Columns

There are many great days for the Irish this coming week. Start it off right with an evening with the Dublin City Ramblers, joined by the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, at the Irish Center on Saturday night. Have a beer, tap your feet, sing along—the Ramblers love that, or so frontman Sean McGuinness tells us.

The Tony-nominated play, “The Seafarers,” set in Ireland, continues at the Arden Theater through mid-July. (Local trivia note: On Broadway, the leading role of the troubled alcoholic brother, James Harkin, was played by Chestnut Hill-based actor, David Morse, whom you know from the TV shows, “Hack,” and “St. Elsewhere,” and the movie, “The Green Mile.”)

Singer Moya Brennan, known as “the voice of Clannad,” is appearing on Sunday night at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia. You may have seen her in March on NBC’s Today Show which was broadcast from Ireland for a week.

On Thursday at 8 PM, join Marianne MacDonald and me at the Irish Center for a special showing of the movie, “The Molly Maguires,” starring Sean Connery and a host of local folks who were extras in the film, which was shot near Jim Thorpe, PA. (We have it on good authority that some of them will be there. Haven’t heard back from Connery yet.) As always, the movie is free as are the sandwiches. If you’re going on the bus trip to Jim Thorpe on Saturday, this is a good opportunity to bone up on your movie trivia.

Friday kicks off the annual weekend-long Irish Festival sponsored by AOH Notre Dame Div. 1. Expect lots of great food, fun, and music (Sarah Agnew, Tom McHugh and Company, Timlin and Kane, Oliver McElhone, Paddy’s Well, Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums, and the Catrin and Coyle Dancers). It all takes place at St. Michael’s Picnic Grounds (rain or shine) in Mont Clare and benefits AOH charities. A weekend package costs only $15—a small price to pay for such a good time.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches. There are two great Irish plays on stage in the region.

The Inis Nua Theater Company, the only company in Philadelphia dedicated to producing contemporary plays from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, is presenting “Made in China,” set in a re-imagined Dublin underworld, Made in China involves martial artists, rogue cops, savage lowlifes and a curious love of snack foods. A dreadful accident creates a tug of war between two criminal footsoldiers over the loyalty of a third. Self-loathing, guilt, loneliness and black, black humor emerge in this frenzied narrative, culminating in a blistering battle for survival. The play was written by Dublin native Mark O’Rowe. It’s at the Adrienne
Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, in Philadelphia.

At the Arden Theater, the Tony-nominated Broadway hit, “The Seafarers,” will be playing through June 14. It’s set at a boozy poker game on Christmas evening in Ireland and involves a group of men, brought together by their own misfortunes. James “Sharkey” Harkin, an alcoholic who has recently returned to live with his blind, aging brother, Richard Harkin, attempts to stay off the bottle during the holidays. But he has to contend with the hard-drinking Richard and his own haunted conscience.

On May 24, the Commodore Barry Club of New York makes its annual trek to join the Philadelphia Barry Club for a mass at Old St. Mary’s Church, where Commodore John Barry is buried, a wreath-laying at the Barry statue near Independence Hall, and dining and dancing at the Irish Center with the Vince Gallagher Band.

If it’s Memorial Day, Blackthorn must be playing at Canstatter’s German Club in the Northeast, and they are.

On Thursday, come join Marianne MacDonald and me for a viewing of “Songbirds, The First Ladies of Irish Song,” an Irish TV special featuring singer Fil Campbell performing the music that a generation of Irish grew up with, all of which were originally performed by Delia Murphy,Maggie Barry, Mary O’Hara, Ruby Murray or Bridie Gallagher. The curtain goes up at 8 PM at the Irish Center. The bar will be open and we’ll have some free treats for the audience.

Things stay as quiet as they ever are (sessions every night, hurling practice, regular events at the Irish Center) until next weekend when the on-air radiothon begins to help raise $36,000 to keep the WTMR Irish radio shows on the air for another year. Move your dial to 800 AM at 11 AM through 1 PM and call in your pledge to keep the Vince Gallagher Irish Radio Hour and Marianne MacDonald’s “Come West Along the Road” playing your favorite songs. St. Patrick’s Parade Director Michael Bradley will kick off the month-long event. For those of you who don’t know Michael Bradley, he’s a force of nature with a great sense of humor, a rabid Penn State alum whose emails end with a quote from Joe Paterno, “Believe deep down in your heart that you’re destined to do great things.” He’s one of those people who, as they say, “can talk the birds out of the trees.” Tune in and you’ll see that resistance is futile.

