Denise Foley

Oisin MacDiarmada of Teada will be bringing Irish Christmas in America to the Philadelphia Irish Center.

Between a hefty dose of turkey and getting up at 3 AM to be first in line at Walmart, you’re all probably going to sleep through the weekend. But, seriously, if you wake up from your nap occasionally, consider being Irish by:

• Attending the 122nd Donegal Ball on Saturday night. Not only is Blackthorn playing (Blackthorn!), part of the evening is turned over to the selection of the next Mary from Dungloe from Philadelphia. The winner of this annual pageant will go to Dungloe, County Donegal, next summer (provided there still is an Ireland) to compete in the international event.
• Listening to the Sunday Irish radio shows on WTMR-800AM starting at 11 AM. Vince Gallagher and Marianne MacDonald will be launching their next appeal for funds to help pay for the shows, which have been a Delaware Valley tradition for many years. Consider whether you could be an advertiser for the shows, that reach thousands of people from all over the Philly area and New Jersey. If you have an Irish-themed business or are an Irish-themed person yourself, you may be able to reach your target audience via Irish radio.
• Sunday-brunching in Bethlehem at McCarthy’s tearoom which features a delicious menu and traditional Irish music.

And during the week:

On Tuesday three of Ireland’s top young novelists—Kevin Barry, Claire Kilroy and Paul Murray (longlisted for England’s 2010 Book Prize) will read from their recent works at Villanova University’s Falvey Library Lounge.

On Wednesday, the Brehon Law Society is having its annual Christmas part at Tir Na Nog.

On Thursday, continue in the Christmas spirit when the Irish American Family History Society holds its Celtic Christmas Celebration at the Camden County Library Voorhees Branch. Hopefully, you won’t have to keep your cheer to a dull whisper.

Three fun events next Saturday:

The Peter J. Hanlon Memorial Jingle Bell Run sets off from St. George’s Catholic Church at Venango and Edgemont Streets in Philadelphia to raise money for charity in the name of a former officers of AOH Div. 87 who dies in 2007.

The Philadelphia Rose of Tralee will be holding its annual Santa’s Workshop and Christmas celebration at The Irish Center. There will be arts and crafts, face painting, games, raffle prizes, food and a visit from Santa. Bring canned food donations—one can equals one free raffle ticket! Kids and parents can meet the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Rose of Tralee, Mairead Conley.

The Celtic Tenors will be performing with the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra at the Patriots Theater at Trenton’s War Memorial on Saturday night.

As always, you can find details and even maps on our interactive calendar.

And don’t forget to get your tickets to see Irish Christmas in America, which comes to the Irish Center on December 12. Featuring Irish band Teada, singer Seamus Begley and a remarkable Irish dancer from Connemara, Brian Cunningham. Get ready for a warm, wonderful Christmassy evening with some amazing music. Contact Jim McGill at ceiliconcerts@gmail.com or Tom Walsh at the Irish Center (215-843-8051).

And while you’re feeling the Christmas spirit, consider “Dublin Carol,” a play by Conor McPherson at the Amaryllis Theatre on Sansom Street in Philadelphia which opens for a two-week run starting December 7. This take on Dickens involves a Dublin undertaker whose life was nearly destroyed by drinking who, while telling his young assistant about his life one Christmas eve, is interrupted by a mysterious visitor who brings his past and present together, and threatens his future. Call 215-717-2173 for tickets.

The John Byrne Band will be appearing at the World Cafe Live on Friday night.

It’s a surprisingly busy week for the one leading up to Thanksgiving. If you’re not too crazed making stuffing, cranberry relish, and pies, there’s lots of Irish craic going on. There are even some events where you can take your visiting relatives so you don’t actually have to talk to them.

But let’s start with Friday. The John Byrne Band is playing Friday night at the World Café Live where a new chef—Jim Coleman of Coleman’s in Blue Bell and WHYY’s Saturday morning radio show, “A Chef’s Table”—is taking over the restaurant which was already good. Starting off the evening will be Citizen’s Band Radio which shares some band members with Byrne. Very handy.

If you’re in Bethlehem, check out “The Lost Ones,” a play based on a short story by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett about an entire world enclosed in a small cylinder and the people who inhabit it. And no, it’s not that little world you saw in “Men in Black.” The play was originally performed at the Capitol Fringe Festival.

On Saturday, the McDade-Cara Dancers are holding their annual dance recital at Msgr. Bonner High School in Drexel Hill. It may seem weird to go to a dance recital when you don’t know any of the dancers, but McDade-Cara produces some world class Irish dancers so it’s great entertainment. And the little ones are so cute! We went last year and had a blast.

One of Northern Ireland’s greatest folk singers is coming to Chestnut Hill for a house concert on Saturday night. Gabriel McArdle was one of the musicians chosen to represent Ulster at the Smithsonian Folklife Celebration in Washington a few years ago. Check the calendar for contact info—the location’s a secret unless you pay for a ticket.

On Sunday, Irish Network-Philly will be raising the flags at the Irish Memorial on Penns Landing. Every few months, a different Irish organization in the area takes responsibility for raising both Old Glory and the Irish tri-color. The event starts at 12 pm and is followed by a reception at the Plough and the Stars which is nearby.

