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Denise Foley
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Irish dancers at the Phillies' Irish Heritage Night--expect more of same in Camden this week.
I love how creative the Irish are about raising money. This Saturday, the folks at McShea’s Bar and Restaurant in Narberth are hoping you’ll bet on the horses. They’re holding a fundraiser for the Beacon Lodge, a Lions Club charity and camp for adults and children with special needs, that they’re calling “McShea’s Summer Derby.” It features “10 races and cheeky narration from the British Isles” and it will be held mid-afternoon at the pub. Sounds like fun for a good cause.
And on a serious note: The Friends of Irish Freedom, an organization that supports Republican political prisoners and their families (no, not the GOP Republicans), is having an informational meeting at the William Way Community Center on Spruce Street in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon from 3-5 PM.
For you shore goers, Jamison is performing at Shenanigans in Sea Isle City on Sunday night. They’ll be back there again on Sunday, August 26.
Get out of work early on Tuesday so you can see some team go up against the River Sharks of Camden at Campbell’s Field in the city across the Delaware from Philly. It doesn’t matter what team it is—it’s Irish Heritage Night, so there will be pregame Irish dance performances, food, and music. Plus, it’s Dollar Tuesday, so some food and drink is just a buck. See our calendar for special codes that will get you discounted tickets. You don’t need to prove that you’re Irish.
Don’t forget two great upcoming events: On Labor Day weekend, GAA players will be descending on Philadelphia from all over North America for the National Championships in football, hurling, and camogie to be held at Pennypack Park at the Riverview Fields in Northeast Philadelphia. Tickets for the entire weekend are only $45 and there will be action on five fields, plus some tasty Irish food and drink.
And the Philadelphia Ceili Group is holding its annual festival of Irish music and dance (its 38th), with special guests the legendary group DeDannan and piper Paddy Keenan giving a concert on Saturday night, September 8. On September 6, Galway’s Gabriel Donohue hosts the annual singers’ night, and on Friday, Irish folk singer Sean Tyrell brings his one-man show, “Who Killed James Joyce,” to the Irish Center, which is also hosting a ceili with live music by the McGillians and Friends, the region’s best ceili band.
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Football at Dougherty.
By Peter McDermott
Philadelphia is looking forward to hosting the North American County Gaelic Athletic Championship Finals this coming Labor Day weekend; Friday, August 31 through Sunday, September 2 in Pennypack Park, 7777 State Road, Philadelphia.
The venue is located along the banks of the Delaware River in the Northeast section of the city. Gaels from all over North America–stretching from Toronto to Texas, Vancouver to Virginia, Denver to D.C., San Francisco to Seattle, and Boston to the Big Apple–will converge on the City of Brotherly Love. George Washington led his troops across this same Delaware River into battle with the Hessians in 1776. Now 236 years later, we will see captains leading their respective clubs into action in pursuit of the North American medals and trophies.
Many of the teams are still in divisional championship contests, so the list of teams will be forthcoming when results are in.
There will be five fields of non-stop action, with the women participating in camogie and Gaelic football, and the men in Gaelic football and hurling. From the early hours of the morning to early evening, the playoff brackets will wind down to the finals, which take place on Sunday. Don’t miss the quarter- and semi-finals throughout Friday and Saturday–some great rivalries will be re-ignited. Shield competitions will be held in select competitions for clubs which are eliminated.
Attendees can enjoy a Taste of Philly while cheering on their favorite teams. Jim’s Steaks, serving up Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia for over 70 years, will be on-site. We will also have breakfast sandwiches, Irish breakfast, Irish scones, and coffee and tea to start your day. Burgers, chicken fingers, sausages, chicken curry, and chips will also be available. Wash it down with an energy drink, a stout, or a lager.
Take a break from the action and stop over at the O’Neills Apparel Tent where you can get the best gear straight from the Emerald Isle. O’Neills have been outfitting clubs and counties worldwide since 1918, and have been sponsors of the North American G.A.A. for a decade.
Most participants and supporters will be staying at the Sheraton of Downtown Philadelphia, in Center City, easily accessible to the Vine Street Expressway, and Interstate 95; just 15 minutes to the playoff pitches.
Tickets to the Event are available at a daily rate ($15 Friday, $20 on Saturday and Sunday) or a discounted weekend pass ($45). Children age 17 and under are admitted free.
Bus transportation will be provided, free of charge, from the hotel(s) to the fields. Regular schedules will be available and posted at the fields and the hotel(s).
