Before Halloween meant going from house to house in costume demanding candy, it was Samhain (Sah-win), a Celtic festival that marked the end of the year and, most important, a time when the curtain between the living and the dead, the flesh and the spirit, grew thin enough to permit passage between them. Ancient Celts left food for their dead ancestors and participated in rituals to honor the dead and any protective spirits hovering nearby.
It’s a harvest festival, the remnants of which remain in our carving of pumpkins and bobbing for apples (does anyone really do that anymore?).
Today, it’s also a time for ghost stories. And there will stories aplenty on Friday, October 30 (traditional mischief night) at The Irish Center, when four storytellers weave some spooky tales starting at 7 PM. The Irish Center itself is reportedly haunted (see our story from 2009). Perhaps the ghost of the dining room will pull up a stool next to you at the bar and order a Jim Beam Ghost White whiskey. Please, let us know.
There’s a whole week of Irish to be before the night of the living dead.
Fiddler John Carty will be performing on Saturday at the Coateville Cultural Center in Coatesville after an appearance on Friday at the aforementioned Irish Center.
Also on Saturday, the annual intercollegiate Irish dance competition takes place again at Villanova University, starting at 11 AM. There will be an opportunity starting at 6 PM to see performances by all the dancers, including some local dance groups.
On Saturday night, catch Jamison at Tir na Nog in Cherry Hill.
On Sunday morning, parishoners, friends and family will help Father Ed Brady celebrate his 25th anniversary as a priest at his parish church, St. Anne’s, in Philadelphia, starting at 10:30 AM. Father Brady is chaplain for many Irish organizations, including The Irish Memorial and the Sons and Daughters of Derry.
On Thursday, October 29, hear Slainte—Jamison’s Frank Daly and CJ Mills—at Kildare’s Irish Pub in West Chester.
Along with ghost stories at the Irish Center on Friday, October 30, there’s a Halloween beef-and-beer fundraiser at Barnaby’s of America in Havertown, proceeds of which will go to funding the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. There will be prizes for the best costume.
Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster and her husband, noted fiddler Donell Leahy, will be on stage at the Sellersville Theatre on Friday night.
Jamison will be at Parx Casino in Bensalem that evening.
Make room in your calendar for the annual St. Malachy’s concert by Mick Moloney and his very talented friends at the exquisite church in North Philadelphia that was founded by the Sisters of Mercy and a group of Irish immigrants. Descendants of some of those immigrants remain major supporters of the church and school. That’s Sunday, November 1, starting at 2 PM.