On Sunday night, the Philadelphia Athletic Association is holding its all-star banquet at the Irish Center. Lots to honor this year—two national champion ladies football clubs in Philly. Those girls rock.

The ever-popular Enter the Haggis, a Canadian band that makes its way to the Philly and Lehigh County areas several times a year, will be on stage at the Sellersville Theatre on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Hey, you can buy pies—go see this high-energy group that mixes highland pipes and fiddles with contemporary instruments. They’re actually doing a second show on Thanksgiving night. Forget all the cooking and have your bird at the Washington House, next door to the theatre. (And no, the boys are not missing Thanksgiving at home. Canadians have their Thanksgiving celebration on the second Monday of October.)

The Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas step dances off on black Friday at the Downtown Marriott on Market Street in Philadelphia—hundreds of dancing boys and girls, men and women, all competing at this annual regional event. It goes through the weekend and is a sight to behold. Bring the family. You can get some shopping in at Macy’s, which is across the street and is decorated for Christmas, or at the Reading Terminal Market. You can take the kids for giant burgers at the Hard Rock Café. There, your afternoon is planned.

And don’t forget the Donegal Ball on Saturday, November 27. The new Mary from Dungloe will be selected that evening and music will be provided by—wait for it—Blackthorn! With Vince Gallagher! Admission to the ball is only $20 in advance, $25 at the door, though refreshments are extra. Bring your dancing shoes.

And as you’re making your lists and checking them twice, consider patronizing our local Irish gift shops and other establishments to support your own. Sure and everyone loves an Irish gift for Christmas. To find local outlets, check our Irish gift shop finder. New stores are added frequently so keep checking back. Buy Irish!

And a very Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Irish Philadelphia!

Battlefield Band, live on stage.

This weekend, three stalwarts of the Irish community will be inducted in the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame: musician and businessman Vince Gallagher, president of the Commodore Barry Society (the Irish Center); former city representative Kathleen Sullivan, vice president of the Irish Memorial Board; and Msgr. Joseph McLoone, past of St. Katherine Drexel parish in Chester and chaplain of the Donegal Association and the Irish Hall of Fame.

The three will be honored at a dinner on Sunday night, November 14, and there will be special musical guests (but we’re sworn to secrecy so we can’t say who). For more information (well, except for the musical stuff), contact president, Kathy McGee Burns, at mcgeeburns@aol.com. And read her very personal profiles of the three inductees, below.

But before that happens, consider making a little excursion down to the Coatesville Cultural Center in Coatesville to catch two great Irish traditional musicians—accordian player John Whelan of Wexford and singer Tommy O’Sullivan of Kerry. They’re on stage on Friday, starting at 8 PM.

If it’s a little Scottish music you’re after on Friday, head to Sellersville Theatre to hear the boys from Glasgow, Battlefield, do their trad-modern mix.

Saturday’s a big night for a couple of AOH divisions. AOH/LAOH Div. 87 is having its 113th Hibernian Ball at Romano Caterers in Philadelphia. The AOH Color Guard will be holding a beef-and-beer night with music by the popular Bogside Rogues at the Swedesburg Volunteer Fire Company in Bridgeport, just down the road from AOH Div. 1.

You can meet the artistic director of Ireland’s acclaimed Abbey Theatre at 3:30 PM on Wednesday at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Walnut Street in Philadelphia. Fiach Macconghail will be talking about the history of the Abbey and where it’s going in the 21st century, presenting classical and contemporary Irish and European work. You have a second chance to meet Macconghail that evening at the Philopatrian Literary Institute at 1923 Walnut Street for an Irish Network-Philly evening of Irish culture that will include local artists and author Thomas J. Lyons (“You Can’t Get To Heaven on the Frankford El”).

In Bethlehem on Thursday, you can see a rarely performed short story by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, “The Lost Ones,” which tells the story of an entire world enclosed in a tiny cylinder and the people who inhabit it, at the Touchstone Theatre on Fourth Street. The play was performed at the Capitol Fringe Festival.

And in Philly on Thursday: the second annual Inis Nua Theatre Company “Craic Down” (craic is the Irish word for fun). Actors from this theatre company—the only one dedicated to bringing contemporary Irish, British, Scottish and Welsh plays to Philadelphia—will be playing rock stars (and some rockers will be playing, well, rockers) at this benefit.

You may want to just stay overnight at the World Cafe because the John Byrne Band with Citizens Band Radio will be performing the great upstairs room on Friday night. Call for reservations and get a bite to eat before these two rip-roaring bands get you up and dancing.

Get your phone orders in early for a Philadelphia Ceili Group house concert featuring Northern Irish singer Gabriel McArdle who was one of the musicians chosen to represent Ulster at the Smithsonian Folklife celebration of Northern Ireland several years ago. Because house concerts are held in someone’s home, seating is limited. This one is in Chestnut Hill. And give Paddy O’Neill (our own Northern Irish musician) a call at 610-393-3914 if you think you would be interested in a Friday workshop. McArdle is also a talented concertina and accordian player.

Also coming up: The Philadelphia Gaelic Athletic Association’s All-Star Banquet on Sunday, November 21, at the Irish Center. Lots of folks to honor this year, including two national ladies football club champions.

Take a number to see the calendar for all the details.