Denise Foley

[cincopa 10736225]We learned this week that local Irish folk sensation, The John Byrne Band, has been booked to play the presidential reception at the National Constitution Center for this year’s Liberty Medal ceremony. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is receiving the award, which is given annually to “men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe.” Previous winners have included former US Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, U2’s Bono, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, James Watson and Francis Crick (they discovered DNA), Sandra Day O’Connor and Colin Powell. Blair was chosen for the award for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process, so it seems fitting that he’s serenaded by an Irish band. President Bill Clinton will be presenting the medal to Blair on September 13. If you haven’t been invited to the president’s reception for Blair (our invite must have been lost in the mail), you can catch John Byrne at Slainte on Market Street on Monday nights and at the Wildwood first annual Irish Summer Fest next weekend.

All That Glitters

Philadelphia’s 2010 Mary from Dungloe, Keira McDonagh, arrived back in town from the week-long pageant in Ireland with something shiny. No, alas, not the crown. That went to the Edinburgh Mary, Jemma Ferry. But Keira came back with a more lasting memento: an engagement ring! No whirlwind romance story to tell. She’ll be marrying her longtime beau, Center City attorney Justin Gdula, sometime next year.

Immigration Center to Honor Immigration Activist

Anne O’Callaghan, executive director of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians and a tireless advocate for immigrants, will be the recipient of the first annual Mathew Carey Hibernian Award at a gala on Saturday, October 30, at the Hyatt on Penns Landing, sponsored by the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia. Born in Ireland, O’Callaghan was trained in Ireland (University of Dublin School of Medicine, Oswestry and North Staffordshire School of Physiotherapy) as a physical therapist and practiced and taught for 20 years after coming to the US in 1970. She founded a software development company that serves the home health care industry. Since 2003, the Welcoming Center has focused on helping new immigrants find both services and employment in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in particular. Mathew Carey, whose name the award bears, was an Irish immigrant from Dublin who came to Philadelphia where he became the Revolution’s biggest ally in the press. He started his own bookselling and printing in 1775 in Ireland, moved to Paris to escape the authorities (he was a fiery polemicist) and it was there he met Ben Franklin, then ambassador to France, who also knew a thing or two about publishing and rabble-rousing. He started many publications in Philadelphia but is probably best known as the publisher of the Douay-Rheims Bible, the first Roman Catholic version of the Bible to be printed in the US. Carey is buried in St. Mary’s Church graveyard on Fourth Street in Philadelphia—not far from John Barry, father of the American Navy–and his portrait hangs in the church.

New Consul General in New York

Noel Kilkenny will succeed Niall Burgess as the Irish Consul General in New York. Kilkenny is the former Irish ambassador to Estonia. We’re fairly sure he’s not the banjo player from Mayo you can see in this video, but that would certainly make some stuffy official events very entertaining if he were. Prime Minister Brian Cowen introduced Kilkenny (the consul, not the banjo player) during Cowen’s recent visit to New York.

A Bucketload of Beckett

If there were a Guinness Book of World Records’ entry for “actor playing the most Samuel Beckett roles” the honor would probably go to Conor Lovett of the Gare St. Lazare Players Ireland, who, his PR release says, has racked up 17 roles in 23 different Beckett productions. Figuring out that math made our brains hurt (math always makes our brains hurt), but we’re looking forward to seeing Lovett in his next Beckett incarnation. He’ll be bringing a one-man performance of Beckett’s “First Love” to the Philly Fringe Festival September 3-5 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Broad Street. Info on tickets is on our interactive calendar.

Kildare’s Pub’s Global Strategy: One College Town at a Time

We like to think of Kildare’s Pubs as a local phenomenon. And since chiropractor and former restaurant dishwasher Dave Magrogan built his first one in West Chester in 2003, they’ve pretty much been a fun place to pretend you’re in Ireland while never leaving the Philly area. But over the past few years, Kildare’s has been quietly importing itself to other parts of the world. Like Scranton. Can’t you just see the guys and gals from “The Office” playing Quizzo one night at Kildare’s Scranton? (Hint, hint to Dave: Catch Carell before he leaves the show.) Today, there are Kildare’s Pubs in Newark, DE, Chapel Hill, NC, and, pretty soon, you’ll be able to go to a Kildare’s after seeing Penn State crush some opponent or another in State College, PA, or after seeing Notre Dame crush some opponent or another in South Bend, IN . This college town strategy seems to be working. Magrogan has a few other irons in the fire, including Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House and Harvest Seasonal Grill, a brand new restaurant in Glen Mills, PA.

Aon Sceal, roughly translated from the Gaelic, means “What’s new?” So, what’s new with you? Let us know and we’ll tell everyone. Email us at denise.foley@comcast.net.

Transport will be several steps up from this. iStock image by Steve Jacobs.

It’s not too late—or too early—to think about a trip to Ireland. Or, at least, to see where your ancestors lived when they came here.

