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Tempest—Celtic with a Norwegian twist, in Phoenixville this week.

With any luck, the Irish will be bringing luck to the Phillies on Friday night as they face the Marlins and a bunch of Irish dancers and singers on the field for Irish Heritage Night. One thing is for sure—the Phanatic will be wearing green.

The rest of the week is no slouch. The California Celtic band with the Norwegian flavor, Tempest, is playing at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville on Saturday night, with Burning Bridget Cleary and Coyote Run opening. Sounds like quite an Irish evening with Norwegian undertones.

On Sunday, head over to the Shanachie in Ambler for Family Day with Timlin and Kane, an event so popular they’re doing it twice this year.

Also on Sunday, Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean is playing at World Café Live (this would be one for How to Be Scottish in Philly, except that a Celt’s a Celt as far as we’re concerned). And at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Gaelic Storm whips up a storm.

A little change of pace on Tuesday: The Irish Studies program at Villanova University is hosting a special evening with Irish poets Peter Fallon and Seamus Heaney to celebrate 10 years of the Charles A. Heimbold Jr. chair of Irish Studies. Heaney is a Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright from Northern Ireland. Fallon was the inaugural Heimbold Professor of Irish studies at Villanova.

On Thursday, the inaugural meeting of Irish Network-Philadelphia, part of a larger nonprofit organization that aims to bring Irish and Irish-American professionals together, takes place at Tir na NoG on Arch Street in Philadelphia.

Also on Thursday night, you can hear the strong roots that Irish music has set down in the American Appalachian and bluegrass tradition at the Annenberg Center with “Music from the Crooked Road,” featuring Appalachian guitar master Wayne Henderson and banjo virtuoso Sammy Shelor in addition The White Top Mountain Band, hot, young Bluegrass band Amber Collins & No Speed Limit and other extraordinary musicians.

On Friday, Blackthorn will be playing yet another benefit, this one for the Lions Club in Thornton, PA.

All next week you can see Inis Nua Theatre Company’s production of Enda Walsh’s powerful play, “Bedbound,” at the Adrienne in Philadelphia, and Theatre Exile’s “Shining City,” the critically acclaimed play by Conor McPherson, at Plays and Players.

Coming up in the next few weeks: Danny Quinn returns to the Irish Times in Philly; the Broken Shillelaghs play at the Bristol Borough AOH club; Jamison rocks out in a benefit at the Firefighter’s Union Hall in Philadelphia; the McDade School’s Four Provinces Feis (pronounced fesh, it’s a dance competition) is scheduled in Broomall, and the Derry Society Spring Social is on tap at the Irish Center. There’s even more on our calendar, so check it out.

Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely are heading to Coatesville this weekend.

A parade, a Blackthorn fundraiser, and three top notch traditional musical groups are on the bill for the weekend—and really, that’s not the half of it. March madness is in full swing and it has nothing to do with basketball.

First up, Saturday, the first parade to march down any street in the area heads down High Street in Mt. Holly. The Burlington County St. Patrick’s Day Parade is always the first to go and it’s followed up by a music-filled after party.

But there’s music in the air everywhere this weekend. Annmarie O’Riordan takes the stage at the Irish Center on Friday night. She performed at the CBS3 Pre-Parade party last night and about 100 noisy partiers stopped in their tracks and just listened. This 20-year-old from Cork sang a cappella and commanded the room.

The incredible trad group from the Midwest, BUA, is taking over the stage at the Irish Center on Saturday night. They performed last year at the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival and at the Bethlehem Celtic Festival and deservedly earned many new fans on the east coast. The Ceili Group is bringing them back to Philly not only for a concert but for workshops on Saturday afternoon.

And for all you trad fans, two of my favorite performers, Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely of Lunasa, will be at the Coatesville Cultural Society on Sunday. They’re both stellar musicians, but with Crawford you get a second show—he’s one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met.

Here’s the rest of the weekend’s lineup:

Saturday

• It’s Gael Scoill III in Lawrenceville, NJ, two days of immersion in Irish language and culture for kids 7-17.
• Irish acoustic performer Raymond Coleman from County Tyrone has played with Shane McGowan (of Pogues fame), Paddy Reilly and U2 and is at Con Murphy’s Pub on the Parkway in Philly on Saturday.
• Join Jamison, the Seven Rings Band and the Timoney Irish Dancers at Queen Of Peace Parish in Ardsley on Saturday for their annual Irish Night.
• Paddy’s Well is playing at the AOH Division 6 Montgomery County Officer Jack Duffy St. Patrick’s Day Beef and Beer in Schwenksville.
• The Gloucester County AOH is also having its St. Patrick’s Day Party with the Broken Shillelaghs.
• Tenor Ronan Tynan will be warbling from the stage of the Keswick Theatre in Glenside

