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Denise Foley

Music, News

Belfast Choir Coming to Philadelphia

Cappella Caeciliana

I have heard the Heavenly Host and it is 20 people from Belfast.

In their real lives, they’re bankers, priests, music teachers, insurance brokers and telecommunications workers. But when they sing, Cappella Caeciliana, Northern Ireland’s premier liturgical choir, will literally make you feel like you died and went to heaven.

They’re coming to the Philadelphia area the last week in April for two concerts, one at Villanova and the other at St. Malachy’s Church in Philadelphia, bringing 18 singers, a playlist of religious and Irish music, and a brand new composition by Neil Martin, who, as a musician, has played alongside Sinead O’Connor, Phil Coulter, Altan, and the Dubliners and records on Universal with his own West Ocean String Quartet.

Founded in Belfast in 1995 on the feast of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, Cappella Caeciliana specializes in liturgical music that’s largely gone from weekly worship. When was the last time you heard your church choir sing “Tantum Ergo?” Or “Ave Maria” in Latin? Or “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring?” Many younger Catholics will have to say, “Never.”

Choir member Phillip O’Rawe, who works for British Telecom, says the choir was started to “prevent that tradition from dying out.

“A lot of what we sing would rarely be heard at Mass because it’s a lot of Latin stuff from the 16th century and requires a reasonable advanced choir to sing it,” he says. “Although we do a wide range of music, including Irish music, from the 16th century till today. We just don’t sing secular music, except for the Irish stuff which we do for tours and concerts.”

When the choir was formed it was largely all Catholic. “It was started by three priests and a couple of other guys who roped in their friends,” O’Rawe says.

And those three priests? They’re “The Priests,” the break-out group made up of Fathers Eugene O’Hagan, Martin O’Hagan (they’re brothers), and David Delargy who have three CDs on Sony (one spent 13 weeks on the UK classical album charts) and can fill a concert hall the way many priests these days wish they could fill their pews.

Cappella Caeciliana is no slouch in the CD department either. They also have three, including Cantate Domino (2001), Sing for the Morning’s Joy (2005) and O Quam Gloriosum (2008), all available at CDBaby.com, where you can listen to excerpts of their music. The priests are on the CDs, but as  part of the choir. “If we had known [The Priests] were going to be famous we would have had them do some things as a trio and we could make a lot of money,” jokes O’Rawe, laughing. (The poverty, chastity, and obedience vows are still in place: the priests are hardly rock stars since they continue their parish work and fit their musical careers around daily Mass, baptisms, weddings and funerals.)

The choir members are not all Catholics anymore. “Over time we changed and spread the net wider to keep bringing new blood in,” says O’Rawe. “But everyone in the choir has a feeling for the music. A lot of the members have have grown up with the music and have sung in other choirs. It’s very much their own ethos and the underlying religious significance is important to them. I think if people believe what they’re singing, they’ll give a better expression of it.

“Not that we’re a bunch of holy Joes going around all day in prayer,” he adds quickly, laughing. “Still, we try not to have our pictures taken in pubs because it might get used in the wrong way!”

Having Protestants in the choir will likely be helpful when the choir sings choral evensong at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on April 29. “It’s Anglican and we’re used to Anglicans and the way they do psalms,” says O’Rawe. “They’re very much into chanting, which is more English style, while ours is a much more Italian style of singing.”

And being from Northern Ireland has had its perks. The concerts are free because the choir was able to get funding from both the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (via the UK National Lottery) and Culture Ireland, the Irish republic’s international arts program. The National Lottery made it possible for the choir to commission a new work from Neil Martin, “Exsultet,” a traditional Easter song of praise, to be premiered in Northern Ireland and on the US tour.

The only thing required to join Cappella Caecilia is the voice of an angel. When O’Rawe joined the choir at its inception, there were no auditions as there are now. Having an exceptional voice is vital: Except for the occasional organ accomaniement, the choir, as it name suggests, sing a cappella. “And there’s no hiding place in a choir of 20,” he points out.

Cappella Caecilia will perform at 7:30 PM on April 27 at Villanova University’s St. Thomas Church on the Villanova Church and at 7 PM on April 28 at St. Malachy’s Church, 1429 North 11th Street in Philadelphia. Both concerts are free.