For you out-of-towners: Unwind at nearby Irish restaurants and pubs. In the Northern Liberties section, along Spring Garden, you will find Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub, three floors of fun with music and libations, late into the night. Downtown, across from Love Park, is Tír Na nÓg Irish Bar & Grill. Live music and dancing, coupled with a staff that wrote the book on debauchery. Additional venues will be profiled, closer to that weekend.
Updates of the official schedule are available on the North American G.A.A. website (www.NorthAmericanGAA.com). Also, links, and images of the schedule will be provided on the Philadelphia G.A.A. website .
Friday, August 31 • Schedule
Saturday, September 1 • Schedule
All proceeds will benefit the new GAA sports complex in Limerick, PA, which, when completed, will have two full-sized pitches, a clubhouse with offices and a function room, and locker rooms– a dream finally realized for Gaels throughout Philadelphia.
Check out this video about the new Irish Sports Complex coming to Limerick.
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Meghan Davis, the 2012 International Mary from Dungloe
If you believe in that kind of thing, it had to be destiny.
When Meghan Davis, 26, of Norristown, the reigning Philadelphia Mary from Dungloe, sat on the stage in the little town in the Rosses in Donegal a few weeks ago, her borrowed Celtic harp resting on her shoulder, she was the only contestant in the International Mary from Dungloe pageant who had been there before.
Except that the last time was 22 years ago, she was four, and the contestant she was watching was her aunt, then the Wilkes Barre Mary from Dungloe. “That’s when I saw harps for the first time and from then on I begged my parents, ‘I want to play harp, I want to play harp,’” recalls the young woman, a performer, church musician, and music teacher. “It had to come full circle.”
In 1999, her aunt came home with a wonderful experience, in 2012 Davis came home with that and a sash and a crown. She was chosen from among 10 contestants from Ireland, the US, Northern Ireland, and Scotland to be the 2012 International Mary from Dungloe. She is the second Philadelphia contestant to win in the last few years. Katie Armstrong, a neonatal intensive care nurse from Lansdale, was the 2005 international Mary.
But Davis also came home with something special in 1999—that burning desire to play the harp. “But in Wilkes Barre, where I grew up, there were no teachers whatsoever,” says Davis. “When I was nine years old, my parents looked all around and couldn’t find anybody. Then, at a summer music camp, I met a teacher who was studying at Julliard. We really made a connection.”
Her parents, Dwight and Molly Davis, finally found a teacher in Allentown which about an hour drive from Wilkes Barre. “They told me I could either take lessons once a week in Allentown or with my camp teacher in New York every other week. So, every other week, they drove me to New York.”
She fell in love with the harp in Dungloe, and it’s a love affair that’s lasted. She eventually got two bachelor of music degrees, one in harp performance, the other in vocal performance, from the prestigious Peabody Conservatory at the Johns Hopkins University and The Boyer College of Music at Temple, which is what brought her to Philadelphia. She also has a master’s in vocal performance from Temple.
She knew she wanted to play and sing in the Dungloe competition, but there was a problem. She couldn’t find a pedal harp—the six-foot, seven-pedal harp she plays—anywhere in Ireland. “I even had a harpist acquaintance from the New York Philharmonic looking or me and she couldn’t find one,” says Davis.
Since a Celtic harp was easier to locate, Davis rented one here and taught herself to play it. “I also taught myself the song I wanted to do, which was ‘Ave Maria,” the song I sang at my grandmother’s funeral.”
Davis had a close relationship with her grandmother, Mary Monaghan, whose parents came from Mayo. In fact, during the pageant, she wore a small locket that her grandmother had given her when she went away to college. “For luck, or the girl who has it all,” her grandmother told her. “It had been mine when I was a baby and I had bitten it so it had little bite marks on it,” says Davis, laughing.
An American in nearby Gweedore, Kayla Reed, lent Davis a Celtic harp for her performance in Dungloe. “My grandmother passed away in 2009 and she told me she would always be there when I perform. Before I went on I was talking to her all day, ‘Be there for me.’ I know she was,” Davis says.
The harp obsession that started in Dungloe and helped Davis win her title has been advantageous in other ways, she says. “I was so lucky that I chose the harp, as it turns out. I went to grad school with some amazing singers. A lot of them are waitressing and going into real estate and not pursuing the careers they wanted in music. The harp has allowed me to set myself apart. Performers who play the harp and sing are few and far between. It’s been truly a gift. If I hadn’t had the harp I might be in a different career.”