Sunday

• Gaelic Storm will be whooping it up at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, DE, a step up from below decks on the Titanic (they were the band playing while Leonard DiCaprio danced in the James Cameron flick).
• The Annual St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser for Pediatric Cancer is being held at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, NJ.
• Fiddlers Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas will be performing at Brittingham’s Irish Pub in Lafayette Hill on Sunday night, but will be offering workshops in a variety of instruments in the afternoon.
• The last of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day fundraisers will be held at the Springfield Country Club. Last year, more than 700 people showed up for a great party featuring Blackthorn, Irish dancers, food, drink, and a silent auction that raised oodles of cash for the financially strapped parade.
• A new play, “Yours, Isabel,” inspired by the real letters written by Isabel McMenamin to her husband during World War II debuts at Care One at Evesham in Marlton, NJ.
• The Tossers—we love that name—a Chicago group fusing Celtic, folk and punk rock (always an interesting combination) will be appearing at the Khyber in Philadelphia.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, you have the chance to meet Kevin O’Hara, author of “The Last of the Donkey Pilgrims: A Man’s Journey Through Ireland,” first at Fergie’s Pub in Philadelphia and then at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby. An ex-solider, Kevin O’Hara was unable to let go of his memories of the horrors of war. While in Ireland living with relatives, he decided to travel around the island in a donkey cart–1,800 miles with a shaggy donkey called Missy.O’Hara will be reading from his book and talking about his adventures at these special events organized by the Immigration Center.

The Brehon Law Society is holding its St. Patrick’s Day party at the Stotesbury Mansion (aka “Philo Club”) in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Also on Thursday: AOH Notre Dame Division 1 is carrying on its Irish Coffee Contest tradition in Swedesburg. This is always a good time, with free tastes for all comers.

Philadelphia’s own Rosaleen McGill, a talented traditional singer and member of the Philadelphia Ceili Group, will be appearing with Larry McKenna’s Irish Cabaret Show at the Paddocks at Devon on Thursday night.

For you Scythian fans—your boys are at TLA in Philly on Thursday night. These wild DC guys play a fusion of gypsy, rock, and Celtic music at a super-charged pace that make them an addiction.

If you’re not averse to doing a little traveling, The Big Apple Feis and St. Patrick’s Day Gala is on over the weekend in New York with an incredible lineup of stars, including Tony DeMarco, Girsa, the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, and many more.

Closer to home, Ireland’s Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hannafin will be coming to Philadelphia to spend parade weekend with us. There will be a reception in her honor at the Philopatrian Literary Institute in downtown Philadelphia, sponsored by the Irish Immigration Center.

That same evening, the Philadelphia Ceili Group is holding its annual St. Patrick’s Day Ceili with live music and dancing.

That brings us up to Philly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade weekend. But more about that next week. Check out our calendar. There’s plenty more where this came from.

They're doing a benefit for the Little Sisters of the Poor.

The month of March is nearly upon us, and from now on, the Irish will be defining the phrase “March madness.” We are about to be awash in all things Celtic, from shamrock shakes and deely bobbers to pipe and drum bands and some of the best Irish music you’ll hear on this side of the Atlantic.

Speaking of the best Irish music you’ll hear. . . we’re going to start with the end of the week when Anne Marie O’Riordan, one of Ireland’s rising stars, kicks off her first American tour at the Irish Center on Friday night, March 5. O’Riordan, a 20-year-old college student from Cork, has been singing professionally since she was 12, when she sand “Pádraig Óg Mo Chro” on a Comhaltas Ceoltoir Eireann CD called “Down Erin’s Lovely Lee.” She recorded her first solo CD at 14 and her second at 16, mixing traditional tunes with popular Irish country songs. She’s introducing her third CD, “Ireland—Love of My Heart,” during the American tour which is taking her to New York, New Jersey, New England before she returns to Philadelphia on March 13 for a performance at the Devon Theater in Philadelphia. She’s been in the St. Patrick’s Day parade and will be performing at the Irish Center afterwards.

On the same evening, The Irish Tenors are performing at the Liacouras Center at Temple University as a benefit for the Little Sisters of the Poor, who operate the Holy Family Home for the Aged in Southwest Philadelphia. No offense to the late Pavarotti and friends, but the Irish make the best tenors and this group, with five PBS specials and seven albums (the latest is “Ireland”) under their belts, sing like angels, even without their former compatriot Ronan Tynan (who will be performing the day after, solo, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside).