 

April 20, 2011 by
Arts

The Roar of the Greasepaint

Actor Jared Michael Delaney, in character. Photo by Katie Reing.

Can six actors play 40 characters while wearing painted-on masks?

We’re about to find out. The Inis Nua Theatre Company’s production of the ground-breaking play, “Dublin by Lamplight,” opens on April 27 at Broad Street Ministry on the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia.

The play is set in 1904 when the King of England is paying a visit to Dublin where Republican sentiment is high and the atmosphere volatile. At the same time, a group of actors in the “Irish National Theatre of Ireland” are trying to put on a play called “The Wooing of Emer.” While the company producer is doing a little wooing himself—of a local rich woman who is leading protests against the British and whom he hopes will fund the play—his brother is gathering explosives to protest in his own way.

Inis Nua Artistic Director Tom Reing has been waiting a long time to bring the play to the US. He first saw it in 2004 when he was training at England’s Corn Exchange Theatre Company. Written by Michael West, whose “A Play on Two Chairs” was Inis Nua’s debut play, “Dublin by Lamplight” was directed at the Corn Exchange by Chicago-born Annie Ryan, who is also West’s wife. It wasn’t until Reing was able to get funding (and not by wooing any local rich women) that he was able to afford to produce a play with six actors. (And he’s not saving money by making them play 40 parts—it’s in the play.)

“It’s a dream come true for me,” Reing says. “This is the play that inspired me to start Inis Nua and we’re finally doing it.”

There’s more than a hint of Commedia dell’arte about “Dublin by Lamplight.” In the Italian style, the actors’ faces are painted to look like masks, so their characters and emotions are revealed instead by their voices, facial contortions and physical movements. It’s also true to Corn Exchange Theatre Company’s mantra, says Reing: “dancing on the razor’s edge between the grotesque, the heartfelt, and anything for a cheap gag.”

Funding for the play, which came from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, the Wyncote Foundation, the Charlotte Cushman Foundation and the Independence Foundation, also allowed Reing to bring in musician and composer John Lionarons to provide an original score.

“The music underscores the entire piece. It makes it feel like a silent move soundtrack but obviously we have dialogue,” Reing says.

Though Inis Nua’s season of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh plays are usually staged at the Adrienne Theatre on Sansom Street, “Dublin by Lamplight” will unfold in the Sunday school room of the Broad Street Ministry which now occupies the Chambers Wylie Presbyterian Church, a Gothic Revival Church built in 1901, right across from the Kimmel Center. The setting couldn’t be more apt.

“There are six archways on two floors where all the classrooms were and the center of the room where they used to have choir practice is what we’re using for the performance,” says Reing. “Since the play takes place in 1904, we’re getting a lot of mileage out of the setting. We knew we couldn’t use the Adrienne because the style needed depth and height. We use only one chair, our only set piece, with a backdrop. The physicality transforms the stage. There’s a lot of ambiance.”

And, like many Irish plays, it is “riotously funny,” Reing says, “and then at the very end. . .well, I’m not going to tell you.”

You won’t have to wait for it for too long. Preview night is April 26, and the play officially opens April 27 and runs till May 14. Tickets are $20, $25 and $30 and can be ordered online or by emailing the box office at boxoffice@inisnuatheatre.org.

The play stars Jared Michael Delaney, Mike Dees, Kevin Meehan, Charles Delmarcelle, Megan Belwar, and Sarah Van Auken. Makeup by Maggie Baker.

See more of makeup artist Maggie Baker’s magic here. Photos by Katie Reing. And go behind the scenes at Inis Nua’s blog.

April 15, 2011 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Siobhan Hughes leads the procession at Holy Cross Cemetery for the Easter Rising commemoration.

This weekend, the Bristol Riverside Theatre is present Late Nite Catechism 2, the return of “Sister,” who in LNC 1 was filling in for Father Murphy at his late night catechism class because he was attending his weekly poker game. Sister covers everything from Vatican to the afterlife to the “publics”—those unfortunate kids who didn’t go to Catholic School. In the sequel, Sister is instructing her class—that would be the audience—about the afterlife, including heaven, hell, purgatory and limbo. This one-nun play is as instructive as it is funny so even if you were a “public,”  it will probably do your soul good.

