These young performers, some of whom are going to the All-Irelands in Sligo, will be performing at the AOH Irish Festival in Mont Clare.
AOH Notre Dame Division 1 in Bridgeport calls its annual 3-Day festival the region’s “best-kept secret.” Consider the secret out.
Held at Saint Michael’s Picnic Grove in Mont Clare, it features lots of music (including some of the remarkable local kids heading to the All-Irelands in Sligo this year), ceili dancing, Irish step dancers, kids’ activities, food, drink, and vendors. And it’s a bargain—a three-day pass only costs $15. Proceeds from the event go to AOH charities. It’s going to be a beautiful summer weekend—get out there. There’s information and a map on our calendar.
On Saturday, brush up on your Irish at the Satharn na nGael, an immersion in the Irish language at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street in Philadelphia. Seriously, slainte and pog ma thoin shouldn’t be the only Irish you know.
You can catch Timlin and Kane at Katherine Rooney’s in Wilmington on Saturday night. We’re going to head down there one of these weekends—we hear it’s a blast.
Also on Saturday night, The John Byrne Band is taking its Pogues show to the Ardmore Music Hall with their friends, No Irish Need Apply. And Jamison will be at Casey’s at 3rd and New York in North Wildwood.
On Sunday, harpist Ellen Tepper will play a concert at The Art of It, 315 York Road, Jenkintown, where you can also see her beautiful “stained glass” Celtic windows and whimsical sculpted dragons.
On Thursday, “The Toughest Boy in Philadelphia,” a play based on the true story of Whistling Jack McConnell, a local Irish mobster of the ‘20s who kept a strange secret, debuts at the Luna Theater.
In Camden on Thursday, the Riversharks celebrate Irish heritage night with music, dancing, and food. Check out our calendar for the password for discounted tickets.
Singer Oliver will be at McShea’s in Narberth on Thursday night.
On Friday, The Rosenbach Museum, which has an original, handwritten copy of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” launches its Bloomsday celebration of the book with a dinner fundraiser at the Trinity Center for Urban Life in Philadelphia. Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson will attend.
Jamison will again be “downashore,” this time at Keenan’s in North Wildwood on Friday night.
You have until Saturday, June 14, to brush up on your Ulysses. Also part of the Bloomsday Festival (Bloomsday itself is Monday, June 16, the very day Leopold Bloom began his peregrinations around Dublin in “Ulysses”) is a pub quiz at Fergie’s Pub on Sansom Street. (Owner Fergus Carey is a Bloom aficionado and often a reader on Bloomsday.)
Also coming up: A musical fundraiser on Sunday, June 15, to raise money for the last excavation of the Duffy’s Cut area, where 50 more Irish immigrants are believed to be buried in a mass grave. It’s Father’s Day, so consider taking your dad for a delicious meal and some equally delicious music from the likes of John Byrne, Gabriel Donohue and Marian Makins, Paraic Keane, Gerry Timlin, and more.