Before we back up, let’s go forward a little. There’s the aforementioned Ronan Tynan in Glenside on March 6. The same night, the Chicago-based traditional music group, BUA, makes another appearance at the Irish Center, fronted by Brian O’hairt. Superb musicians who have played solo and with other performers (people like Aoife Clancy, Martin Hayes, Liz Carroll, Paddy Keenan, and Liz Carroll) they form a winning combination. If you’re down in Delaware, you have Gaelic Storm at the Grand Opera House—relive every Irish viewers’ favorite scene from “Titanic” with this group that provided all the great music Leonardo Di Caprio danced to below decks. (Right, I know your favorite scene was the one in which Kate Winslet posed naked for Leo, but I’m pretending you went for the music.)

Okay, now we back up. Early on Saturday, February 27, those crazy polar bear types are plunging into the frigid Atlantic in N. Wildwood again—all to raise money the Philadelphia Fallen Heroes Survival Fund, a program operated by the city’s Fraternal Order of Police. God bless ‘em. There will be eating, drinking, and music afterwards, including Timmy Kelly and the Camden County Pipes and Drums. What, you thought they were just going to towel off and go home?

If you’re a Blackthorn fan, you probably already know they’re playing a benefit at Holy Child Academy in Drexel Hill on Saturday, February 27. Get there early or order tickets now. Blackthorn sells out pretty quickly.

Also Saturday night, the Irish Club of Delaware County is holding a beef and beer at R.P.Murphy’s in Holmes. There’s music, dancing, food and drink, all to raise money for the Club’s educational programs.

On Sunday, the John Byrne Group, Timlin and Kane, and many other local musicians will be playing at a fundraiser for the Sunday Irish Radio Shows on WTMR 800 AM at The Shanachie Pub and Restaurant in Ambler. Tune in between 11 and 1 that morning to donate to save the shows—then come to the musical fundraiser.

The Philadelphia Flower Show opens on Sunday, and features Irish harpist Moya Brennan, Irish cookbook authors, and Irish garden experts. Irish Heritage Day at the show is on Monday, sponsored by Tourism Ireland.

Also on Sunday—hear RUNA at the Sellersville Theater or attend the Grand Marshall’s dinner in Mt. Holly in advance of what’s usually the first parade to step off the curb every year (on March 6 this year).

On Monday, the Glengharry Boys are booked at the Sellersville Theatre; on Thursday, Cherish the Ladies (you must see them at least once before you die) are performing at the Grand Opera in Wilmington.

This is one busy week (we didn’t even cover all the regular things, which you can find on our calendar), but next week is even worse. . .or better, depending on how you look at it. Stay tuned!

If you missed him the first time he was here, your second chance to hear Gabriel Donohue at the Irish Center happens Friday night, February 19. Donohue, who has played at Carnegie Hall, at the Clinton White House, and on CNN, and the network morning shows, is a singer and multi-instrumentalist. He’ll be performing with Marian Makins and Pairac Keane.

If your bent is comedy, there’s an evening of it to benefit Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia at Maggie O’Neill’s in Drexel Hill on Friday night.

And it’s a jam-packed Saturday night:

The Rose of Tralee Winter BBQ which was postponed because of the snow is going on at The Willows Mansion in Villanova on Saturday night. Meet the reigning Rose of Tralee Jocelyn McGillian and many other lovely ladies while you pretend you’re out in the backyard eating grilled stuff. Well, you won’t have to pretend you’re eating grilled stuff—that will be there—but it might be a good idea to stay out of the back yard. It’s $20, all you can eat, with DJ Bucky Scott, Quizzo with prizes, kids’ activities and proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (the Roses participate).

Singer Danny Quinn is making a special appearance at The Irish Times, one of our favorite pubs in Philly, down in Queen Village. We’ve seen Quinn perform at the Shanachie in Ambler and he’s also one of our favorites.

John Byrne is trotting out his newest CD, After the Wake, at World Café Live on Saturday night. Byrne, Enda Keegan, and Damien Byrne will be performing, but the event is sold out. You gotta move on these things people. We told you about John Byrne a week ago.

AOH Division 1 in Bristol Borough is hosting a benefit for Project Children, a program that brings kids from Northern Ireland to the US during the summer. There will be music by the Birmingham Six, members of the band Jameson, The Shanty’s, and Susie and the Sizzlers.

Wish we could be everywhere.

On Sunday, don’t forget that the WTMR 800AM Irish radio shows are holding their on-air fundraiser. Lots of great gifts and prizes. Tune in at 11 AM.