On Saturday, the California Celtic group Tempest—which only contains one Celt, fiddler Michael Mullen—will be bringing its high energy brand of modern folk rock with Norwegian influences (group leader Leif Sorbye is a native) to the stage at The Colonial Theatre. Opening for them is the popular local folk group, Full Frontal Folk.

On Sunday, we take a serious turn: Commemoration of the 1916 Irish Easter uprising that helped pave the way for an independent Irish state. The ceremonies take place at  Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon. The event starts with a procession to the grave of Fenian financier Joseph McGarrity, a Tyrone man and member of Clan na Gael, who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1892 where he became a successful businessman. There’s a social immediately after at the Galileo Club of Yeadon.

On Sunday evening, the group Belfast Connection is holding an EP release party at Brittingham’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Lafayette Hill where group members often played when they were part of the late great Paddy’s Well. Dancing is encouraged.

If you own a pub or work in one, you should consider signing up asap for the Irish Pubs Global Conference being held over three days at Philadelphia’s Crystal Tea Room. Dave Magrogan, founder of local pub phenom Kildare’s, is a guest speaker.

Coming up next week: NicGaviskey, a transatlantic trad band (members come from Ireland and the US—maybe they practice via Skype), will be appearing on stage at the Irish Center on Saturday, April 23,  thanks to the Philadelphia Ceili Group. You can listen to them online (try not to tap your toes and bounce in your seat too much) and check out their photos (they’re very cute!). If you think that’s a funny name for a band, read their names. See? Get it? It’s a nice pre-Easter concert and kids are welcome.

If you’re in Bethlehem on Saturday, stop in and hear one of our favorite local bands, RUNA, at the small, cozy Godfrey Daniels Coffee House. If you haven’t been to Bethlehem, you should go. Stop in for lunch or the musical traditional breakfast on Sunday morning at Granny McCarthy’s Tea Room on Main Street (attached to Donegal Square, a huge Celtic gift shop).

Also heading our way, Cappella Caeciliana, the premier liturgical choir in Northern Ireland, will give two free performances, one at Villanova (April 27)  and the other at St. Malachy’s Church in North Philadelphia (April 28), before they head to Washington, DC, to perform at the National Cathedral. We’ll have a story on them next week.

And we’re getting excited about the debut of “Dublin by Lamplight,” an ambitious play produced by the fearless Inis Nua Theatre Company, in which six people play more than 30 roles. The play is being staged in the Sunday School room of the Broad Street Ministry building, a 1901 Gothic Revival church where John Wanamaker used to worship, across the street from the Kimmel Center. Preview is April 26 and opening night April 27.

This week’s answer to the question–where will I find more information on these events?–is the same as it always is. All the details are on our calendar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 14, 2011 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish In Philly This Week

It's bingo afternoon at the Irish Immigration Center! Photo by iStockphoto.

This Saturday, you can combine some good-deed-doing with fun at the Eighth Annual Project Children fundraiser at Gloucester County AOH Richard T. Rossiter Memorial Hall in National Park, NJ. (It’s just over the bridge from Philadelphia.) The Broken Shillelaghs and O’Farrelly’s Whiskey will provide the music in support of this organization that brings children from Northern Ireland to the US for four weeks in the summer.

And while you’re in Jersey on Saturday, check out Enter the Haggis, a Canadian group with a huge local following, at the Appel Farm Arts & Music Center in Elmer. On Thursday, the Appel Farm is kicking off its annual June music festival at a free event at Fergie’s Pub on Sansom Street in Philadelphia with performers, giveaways, and drink specials. There will be buses leaving from Fergie’s to take festival goers to Elmer for the day-long event (featuring our own local phenoms, RUNA) on June 4. It’s never too early to celebrate.

Scots folk singer Archie Fisher and Canadian singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers are coming together in concert for Green Willow on Monday at the Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE.

On Wednesday, it’s Bingo! afternoon at the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia in Upper Darby. Bring your bingo markers and join in the fun.

Later in the afternoon, enjoy an “Afternoon of Irish-American Poetry” with Dr. Joseph Lennon of Villanova and Dr. Nathalie Anderson of Swarthmore at the Falvey Library on Villanova’s campus.