She also plays piano and sings, which made her a perfect fit for the Philly-based Irish group, No Irish Need Apply, whose members include several current and retired policemen. “They’ve become like part of my family,” says Meghan. “Like uncles. In fact, one of them writes original songs and he told me he’s writing a new one: ‘Meghan has four uncles.’”
She’ll be performing with them—though perhaps not that song–on September 2 at Brittingham’s Irish Pub in Lafayette Hill at its annual Irish Festival and later in the month at Irish Weekend in N. Wildwood.
She expects this year to be a whirlwind of events. She’ll be in St. Patrick’s Day Parades up and down the east coast, at special events, and “anywhere the Donegal Association wants me to be,” she says. Philadelphia’s Donegal Association sponsors the Mary from Dungloe event in the city.
And she’s also going shopping. “They gave me a 1,000 Euro prize when I won the title,” says Davis. “I think I’m going to use it to buy my own Celtic harp!”
Click here to see some photos from the 2012 pageant in Dungloe.
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Tom Keenan
She’s been president of just about every Irish organization she’s joined. He’s taken photos of nearly everyone in the Irish community in Philadelphia. Though she’s a relative newcomer to Philadelphia, she has become the darling of “the ladies who lunch” at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby.
They’re the latest inductees to the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame, which will honor them on November 11 at the Irish Center in Philadelphia.
Kathy McGee Burns
Kathy McGee Burns has been involved with the Irish community since 1986. She is a member of many organizations including the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association (she is outgoing president); the Irish Memorial, Brehon Law Society, Irish Society, Claddagh Fund, Irish Anti-Defamation Federation, Inspirational Irish Women (she was a first year honoree), and the Donegal Association (where she also served as president). She the president of the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame and is active in supporting St. Malachy’s School in Philadelphia. Father John McNamee, who helped turn St. Malachy’s into a “beacon of hope,” was one of the many who nominated her to the Hall of Fame. Married to Michael Burns, Kathy is the mother of nine children.
If you’ve been to any Irish event in the region, you saw Tommy Keenan, the longtime photographer for the Irish Edition, the newspaper that has covered the Irish community for decades. Bob Gessler, founder of the Hibernian Hunger Project, wrote in his nomination letter: “With little fanfare or fuss, Tom Keenan has at one time or another, made us all part of history.” He has not only chronicled Philadelphia’s Irish history but he has supported many causes from sports to charity. Tom works as an Instructor at the Antonelli Institute for Art and Photography where he prides himself in being a mentor and adopted parent for hundreds of students. Tom is married to “ the love of his life, Jane” and has a son, Dylan.
Siobhan Lyons
Thirty of the “senior citizens” who are regulars at Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia nominated executive director Siobhan Lyons. Declan Forde, in his letter, wrote: “We have chosen Siobhan because she is a hard working person, 7 days, 24 hours a day. She works for the benefit of we Irish who may need help with such questions as health, finances and insurance.” Siobhan is also involved with the Brehon Society, the Irish American Business Chamber and Network, and the Irish Network (In-Philly). Born in Dublin, she is the daughter of a
diplomat and majored in Arabic.
For tickets to this event, please call Sean McMenamin 215-850-0518 or Maureen Saxon 610-909-0054.
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The Glengarry Bhoys want to see you at Sellersville Theatre.
Celtic Weekend, the raucous celebration of the Glagow Celtics, who are facing Real Spain on Saturday at The Linc, continues through the weekend with music (Charlie and the Bhoys from Glasgow and Raymond Coleman and Oliver McElhone from Ireland and Philly); strange sports (poolball at Fado); breakfast at The Plough and Fado; and a Celtic dance party (at Fado).
Also continuing: Musikfest in Bethlehem, featuring Celtic acts such as Burning Bridget Cleary, Fighting Jamesons, and The Prodigals.
On Saturday, meet 11-year-old Corey Hughes, who came to the US from Ireland with his family in 2010 and is facing a mountain of medical expenses resulting from a rare form of cancer called synovial sarcoma. His friends are holding a fundraising beef and beer at The District Council 21 Painters and Allied Trade Unions Hall in Philadelphia. Rusty Bass and Raymond Coleman will provide the music.
Also on Saturday, the Glengarry Bhoys from Ontario will be presenting their blend of rock and Celtic styles at the Sellersville Theatre.
If you’re down the shore, catch Jamison at Shenanigans in Sea Isle City on Saturday night.
On Wednesday, the Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums will give a free concert in a beautiful location–the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Park. Come early and bring your own lawn chair, snacks and drinks.