The second of four St. Patrick’s Day Parade fundraisers is scheduled for Sunday at 3 PM at the Mayfair Community Center. This one honors Grand Marshal Seamus Boyle, national president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Ring of Honor recipients. It features music by The Shanty’s (they’re having a busy weekend), Ballina, The Gallagher Brothers, and the Irish Dance Group Celtic Flame. Plus food and drink and prizes and all the usual frivolity, all for a good cause.

The Jameson Sisters—that’s singer Teresa Kane and harper Ellen Tepper—will be performing at the Molly Maguire Pub and Restaurant in Phoenixville. We could go on and on about the Jamesons, the Molly Maguire Pub, and Phoenixville, but suffice it to say (as Sister Silvanus used to put it) that it’s a fabulous combination.

On Monday night, the Inis Nua Theatre Company, which produces plays from the UK and Ireland, is starting its reading series with “O Go My Man,” a play by Sheila Feehily at The Playground at the Adrienne Theatre on Sansom Street in Philadelphia.

Then on Tuesday—Parade Fundraiser #3, this one at Con Murphy’s Pub on the Parkway at 17th with the group, Slainte. Gourmet hors d’oeuvres are promised and it’s an open bar, all for $50 which goes to help the Philly St. Patrick’s Day Parade make up a $100,000 shortfall.

And it’s not over yet. On Wednesday, join Sarah Conaghan of the Rose of Tralee Center and Alan Farrelly, vice consul of Ireland, at Tir na nOg, for a discussion of what it means to be Irish these days. All with Irish food and drink, sponsored by International House’s Culture and Cuisine program.

Or, join RUNA, a multinational Irish group HQed in Philly at the World Café Live, also on Wednesday night.

And the week’s entertainment is not over. On Friday night, Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfetones will be performing at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside at a benefit for the charities supported by the Sean McBride Div. 2 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Also on Friday, Irish artist Sarah Iremonger’s mixed media exhibit opens at the University of the Arts in Broad Street in Philadelphia. It includes a mural, a video continuing original and found footage and digital photography and runs through March 17.

And it’s not even March.

TIVO ALERT: Just set it up for the next month, starting next week. Next Friday, the Irish Tenors are coming to the Liacouras Center, and Irish singing sensation Annemarie O’Riordan is kicking off her first American tour at the Irish Center on Friday, March 5. Wait, that’s not all. The Mount Holly St. Paddy’s Day parade is on Saturday and BUA, the super Irish trad group, will be on stage at the Irish Center that night, Ronan Tynan will be at the Keswick in Glenside, and that’s the weekend of Gael Scoil in Lawrenceville, NJ, where kids 7-17 can learn Irish history, language, music, sports and all things Celtic.

And wait, it’s still not over. On Sunday, the fourth Parade fundraiser with Blackthorn is at the Springfield Country Club, fiddlers Alasdair Frasier and Natalie Haas will be doing workshops and performing at Brittingham’s in Lafayette Hill, and Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely from Lunasa will be in Coatesville.

An embarrasment of riches, or bad planning? You decide.

From last August's WTMR radio on-air fundraiser, St. Patrick's Day Parade Director Michael Bradley joins host Marianne MacDonald at the microphone. Volunteer Olivia Hilpl is at left.

Snow may scotch your plans to be Irish at least part of this weekend. For example, the Rose of Tralee Winter BBQ, scheduled for Friday night in Villanova, has been postponed until Saturday, February 20. Make sure you call ahead before bundling yourself up and heading out.

The show will go on at the Irish Center on Sunday as WTMR radio hosts Vince Gallagher and Marianne MacDonald throw a Super Bowl party to help raise money for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Watch the game on one of the center’s three flat screen TVs, have a $4 pint of Guinness (or two), and choose from a buffet loaded with stromboli, wings, meatballs, hoagies, cheese and pepperoni, and chocolate cake. There will be door prizes and a raffle. All for $20. And forget the half-time festivities. You can dance to live music provided by Gallagher.

Don’t forget to tune in to the WTMR 800AM radio shows Sunday morning. They’re kicking off their on-air fund drive and offering some great prizes (we know, because we’re donating some).

In Phoenixville on Sunday, Theresa Kane and John Beatty will anchor a session at the great pub, Molly Maguire’s. If you haven’t been to Phoenixville for a while, you’re in for a surprise. There are several terrific Irish pubs and an Irish breakfast place as well as some interesting little stores.

On Tuesday, when the snow has likely melted, head down to the World Café Live in Philadelphia to hear two of the finest musicians working today. Karan Casey, former singer with the group, Solas, and sterling guitarist John Doyle have teamed up for an evening of Irish traditional and folk music.

Don’t forget the new addition to the Irish treats now on offer: Irish night at the Washington Crossing Inn in Washington Crossing (you Jerseyites can come right over the bridge) and live Irish music at Bethlehem’s St. James Pub on Thursdays at the Sands Casino.