Beginner ceili dance classes, taught by local dance celebrity Rosemarie Timoney, are being held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside every Wednesday for the next 13 weeks. It’s open to anyone, 12 and up.

On Thursday, genealogist John McDevitt will be offering tips and advice for anyone looking for their Irish ancestors at the Irish Immigration Center. Ooops, adventures in grammar—you probably won’t find your Irish ancestors at the immigration center, but John will help you find them wherever else they may be.

Dublin alt-folk songwriters Kevin May and Mick Lynch of The Guggenheim Grotto will bring their own brand of folk-acoustic stylings to the World Café Live on Thursday.

On Friday, kick up your heels with The Shantys at the Gloucester County AOH Hall in National Park, NJ. That place is rockin’ this week.

Also on tap this week: The paintings of Irish T.C. Murphy at the Rowan Gallery in Philadelphia, and “The Pride of Parnell Street,” a Sebastian Barry play, on stage at ACT II Playhouse in Ambler.

One change to our calendar—the Jam for Japan scheduled for Saturday was cancelled because of flu. They’re going to reschedule when they get well.

Coming up next week—tax day! Boo! Think about celebrating it with the John Byrne Band and Citizens Band Radio at the Tin Angel on 2nd Street in Philadelphia. Or with the crazy Norwegian-Celtic group Tempest at The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, with their special guests, Full Frontal Folk, one of the area’s best folk groups. The Bristol Theatre is bringing Late Night Catechism II to the stage for those of you who missed Sister. And the Irish Pubs Global Conference is coming to Philly—but it’s only open to pub owners and staffs. Our own Dave Magrogan (founder of the Kildare’s empire) will be a speaker.

Later this month—Irish Night at the Reading Phillies, Fiddler Randal Bays and guitarist Davey Mathias, a visit from a celebrated Belfast choral group (we’ll have more on them later), and much, much more. Stay tuned! And read the calendar for all the details.

April 8, 2011 by
News, People

2011 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Crowned

With tears in her eyes, the 2011 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee, Beth Keeley, poses for photographers.

A 25-year-old writer from Philadelphia, Beth Keeley, was crowned the 2011 Rose of Tralee at a gala event Saturday night at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Delaware County.

Keeley, a graduate of Temple University who spent a semester abroad in Dublin, is web content coordinator/project manager at eCity Interactive, an online marketing and web design company in Philadelphia. While at Temple, Keeley lived in a community service themed dormitory and she and her house mates worked in homeless shelters, food kitchen, cleaning community parks and raising money for cancer research. She and her father host a radio show on Saturday mornings. Her Irish roots are in Donegal and Mayo.

She will travel to Portlaoise on June 3-6 for the Rose of Tralee Regional Final.

Three familiar faces to Irish immigrants—Pat Bonner, Frances Duffy, and Serena White—received the Mary O’Connor Spirit Award for their tireless work with the newly arrived at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby and with organizations such as Irish Northern Aid and Clan Na Gael.

CBS3 consumer reporter Jim Donovan was the host—and a very funny host, at that—and music was provided by Mary Beth Ryan and Friends. It was a special evening for Mary Beth Ryan—her mother is Mary O’Connor awardee and her 12-year-old daughter, Tara, was a Rose Petal, one of two programs for younger women and girls to become involved in the Rose of Tralee Program, which has a focus on community service and charity. The Philadelphia Rose participates in the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, does an annual food fundraiser around the Christmas holidays for a local food pantry and last year for the first time participated in Philly Clean-Up Day.

Along with 2010 Rose of Tralee Mairead Conley, there were five former Roses at the event, including Christine Frawley, the 2006 Rose, who was a judge.

It was a real family night, as you’ll see from our photos. And there wasn’t a soul there who wasn’t having a great time.

April 8, 2011 by
Music

A Photographic Visit to County Blackthorn

Blackthorn's new guitarist, Rob Dunleavy

Our roving photographer, Brian Mengini, spent a lot of time in March talking to and photographing the many Irish groups that came to Philly to help us celebrate St. Patrick’s Month. Some guys have all the luck.