On Thursday, a freebie from Blackthorn: a concert in Rose Tree Park in Media. It’s an annual event that was washed out last year by torrential rain. In Bethlehem, remarkable fiddler Tony DeMarco will be giving workshops and participating in the session at McCarthy’s Tea Room in Bethlehem. See our calendar for details on how you can learn from the best.
It’s a few weeks away, but here’s an early call to mark your calendars for the 38th Annual Philadelphia Ceili Group Irish Music and Dance Festival, September 6-8, at the Irish Center in Philadelphia. It’s a doozy this year, starting off with singer’s night on Thursday hosted by singer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Donohue, a ceili dance on Friday night featuring the McGillians and Friends, one of the foremost ceili bands in the region as well as Sean Tyrell’s one-man show, “Who Killed James Joyce” for you non-dancers; and on Saturday, a host of workshops including singing in both Irish and English, Irish language, genealogy; St. Brigid’s Cross making and programs for children followed by an evening concert with world class Irish piper Paddy Keenan and De Dannan, featuring the lovely singing voice of Eleanor Shanley and some of the founding members of this Galway-based band.
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Emily Safko and her harp are going to Ireland to compete in the All-Irelands.
This is shaping up to be one major Irish week in the Philly region, thanks to the Celtic lineup at Bethlehem’s annual Musikfest and the visit from the Glasgow Celtics on Saturday, August 11.
It all starts on Friday night with the hard-driving Tartanic at Musikfest. Most but not all of the Celtic acts are appearing at what they’re calling the Pennsylvania Lottery Volksplatz. It’s really Johnston Park, Conestoga Street and W. Union Boulevard in the Christmas city. Tartanic returns to the same stage on Saturday night as well.
On Sunday, Lazy Lanigan’s Publick House in Sewell, NJ, is the scene of a ceili to benefit Haley Richardson and Emily Safko, two pint-sized Irish music phenoms, who will be competing again in the All-Irelands this year. Haley is the four-time under 12 Mid-Atlantic fiddle champ, while Emily is the two-time under 12 Mid-Atlantic harp slow air champ. And they are both as cute as buttons. Lazy Lanigan’s is donating 10 percent of its profits to the girls.
Also on Sunday, the Philly GAA’s Notre Dames ladies football club is sponsoring a benefit at Daly’s Pub in Philadelphia for fellow footballer Alisha Jordan. Jordan, who came from County Meath, Ireland to New York this summer to compete in the GAA games, was attacked and seriously injured as she and her friend walked to their home in the Bronx on July 14. Jordan suffered a broken bone in her skull, a broken nose, broken teeth and lacerations, including a cut on her face that took 15 stitches to close. Proceeds will help pay for reconstructive surgery and a metal plate to hold her skull together. The young woman has no insurance.
The fundraiser will follow a critical matchup between the Dames and the national champs, the Mairead Farrells, at Cardinal Dougherty fields on Sunday afternoon. The Dames are two up in a best-of-five for top berth in the nationals, which are in Philly this year over the Labor Day weekend.
Catch singer-comic Seamus Kennedy on Tuesday at Musikfest—he has two shows.
Carbon Leaf, a five-piece indie rock band with a Celtic flair from Richmond, VA, will be doing a Tuesday evening concert at Musikfest.
On Wednesday, catch the Killdares, a Texas-based group known for its alternative Celtic rock, at Musikfest.
And on Friday, you can see Philly’s own John Byrne Band at 5 PM, as well as the Lehigh Valley’s band, Amarach in the afternoon.
On Friday, Celtic Weekend starts in Philadelphia. There’s a host of events planned to herald the soccer match between Glasgow Celtic and Real Madrid scheduled for The Linc on Saturday. An estimated 20,000 Celtic fans are expected to descend on Philly for the weekend festivities, which includes concerts by Glasgow-based band, Charlie and the Bhoys, as well as local favorites Raymond Coleman and Olive McElhone.
Most of the activities are centered at The Plough and the Stars at Second and Chestnut streets and Fado Irish Pub on Locust. There’s breakfast every morning at both pubs and music every night. Fado has two poolball tournaments planned (think pool, but you’re the cue and it’s soccer, not billiard balls), as well as late night dance parties.
Freelance journalist Phil MacGiolla Bhain, who exposed and brought down the Celtic’s archrivals, The Rangers, for tax evasion, will be speaking on Friday afternoon at Fado. There will be a blessing and a huddle on Friday night at the Irish Memorial at Front and Chestnut Streets. Father Bryce Byczynski of the Marist Brothers in New Jersey will offer a blessing. (The Celtic team was founded in Glasgow by a Marist brother in 1888.)
