests.

“We want to extend that talk that we have in conversations in the classroom, out to a broader audience of people who are wondering about this book, but haven’t taken the class,” Berry says. “And to do that, I know a network of Joyce scholars and people who put on Bloomsday events, and just what I like to refer to as Joyce-heads, all over the world. And so I’ll have them in, in conversation with me in the class every Thursday.”

May 21, 2021 by Chris Kennedy

How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Plenty of Irish tunes this week, but there’s also an opportunity to catch some fast-moving Gaelic athletics. Nice to see the games again.

Friday, May 14

Jamison Celtic Rock, one of the bands we’re so happy to see picking up post-lockdown jobs, is playing at Tom N Jerry’s Sports Pub, 1006 MacDade Boulevard in Folsom, for Happy Hour tonight, starting at 6 p.m. The SideArm Band takes over after that, at 9:45 p.m.

Raymond Coleman appears tonight at Gaul & Co. Malthouse, 704 Huntingdon Pike in Rockledge, Montco, starting at 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 15

The Third Annual Liam Hegarty Memorial Cup takes place at the Line Road Fields in Malvern, starting at 6 p.m., featuring the Delco Gaels vs. Donegal. The cup is named after one of the Delaware Valley’s most beloved boosters of Gaelic athletics. He was a member of both clubs. You’ll need a covid waiver to attend.

May 14, 2021 by Jeff Meade

How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philadelphia This Week

We’re just a week into May, and events are popping up all over. Listen to live music, catch a Facebook Live concert by one of the planet’s best bands, or put your own musical talents to the test.

Here’s what’s on:

Friday, May 7

Seamus McGroary takes the First Friday stage at Henry James Saloon, 577 Jamestown Avenue in Philadelphia, from 6 to 9 p.m.

It’s also First Friday for Neil Mac Thiarnáin & Moira at the New Deck Tavern, 3408 Sansom Street in University City, starting at 6:30 p.m.

May 7, 2021 by Jeff Meade

People

Remembering Frank Hollingsworth

Frank Hollingsworth has been described as an “activist extraordinaire.” He passed away following a brief illness at the age of 81.

To say he will be missed is pure understatement—and not just by the Irish community, but by the countless other organization with which he was involved, from his beloved Lincoln High School Alumni Association to the Northeast Philadelphia Hall of Fame to the Glen Foerd on the Delaware historical site to the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame. Whatever his interest, Hollingsworth was in it all the way—always the inveterate volunteer.

That, says his life partner of 41 years Pat Smith, was just the way Frank Hollingsworth was built.

“He just always had an interest, the putting together of things, connecting to his history, to this person to that person to that place,” she says. “Finding people from his class, for example, he ran the reunion for his 50^thclass reunion. He found so many people, it was unbelievable. They had an amazing turnout. And then there’s been groups of them that have gotten together here and there a couple of times of year ever since.”

May 7, 2021 by Jeff Meade