Fortunately, he’s sharing some of his best photos with us at www.irishphiladelphia.com. This week, we get to see the fun he had at the Blackthorn concert at Springfield Country Club on St. Patrick’s Day. The photo on the right is of Rob Dunleavy, the newest member of this local phenom group that traces its roots to Ireland and Delaware County. Three years ago, Dunleavy, a certified public accountant who grew up in Delco,  gave up the other people’s money business for the crazy no-money life of a full-time musician (and part-time music teacher). He replaces longtime Blackthorn lead guitarist Seamus Kelleher, who has embarked on a solo career  but who will be guesting with Blackthorn occasionally.

The other members of the band are Delco’s finest–brothers Michael and John Boyce and button accordion player John McGroary–and Mike “Casba” O’Callaghan, the Buddy Rich-inspired drummer from Tralee in County Kerry.

Take a look at the fun they were having on St. Patrick’s Day in County Blackthorn, all captured by Brian Mengini.

April 1, 2011 by
News, People

Mary O’Connor Award Winners Announced

Mary O'Connor Awardee Serena White

This Saturday, the 2011 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee will be chosen at a gala event at the Springfield Country Club. The Philadelphia Rose of Tralee was established in 2002 as an official center of the International Rose of Tralee Festival, one of Ireland’s longest running regional festivals that has as its central focus the selection of the International Rose of Tralee, a young woman of Irish descent who is chosen, according to the International Rose of Tralee website, by the “indefinable quality that captures ‘the truth in her eyes,’” a reference to the song on which the Rose festival is based.

The original Rose of Tralee was a woman named Mary O’Connor, a woman of humble beginnings who fell in love with the wealthy son of her employer. She, wisely sensing that their union could never be because of their class difference, refused William Mulchinock’s offers of marriage. But it was a flase accusation of murder against her lover that tore them apart. He fled to India where he worked a a war correspondant. When he finally returned, it was on the day of Mary’s funeral. Though William Mulchinock married and had a family and emigrated to American during the famine years, he returned to Ireland to live again in Tralee and was buried next to Mary in Clogherbrien, County Kerry.

Three years ago, the Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Centre established a separate award given the night of the Rose Gala to a woman who embodies the proud spirit of Mary O’Connor. This year, the Mary O’Connor Spirit Award is being given to three women who have worked tirelessly for a variety of causes in the Irish community: Pat Bonner, Frances Duffy, and Serena White.

Sarah Conaghan, co-chair of the Philadelphia Rose of Tralee, provided these brief bios of this year’s winners:

 

Pat Bonner and Frances Duffy: Still activists!

Patricia (Pat) Noone Bonner, was born the 5th oldest of seven children (5 girls and 2 boys) and was raised in Philadelphia where she still lives today.  Her later school years were spent in the old Good Shepherd Parish and graduated in 1958 from West Catholic High School for Girls.

Pat’s first trip to Ireland was three months long.  She and her father sailed to Ireland aboard the USS America in 1959.   Her family roots are in County Mayo, specifically Ballina.

In 1964, Pat married Knute (Phillip, Sr.) Bonner and are the proud parents of eight children: Patrick, Mary Beth (she and her band provide the entertainment for the Philadelphia Rose Gala), Phillip, Jr., Sean, Seamus, Erin, Brigid and Deidre.  Currently, they have seven grandchildren and one more on the way!

Pat is still very active with groups that promote the reunification of Ireland such as Clan na Gael, Irish Northern Aid and the Federation of Irish American Societies.  Like many strong women through out history, it’s not the big dramatic things that have made a difference in people’s lives but the small and steady efforts of their tireless abundant devotion; this would sum up  Pat.  With her father, Martin Noone, who was a proud soldier of the East Mayo Brigade, Republicanism and the rights of Irish Soldiers has been instilled in her from an early age.   She doesn’t just talk the talk but walks the walk.  Not only would you see Pat and her husband Knute attending almost every Irish function in the area for over the past 40 years or more, they would have been volunteering.  A number of years ago Pat started the Philadelphia area branch of the Irish Political Prisoners Children’s Holiday program when she learned that children of political prisoners were not given the opportunity to enjoy a holiday in the United States.  Through her long standing friendship of over thirty years with the family of Tom Conaghan, founder of the Irish Immigration and Pastoral Center in Upper Darby, Pat began volunteering in 2001. As she would say “I’m only doing my father’s business!”