Also on Thursday, Bob Hurst and Tim Murphy of the popular Bogside Rogues are taking a turn at Con Murphy’s Irish Pub on the Parkway in Philadelphia. We haven’t gotten there yet, but we eye it every time we’re in town. It’s perfectly located so you can watch the parade from there!

On Friday, the biggest weekend of winter kicks off with a night time concert at the Valley Forge Convention Center featuring Jamison, Rathkeltair, Seven Nations, and Albannach. These are popular groups and this will be a high octane night, so get there early for tickets. There’s music, food, drink, vendors, beauty queens, dancers, and lots of fun. We’ll be there all weekend. Stop by our table and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter, Mick Mail, and a chance to win tickets to hear those wild and crazy lads from DC, Scythian, at the TLA in March 11 or Ronan Tynan at the Keswick on March 6. We may even be able to score you some Altan tickets for Sellersville for March 13. All you have to do is allow us to come to your emailbox once a week. We don’t share our mailing list with anyone and we’ll even clean up a little while we’re there.

Fun stuff this weekend to bring a chilly end to January and launch us into February, which is shaping up to be the month of fundraisers and benefits, many for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Blackthorn is rocking Archbishop Ryan on Saturday night—a fundraiser for the Ryan Tuition Assistance Program. Although it’s a high school, high schoolers aren’t allowed. This is a strictly over-21 crowd.

AOH Notre Dame Division 1 is throwing a ceili dance on Saturday night at their hall in Swedesburg. Tom McHugh & Company will be providing the music.

On Sunday, AOH/LAOH 87 will be holding a benefit for member Donna Cannon whose daughter and her family lost everything in a house fire on New Year’s eve. The event, which will feature music and a Chinese auction, will be at the division’s Kevin Donnelly Hall on Wakeling Street in Philadelphia.

Also on Sunday, join the Sons and Daughters of Derry at the Irish Center for a Bloody Sunday Memorial Mass in memory of those who lost their lives during a clash between protesters and British soldiers in Derry’s Bogside neighborhood in 1972.

February starts with a bang on Monday as Maura O’Connell, lead vocalist of DeDanaan, appears at Sellerville with Shannon Lambert-Ryan and Runa, a Philadelphia-based Celtic group.

New to our calendar: John Byrne of the John Bryne Group is regularly anchoring a ballad and Irish trad session at Slainte at 30th and Market Street, across from 30th Street Station. Check him out this Tuesday.

Also new: It’s Irish Night at the Washington Crossing Inn on Wednesdays, featuring live music from Paddy’s Well, Boys of County Bucks, Connemara Codfish Company, Tullamore Trio and the Theresa Flanagan Band, with dinner and drink specials.

On Thursday, tune in early to WHYY-91 FM (between 6-10 AM) when reps from all over the Irish community will be taking pledges during College Challenge Week. Talk to your favorite Irish beauty queens (Rose of Tralee, Mary from Dungloe), journalists, Gaelic Athletic Association coaches, and immigration experts as you make your pledge. We expect to beat every other group they’ve scheduled this week—but, as they say during the fund drive, we can only do it with your help.

Speaking of beauty queens, on Friday, the lovely Rose of Tralee, Jocelyn McGillian, will be hosting a winter barbecue (yum) with music, food, drink, Quizzo, prizes, all to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It’s all happening at the Willows in Villanova. We’re hoping she’ll sing.

If you’re in Jersey, you can catch Sharon Lambert-Ryan and Runa at the Appel Farm in Elmer on Friday night.

This month, the Sunday WTMR-800AM radio shows will launch another on-air fund drive to get them through the beginning of the year. Listen in between 11 AM and 1PM and make a generous donation.

And don’t bother whipping up the chili for the Superbowl Party. Bring the family and friends to the Irish Center instead where you can watch the game on three big flat-screen TVs, enjoy a draft beer, and eat a sumptuous buffet that someone else is making—all for $20. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade which has been socked with some extra fees from the city.

Ahead—some terrific traditional music concerts planned for the Irish Center in the next two months leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. The Midwinter Scottish-Irish Festival in Valley Forge is on Valentine’s Day weekend (we’ll be there–stop by and say hi). And “The Irish and How They got That Way,” a musical by the late Frank McCourt (“Angela’s Ashes”), is at the Kimmel through the Irish holiday season. (We saw it last night and loved it.)

So, get your practice in for the big day. There’s nothing worse than being a St. Paddy’s Day Irishman. Or, as the rest of us refer to you, an amateur.

Check our calendar for all the details.