Check out our calendar for all the details of Celtic Weekend and Celtic acts at Musikfest.
And mark your calendar for Saturday August 11 for a fundraiser for young Corey Hughes, who moved to the US from Ireland with his family in 2010. Corey was diagnosed the following year with a rare form of cancer that affects his knee. He is currently undergoing radiation to shrink the tumor so it can be surgically removed. His family needs help with medical expenses. The Beef and Beer will be held at the District Council 21 Painters and Allied Trade Union Hall on Southampton Road in Philadelphia. Raymond Coleman and Rusty Bass will be providing the music and there will be beaucoup de raffles and auctions.
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Glasgow Celtic fans in full voice.
Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly, Scottish football player
The legendary Bill Shankly never played for Glasgow Celtic, but he might have been talking about this 124-year-old football franchise, founded by a Catholic priest to occupy the Irish immigrants who settled in Scotland’s largest, most populous city.
Its rabid fans are a diaspora unto themselves. People like Seamus Cummins. Cummins, of Huntington Valley, is the former president of the Molly Maguires Celtic Supporters Club, which used to meet at Paddy Rooney’s Pub in Havertown. He became a fan by way of his father, whose father came from Derry, and his grandmother, who was one of those displaced Irish (from Donegal) who lived in Glasgow.
So when the Celtics announced they were coming to Philadelphia to face the Real Spain team on August 11 at Lincoln Financial Park, Cummins wanted to make the other Celtic fans comfortable in the City of Brotherly Love. All 20,000 of them.
That’s how many are expected to descend on the city from all over the world next weekend. That’s how many showed up to cheer on their team when they last played in Philadelphia in 2004—against Manchester United, itself no slouch in the fan department.
“We have Celtic supporters coming from China, South Korea, Ireland, the UK—the 60 Celtic supporters clubs in the US will be represented,” says Cummins, technology director for the Jenkintown School District and admin of a Celtic-themed website. “We have 30 coming from Houston and more than 100 from New York. It’s quite the atmosphere at the game.”
Now, if you’re imagining bleachers collapsing and rioting on the field, Cummins is reassuring. “Celtics fans are jovial, fun—we just like the craic,” he says. “When we went to the Europa League finals, 80,000 Celtics fans descended on Seville, Spain, and there was not one arrest.”
So there’s a lot of craic planned. With Glaswegian John Joe Devlin, bar manager at The Plough and the Stars in Chestnut Street, and Molly Coulter, manager at Fado Irish Pub on Locust (home to the Philadelphia Celtic Supporters Club), Cummins has scheduled an entire weekend of fun.
It stars with breakfast at the two restaurants, and at night, live music (including Charlie and the Bhoys, a group from Glasgow that traces its roots to Donegal), dance parties, and two rousing nights of poolball, called by Wired magazine “American’s next great barroom sport.” (Quick rundown: Players stand on a large pool table and kick or head soccer balls or points. Check out the video.)
A representative from the Marist Brothers in New Jersey, Bryce Byczynski will be on hand on Friday at 5 PM to offer a blessing at the Irish Memorial at Front and Chestnut. Freelance journalist Phil MacDiolla Bhain, author of “A Rebel Journalist,” will be at Fado earlier in the afternoon to talk about the story he broke that effectively eliminated the Celtics biggest rivals, the Glasgow-based Rangers, by revealing that they had not paid their taxes for 12 years. (A new Rangers team is in place, but to fans like Cummins, the rivalry has lost its luster for the moment.)
Popular local musicians, Raymond Coleman from County Tyrone, as well as Oliver McElhone from Derry, will also be performing for the Celtics fans.
Of course, the best craic will be Saturday for those holding tickets to the game at the Linc. If you enjoyed the version of “Fields of Athenry” sung by the Irish fans at the World Cup in Poland this year, you’ll like the musical entertainment in the stands, says Cummins. “You’ve never heard singing like this before,” he vows.
It won’t be Celtic Park in Glasgow (where the turf for the center circle of the pitch was laid originally by a Donegal man named Davitt and was made up of shamrocks from Donegal sod). But chances are, it will feel like it.
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They both need a playdate!
Mommies need playdates too, and now moms and their babies have a place to meet up—the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby.
Starting Thursday, Lamh Eile—Irish for “another hand”—opens for some baby socialization and mom talk. The group will meet every Thursday from 10 to noon, says Leslie Alcock, director of community programs at the center at 7 South Cedar Lane.
You can just drop in, or call Leslie for more information at 610-789-6355.