After the radiothon event, there’s a benefit brunch at the Auld Dubliner in Gloucester City, NJ, with music and food. It’s a great place, just over the bridge from Philadelphia. I spent St. Patrick’s Day there and fell in love with the place, which will remind you of your favorite pub at home (or that place you wish was your home).

Next Saturday, the Irish Center will be rocking. So rocking, you might be able to hear it in Upper Darby. The Dublin City Ramblers and the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes and Drums are playing a double bill. The Ramblers have been wowing audiences for more than 25 years and have eight gold records for their mix of folk music, ballads, and comedy.

There’s still time to get Mom a mighty nice Celtic gift at the Phoenixville Celtic Street Fair on Saturday in. . . where else, Phoenixville. Loads of vendors have signed up (pray for sun), and there’’s music from the Malones. The Bogside Rogues, the Brigade, Pride of Erin Dancer, Oliver McElhone and the Brian Boru Pipes – all for free.

Saturday night, dance the night away at the Galway Society 100th anniversary dinner-dance at the Irish Center. It all starts with a Mass at 5:45 pm. Happy anniversary, Galway!

Don’t forget hurling practice this week at Torresdale Boys Club and the second Sunday session at Braveheart Pub in Hellertown, one of the new entries in the area’s session schedules.

On Thursday, one of our favorites—uilleann piper Paddy Keenan at the World Café Live. If you think you hate the pipes, Paddy will make you love them.

Starting this week and running through July 31, a photo exhibit called “To Love Two Countries” from photographer, John Minihan, is on view in the Barry Room at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street, Philadelphia. The profile photos were taken in the course of two weeks in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. In the words of poet, Derek Mahon, “The photos were based on real people untouched by celebrity.” What they all have in common is that they all emigrated from Ireland in the early or middle decades of the twentieth century. Some local Philadelphians featured in this exhibit are Barney Boyce, John Joe Brady, John Egan, Tom Farrelly, Barney McEnroe, Jimmy Meehan and Darby O’Connor.

Check out our calendar and pay special attention to next Saturday when Teada is scheduled to perform at the Irish Center. These guys totally wowed the crowd in December with their Christmas show.

This is a weekend for good deeds and to honor good-deed doers. And, of course, have fun doing it.

All weekend, members of AOH 51 will be collecting food and money outside the Thriftway Supermarket at Aramingo and York Streets in Philadelphia to support the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center, which feeds and assistant 50-75 homeless veterans a day.

On Friday night, The Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums and the Philadelphia County AOH are holding a benefit at Canstatters in Northeast Philly for two heroes—retired firefighter Tommy Meehan (a 33-year veteran) and Officer Jack Twist of the Philadelphia Police Department who is disabled from chronic pain. Both are members of the pipe band. Jamison will perform.

The Camden County High School Alumni Association will be putting on their usual Irish Festival at the high school on Saturday. This benefit is always fun, and Blackthorn is on the bill.

On Sunday, AOH 21 will be serving up another great Irish breakfast at Smoke Eaters Pub in Frankford. They’re billing it as a “Pre-Mother’s Day” event, but that doesn’t get you out of breakfast-in-bed on the real Mother’s Day.

And speaking of Blackthorn, one of the premiere “benefit bands” in the Delaware Valley will be recognized for its charitable efforts at the Third Annual AOH Fiv 65 Fleadh an Earraigh award ceremony at the Knights of Columbus De La Salle in Springfield on Sunday afternoon. Two other stalwarts of the Irish community will also be feted: musician and long-time Irish radio host Tommy Moffit and former restaurateur Jack McNamee. Very well-deserved. Congratulations all!

Not a benefit, but a chance to see a remarkable performer—on Saturday night at The Grand in Wilmington, Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster.

And if you want to learn the fine points of the game of hurling, the Shamrocks are practicing every Tuesday and Wednesday night at the Torresdale Boys Club.