You can get the full Irish immigrant experience—except for the “No Irish need apply” part—September 18 and 19 in New York City, the gateway for millions of Irish immigrants. “The Irish Immigrant Experience” will take you by motorcoach to The Tenement Museum, which introduces you to life as our ancestors experienced it in many migratory waves. The building at 97 Orchard Street was built as a tenement in 1863 and was home to nearly 7,000 working class immigrants. Two books—“97 Orchard Street, New York: Stories of Immigrant Life” by Linda Granfield, and the just released “97 Orchard Street: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement” by Jane Ziegelman”—will help you prepare for the trip.

There will be a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Sunday morning mass, a trip to the Ellis Island, which opened its doors in the early 1900s, and houses the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and the Statue of Liberty. For $299 per person, you’ll stay at the Doubletree Jersey City, have dinner at O’Connell’s Pub in Jersey City with your own personal musicans—the Malones: Fintan Malone and Luke Jardel.

To reserve a seat or for more information, contact Marianne MacDonald at (856)236-2717 or rinceseit@msn.com or contact Johanna Greene at Mayfair Travel at: (215)331-8880 (office), (267)255-4417 (cell) or johanna@mayfairtravel.com.

Speaking of the Malones

This local musical group—Fintan Malone and Luke Jardel—are organizing their first tour of Ireland November 12-19. Along with sight-seeing, you’ll be treated to music wherever you go in the counties of Clare, Galway, Mayo, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. Among the highlights: a stay in Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay, county Clare, birthplace of Fintan Malone and the site of his family pub, Tom Malone’s, one of the most famous musical pubs in Ireland (a focal point of the Willie Clancy School trad music event in July); a trip around the breathtaking ring of Kerry, and a tour of Limerick and the sights made famous in the late Frank McCourt’s celebrated memoir, “Angela’s Ashes.”

Price per person, based on double occupancy, is $1,499 and includes roundtrip airfare from Newark to Shannon, six nights lodging, daily full Irish breakfast (guaranteed you’ll be ordering porridge by the third day), and deluxe coach transport, among other things.

Contact Ian Duffy, Royal Irish Tours, 1-866-907-8687, or email ian@royalirishtours.com.

Irish Music on the High Seas

Galway musician Gabriel Donohue, who has been appearing frequently at the Philadelphia Irish Center, is one of the headliners on the Irish music cruise, Concerts at Sea, Eastern Caribbean escape January 29-February 5, 2011. He’ll be joined by the Irish Rovers, Archie Fisher, the Makem Brothers, and half a dozen other Irish musicans who will turn this Holland America cruise ship into the tune boat. The ports of call include Fort Lauderdale, Half Moon Cay, Turks & Caicos, San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and the US and the US Virgin Islands.

Prices range from $1499 to $2979 (there will no “steerage” on this vessel) whch doesn’t include airfare. If you love Irish music and hate cold weather, contact Irish Music Cruises at 1-888-564-7474 or info@irishmusiccruises.com and get lots of one and none of the other, at least for a week.

Heading North

The Ulster American Society’s 2011 Northern Ireland Tour is tentatively scheduled for June 3-12. A brochure should be available this week. This leisurely 10-day, 9-night tour, with stays in Ireland and Scotland, will showcase Northern Ireland’s premier attractions and rich Irish and Scots-Irish cultures. Estimated prices start at $1,495 per person (land only). For more information, contact the Ulster American Society—which is headquartered here in Philadelphia—at info@ulsteramerican.org or (267) 328-6123.

Got news? Had a recent promotion, promoting your latest event? Do tell. Contact us at denise.foley@comcast.net.

Image from "Spirit of the Fallen": by Brian Mengini

The loss of six Philadelphia police officers over a two-year period—killed in the line of duty—profoundly affected Phoenixville photographer Brian Mengini, who specializes in dance photography (some of his clients include the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Brandywine Ballet, and www.tutu.com). He has a cousin in law enforcement and one of his early Irish ancestors served on the Philly police force. So he decided to utilize his talent—and his connections in the world of ballet—to create a tribute to the fallen officers. “The Spirit of the Fallen”—a series of black and white photograph of dancers wearing angel wings—is the subject of an exhibit and gala opening on August 29 at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street, Philadelphia. All the dancers—from a variety of ballet companies in and around the Philadelphia area—volunteered their time. Money raised from the event will pay for the initial printing of a “Spirit of the Fallen” calendar, the proceeds from which will go to the Philadelphia Police Survivor’s Fund. If you’d like to be a sponsor, go to the event website. So far, Laine Walker Hughes, fiddler from Paddy’s Well, is signed up to perform at the August 29 event.