Frances O’Donnell Duffy was born on September 20 and raised in the Germantown section of Philadelphia by Irish immigrant parents, James and Bridget O’Donnell from Letterkenny and Creeslough, County Donegal, who instilled a great love for her Irish ancestry.  Living in a very Irish neighborhood she had many friends with the same family background, and she and her friends enjoyed going to dances all over the city.  It was at one of these functions that she met Daniel Duffy from Derry City, County Derry.

On August 2, 1958, Dan and Frances married and settled in Collingdale, PA. With moves to Germantown and West Philadelphia, they eventually settled in Upper Darby where they raised their four children, Mary Frances, Theresa, Danny and Maureen, instilling the same value and love of Irish ancestry in their own children.

Along with her husband, she became a member of the Derry Society in 1970 holding several offices including recording and financial secretary as well as treasurer.  While a member of the Derry Society she worked on committees that brought several youth groups from Derry with the focus on arranging events and housing with families in the Philadelphia area, housing many in the Duffy household.  The Duffy house saw many visitors from individuals such as Northern Irish political leader John Hume to the Doire Colmcille Minor Football Team.  You never knew who you would find at the dinner table or sleeping on the living room floor. It didn’t matter –Frances always made them feel welcome.  Over the years the Derry Society disbanded, but in 2009 Frances played an integral part in bringing it back to life. On May 1, the Derry Society will hold its second annual Derry Society Social at the Irish Center in Philadelphia.

Frances and her husband were involved with many of the Irish societies and were members of the Irish Center and the Federation of Irish American Societies where Frances held the office of recording secretary and is currently the treasurer.

They were members of Irish Northern Aid from its formation in the early ‘70s working toward a united Ireland.  Frances is still a member of Irish Northern Aid.

On December 23,, 1975, Daniel Duffy was indicted by a federal Grand Jury which charged him with conspiracy to ship weapons to Ireland in the fight for Irish freedom from British rule.  Frances showed great strength as she stood by her husband during this time.  As a result she returned to the work force to help support her family.  From May until July of 1976 she attended the trial in the afternoons while working in the mornings.  When the trial was over and her husband was acquitted,  she enjoyed being back in the work force and she remained in her position at Merrill Lynch for 28 years.  She started as a PBX operator and worked her way up to become assistant to administrative manager and ended her career at Merrill as the main administrative support person for one of the firm’s most productive management teams.

In 2004, she retired and continued in supporting the Irish community by volunteering at the Irish Immigration and Pastoral Center in Upper Darby where she assisted by fielding phone calls and walk-ins for such things as Irish citizenship for Irish Americans, helping individuals with the forms to renew their passport, green card applications and filling out of forms for American citizenship.  One of her most successful and rewarding accomplishments at the Center was the formation of the “Senior Luncheon Group”.  Along with Mary and Sarah Conaghan, she worked to contact a group of senior Irish Immigrants and those of Irish American descent to gather at the Immigration Center on Wednesday for lunch and an afternoon of social interaction.   After 8 ½ years, she left the Immigration Center.

She is still an active member of the Derry Society, Clan na Gael, and LAOH Trinity division where she holds the post of “Freedom for Ireland” representative.

Serena White arrived into the High (maiden name) family as Alicia Serena just after the start of World War II.  Her family moved to Drexel Hill in 1953.  Except for a year away, she has lived in the same home for more than 57 years.  Serena’s mother, a Bolger, Kinsella, Reilly, is her Irish connection and their roots go back to counties Carlow and Cavan in Ireland.

Serena attended Archbishop Prendergast High School and was a proud member Prendie’s first graduating class.  After high school, she taught third grade at St. Joseph’s in Collingdale, while attending Immaculata College.  Then she went to work for Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania (now Verizon).  During her 33 plus years at “Ma Bell”, Serena was part of the external affairs department. During her last eighteen months there, she worked in Harrisburg where she managed the special services group.  When Serena retired in 1994, she was working and interacting with 38 independent telephone companies in Pennsylvania.

In 1976, Serena married and became a Mom to her 20-month-old stepson on the same day.  Since her son had special needs, she joined a parent advocacy group that negotiated with schools and health professionals to get children the services they needed.  Also part of Serena’s work was representing parents’ views at the vounty level and with the Pennsylvania Department of Education in Harrisburg, where she was the first parent Representative for the statewide Student Assistance Program.