Make sure you tune in to the WTMR 800-AM radio shows on Sunday. The Vince Gallagher Irish Radio Hour starts at 11 AM, followed by Marianne MacDonald’s “Come West Along the Road.” Last year, the shows found themselves in financial trouble and huge community support kept them going. Well, it’s time to rally again, and plans are on for a radiothon and other benefits in June. It costs nearly $36,000 to keep both shows on the air, and this year’s recession hasn’t made it any easier to get advertising.

Check back here for all the details, and look over our calendar which loves the attention.

Shamrocks and Hibernians hurlers: They carry big sticks!

Time to start thinking about Gaelic sports. The Donegal Football Club is holding its annual banquet on Saturday night at the Irish Center. A late entry to our calendar: On Friday, April 24, the Shamrocks are sponsoring a beef and beer at the Irish Times in Queens Village.

It won’t be long till they’re out on the field (Donegal plays in the big leagues in New York—they’re that good). If you’ve never seen a live honest-to-goodness Irish football or hurling match, you’re missing a lot of great action. These guys and girls (yes, there are girls’ teams too) make American sports look like a literal romp in the park. You can check out the action this week (Tuesday and Thursday at 7:45 PM) at the Torresdale Boys Club where they Shamrocks hurling teams will be practicing. The Allentown Hibernians hurlers are practicing Sundays at Haines Mill Field in Allentown, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Klines Lane Field in Emmaus (check their website for updates).

Matt and Shannon Heaton will be performing at the Godfrey Daniels Coffee House in Bethlehem on Saturday night where they’ll be debuting their new repetoire of love songs.

On Thursday, order your Guinness from the celebrity bartenders at AOH Div. 87 (Tommy Healy, its president; Maria Gallagher, president of the LAOH Div. 87) to raise money for two organizations that support autism research. There will be music, appetizers, and happy hour specials.

Ring in the month of May at another benefit on Friday night at Canstatters in Northeast Philadelphia, this one for Jack Twist of AOH 88 and retired firefighter Tom Meehan, sponsored by the Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums.

Check out our calendar for all the details.

And remember to eat, drink, and buy Irish!

Members of the Tyrone Society accept a proclamation acknowledging their 100th anniversary from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

If you see the Tyrone Society around, wish it a happy 100th birthday. You might want to do it in person on Saturday night at their anniversary ball featuring Ireland’s “Queen of Country,” Philomena Begley. It’s being held at the Irish Center where you can enjoy cocktails, dinner, and all kinds of entertainment. And we have to say, Tyrone looks great for 100. Happy Birthday!

A fundraiser benefiting Project Children, which brings children from Northern Ireland to the US in the summer, is scheduled for Saturday night at the AOH Div. 1 Hall in National Park, NJ. Music will be provided by some of Philly’s best Irish musicians, including The Shanty’s , Birmingham Six, the Bogside Rogues, the Broken Shilellaghs and more. There will be beef, beer, raffles and prizes—and all for a worthwhile cause.

On Thursday, US National Scottish fiddle champ Hanneke Cassel will be joined Celtic cellist Natalie Haas at the Blue Barn, Alapocas Run State Park in Wilmington. And in Phoenixville, Enter the Haggis will be playing at The Colonial Theater. This Celtic rock group has a big local following.

On Friday, get ready to laugh while doing a good deed at the same time. The Dennis Kelly AOH Div. 1 of Havertown is holding its annual comedy night to benefit the Heroes Homecoming Fund, the division’s own charity which provides funds to injured returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters and their families. It’s being held at the Palombaro Club in Ardmore.

We have all of the juicy details on our calendar.

Don’t forget to buy Irish!

Scenes from a recent Rambling House.

It’s a slowish week, Celtically speaking, but that’s good because it gives us a chance to tell you a little more about a monthly evening of entertainment at the Irish Center called the Rambling House, which happens this coming Thursday night.