Dublin In the Rare New Time

If you trace your family roots back to Dublin’s fair city, where the girls are so pretty, you may be interested to know that there’s a movement afoot to add a Dublin Society to the six county societies (Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Galway, Mayo, and Tyrone) already in Philadelphia. Many of the Dubliners we know—including Siobhan Lyons of the Irish Immigration Center, singer-songwriter John Byrne, fiddler Paraic Keane, publican Fergus Carey (of Fergie’s Pub and others), and Ken Merriman, manager of Tir na Nog in Center City—are all fairly recent immigrants, so Philly may officially be welcoming the “new wave” of the Irish diaspora. No matter how far back you trace your Dublin roots (my great-great grandfather, Frederick Wiley, was a Dubliner), you can show up at the September 14 performance by the Young Dubliners (very clever, those Dubs) at World Café Live, featuring the John Byrne Band. Tickets to the performance are $20, but you insiders can get some cheaper from our local man from Dublin, John Byrne, by emailing him at info@johnbyrneband.com.

Kiera McDonagh

Good Luck to Philly’s Mary from Dungloe

Kiera McDonagh, Philly’s reigning Mary from Dungloe, left for Ireland this week to compete in the international pageant in Dungloe, County Donegal. There are 14 young women competing for the title and a week’s worth of activities, including a “bonny baby” show, a road race (Keira’s a runner so she may be competing, sans sash and tiara), raft racing on the lake, and, finally, the selection of the 2010 Mary from Dungloe at midnight, Sunday, August 1. It took Keira a long time to come up with an act for the talent portion of the competition (she’s a member of the Mairead Farrells Philadelphia ladies Gaelic football team, but she rejected showing her passing and blocking skills). She did tell us what she’s doing but it’s a secret. Just be assured, everyone will be thrilla-ed.

Emily Weideman

California, Here She Comes

Emily Weideman, recording secretary of the Donegal Association of Philadelphia and a member of the Inspirational Irish Women Awards committee, will be leaving the area on July 31. She accepted a job as Residence Life Coordinator, at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. Until recently, she held a similar job at Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Emily was the 2009 Mary from Dungloe and worked on this year’s Rose of Tralee event. Her departure leaves a gaping hole in several of the region’s most active Irish organizations.

Coleen McCrea Katz, in her tiara, right behind Paula Deen

Philly’s Own Future Paula Deen?

Coleen McCrea Katz, who helps organize the Donegal Association’s Mary from Dungloe competition every year, was herself in the spotlight (tiara and all) a couple of months ago. In fact, y’all, she was on stage, singing and dancing with Food Network star, Paula Deen. Coleen was one of nearly 6,000 women who entered The Real Women of Philadelphia cooking contest. The Philadelphia actually refers to the cream cheese—each dish has to contain at least two ounces of the Kraft product. While she didn’t win (though you can see her luscious recipes here), she and a group of 35 women decided to travel to Savannah to cheer on the 16 semi-finalists. She really couldn’t afford to go, she says, then “my darling hubby”—Larry Katz—told her to “cancel our 30th wedding anniversary getaway” so she could make the trip. (No wonder she’s held on to him for so long!) The women, most of whom met on the competition website, wore matching “Real Women of Philadelphia” t-shirts and performed a song-and-dance routine they’d developed on the stage of the Lucas Theater, with special guest dancer, Paula Deen herself. “I had the time of my life,” says Coleen.

Happy Fourth of July from Ireland

When “Carmel’s Crew” takes part in the Susan B. Komen 3-Day Walk for a Cure in October, they’ll be handing over donations from a very unusual fundraiser—a Fourth of July barbecue held by the family of Carmel Porter Bradley in her hometown of Raphoe, County Donegal. Bradley, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, will be making the 60-mile walk herself, starting on October 15. Healthy now, she and her family—husband Louie, twin sons Shane and Conor and a daughter, Fiona– were in Ireland over the Independence Day holiday because Louie is the president of the Delco Gaels Gaelic Football Club, which was playing in an international Gaelic football competition. Her family and friends in Ireland raised more than $2,000 during this very American holiday celebration to support the walkers who call themselves “Carmel’s Crew.” Each participant must raise $2,300, so the fundraising isn’t done. You can help support Carmel’s Crew this Saturday at a karaoke beef-and-beer at Paddy Rooney’s in Havertown. Says friend and one of the Delco Gael’s team moms, Colleen Rafferty Boyce: Carmel “has just been such an inspiration really through all of it-so strong and positive and an absolute wonderful person all around.”

Update on Kingston Springs, Tennessee

A recent Irish Center benefit raised more than $2,000 for the people of Kingston Springs, TN, who lost their only elementary school in last spring’s flooding. The bulk of those donations came from a group of Philly Irish tourists who were stranded in the small town by those raging waters and were treated with such kindness by the people they encountered. (They offered immediate payback: The group, with its own musicians in tow, put together an impromptu ceili that had locals dancing and singing in the rain.) Tour leader, Marianne MacDonald, WTMR-800AM Sunday Irish radio host, has been in touch with the town manager of Kingston Springs. “She told me that they’re going to use the money to purchase school materials that were lost in the floods so we’d like to raise a bit more money,” she said. If you’d like to make a donation, contact Marianne at rinceseit@msn.com.

What’s Aon Sceal? It’s pronounced ay-n sh-kayl and it’s Irish for “what’s new” (or, technically, “any story”). It’s your chance to see your name in bold face print. Send your news to us at denise.foley@comcast.net.