In 2000, Serena met Father Gerry Burns.  He asked her to do him a favor and the rest is history!  Serena spent ten years with Tom Conaghan, Fran and Pat helping the Irish and Irish Americans at The Irish Immigration and Pastoral Center.  Currently she devotes time to LAOH, Trinity division 4, where she has been a charter member since 1998.  Serena also serves as 2nd Vice-President for the Federation of Irish American Societies, (including the Commodore John Barry USN Association), and is the National Secretary of Tar Anall America – a program that supports former Irish political prisoners and their families.

Serena has two beautiful and loving grandchildren who live with her.  Her grand­daughter Alicia is a 16-year-old veteran Rose Petal in the Rose of Tralee pageant, and grandson Paul is a 13-year-old first time escort.

 

 

 

April 1, 2011 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

Dubliner Bram Stoker on a Romanian stamp.

There is absolutely nothing Irish going on this week.

Wait for it.

April Fool!

Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s what’s really going on, starting this weekend.

Rose of Tralee! The 10th annual Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Selection night is Saturday, April 2, at the Springfield Country Club. A new Rose will be chosen and last year’s winner, Mairead Conley, will give up her crown. The chosen one will compete this August at the annual Rose of Tralee Festival in Tralee, County Kerry. This year’s Mary O’Connor Spirit Award, given by the Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Centre, will be shared by three local women, Pat Bonner, Frances Duffy, and Serena White.

Sebastian Barry’s play, “The Pride of Parnell Street,” continues at Act II Playhouse in Ambler.

Also on a run are the paintings of Irish artist T.C. Murphy at Colm Rowan Fine Art on South 10th Street in Philadelphia. This is Murphy’s second show in the US of his modern works that combine spirals, circles, pyramids, coils and waves on a palette of primary colors. The show starts on Sunday and runs through the end of April.

On Sunday, the Rosenbach Museum and Library has a special program called “James Joyce and Irish Authors” which will feature readings from Joyce’s “Ulysses” and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” and other Irish writers. (You didn’t know Abraham “Bram” Stoker was Irish, did you? He was a Dubliner and his day job was acting as personal assistant to then famous actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London which Irving owned. Apparently, that wasn’t enough work for Stoker—he began writing short stories and novels of which “Dracula” is his most famous.  He was in essence the Stephen King of his day; most of his stories and novels fall into the horror genre. Stoker had a newspaper background. He was also a theater critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which is how he met Irving who hired him away. Oddly enough, Stoker the Dubliner has a Pennsylvania connection—the original manuscript of Dracula, thought to be lost, was found in the early 1980s in a  barn in northwestern Pennsylvania.)

Bonus: The Rosenbach has an original manuscript of “Ulysses” written in Joyce’s hand and Bram Stoker’s notes and outlines for “Dracula” as well as other Irish manuscripts that will be available for viewing. It’s like being in the presence of greatness. Just don’t touch.

The Rosenbach is the center of all things Joyce in the Philadelphia area. Every year on June 16, the Rosenbach hosts a day-long Bloomsday celebration to commemorate the day Leopold Bloom, Joyce’s “Ulysses” protaganist, spent wandering the streets of Dublin. Local actors and politicians – pardon us if that sounds redundant—read passages from the book from morning till night.

If you’re at the Rosenbach, check out its latest Joyce exhibition—“Exile Among Expats: James Joyce in Paris.” It’s a multi-media exhibition that includes pages from Joyce’s Ulysses, artist Man Ray’s portrait of Joyce, selection from fellow ex-pat and poet Ezra Pound’s “Island of Paris” report in “The Dial,” a literary magazine, and a first edition of “Ulysses” smuggled out of Paris into the US in 1922. (After it was serialized in the US magazine “The Little Review,” the book was banned in the US as obscene, hence the need to smuggle it in.)

On Tuesday, Celtic Woman’s Orla Fallon, now a solo act, will be appearing at the World Café Live on Tuesday night. A singer and harper from Knockananna, Ireland, she, like her Celtic Woman colleagues, is a major attraction on PBS.

We’re filling up the calendar for April and there’s some fun stuff on the way. Check it out.

April 1, 2011 by