A “rambling house” is truly a piece of old Ireland. A rural County Kerry tradition, it was an informal evening of music, stories, jokes, and recitations usually held in the home of a local farmer. The performers weren’t professionals—just neighbors and friends who presented their “party piece,” acted as the seanchai (storyteller), fiddled, sang, or danced. Yes, it was Irish amateur hour, but it’s also the place where the traditions were passed along, the stories came alive, and a sense of community and closeness were forged.

I went to the first Rambling House, produced and hosted by WTMR 800-FM radio host, Marianne MacDonald, and got that same feeling of “home” I experienced when I was in Ireland. I like to attribute the sensation to some mystical form of ethnic memory, though I suspect it had more to do with the realization I had while sitting in my cousin’s kitchen in Ballyharry, County Donegal: What I thought of as my family’s own personal customs—sitting at the kitchen table for hours, talking and laughing and telling stories—were actually part of some larger set of traditions whose source I discovered at this other table, while sipping tea and talking to people I’d just met but with whom I share a few grandparents.

Even if you’ve never had this kind of experience, you’re sure to feel a closeness to your roots at the Irish Center’s Rambling House, which is scheduled for April 16 at 8 PM. As the old song goes: “Boul in, boul in and take a chair, Admission here is free, You’re welcome to the rambling house, to hear the seanchai.”

Check out our calendar for the loads of sessions on tap this week.

Pat O'Connor and Eoghan O'Sullivan will be at the Irish Center and Coatesville over the weekend.

Bring on the dancing girls. . .and boys. About 6,000 of them are in Philly this coming week for the 39th annual World Irish Dance Championships being held at the Kimmel and the Downtown Marriott. It’s the first time this international competition has been held on US soil and it’s quite a feather in the city’s cap, especially in the current economic climate. Mayor Michael Nutter will be part of the opening ceremonies on Sunday at 5 PM at the Kimmel, on Broad Street. If you love Irish dancing, this is the place to be this week. And “Riverdance” is playing through Sunday just next door at the Academy, so step lively.

Speaking of economics, this is also the time to remember those less fortunate. The Hibernian Hunger Project is holding a “cook-in” on Saturday at Aid For Friends in Northeast Philadelphia, preparing meals for shut-ins to carry the agency through the summer. Although it’s an AOH charity, you don’t have to be a member to help out. Note to high schoolers: This is one way to satisfy a community service requirement, and many teens do volunteer.

Also on Saturday, our friends at AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 in Swedeburg are sponsoring Police Appreciation Day to benefit the Philadelphia Police Survivors Fund, which aids families of slain officers. Entertainment is being donated by Paddy’s Well, Tom McHugh and Company, Dan Rooney and Olive McElhone and there will be music all day.

On Saturday evening, Pat O’Connor and Eoghan O’Sullivan will marry the music from County Clare to the tunes of County Cork at the Commodore Barry Club (that’s the Irish Center when it’s at home). O’Connor—he’s the Clare man—is a fiddle player from that lonesome Clare tradition and O’Sullivan performs on flute and accordian, though not at the same time. This is a concert for trad purists and those who’d like to be. This kind of concert never disappoints. If you miss it on Saturday night, the duo will be appearing at the Coatesville Cultural Society on Sunday night.

Start your Sunday morning with a traditional Irish breakfast at Smoke Eaters Pub in Philadelphia, cooked for you by AOH 22, which is raising money for its charities.

Sunday at 2 PM you can attend the annual family ceili and set dance benefit for the Sister Peg Hynes Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Stardust Ballroom in Bellmawr, NJ. Sister Peg was a longtime teacher and community activist in Camden. She was killed in a car accident in 2002 when the vehicle in which she was riding was struck by another being driven by a man who admitted he was high on cocaine.

At 5 PM Sunday, join Blackthorn for the First Annual Liberty USO “Rock the Troops” Benefit at PJ Whelihan’s Pub in Cherry Hill, NJ, a fundraiser supporting the work of the USO.

Next Friday, a very unusual Irish group comes to town. Guggenheim Grotto (you can tell they’re Irish from the name—wha?) blends classical instruments such as the viola, glockenspiel, the Wurlitzer and Hammond organs with modern guitars, basses and pianos to create a unique sound one critic called “spine tingling.” Sounds intriguing. And where else are you going to be able to hear some good glockenspiel tunes? This concert is at the World Café Live.