How to Be Irish in Philly

Welcome back to HTBI, your weekly Irish fix.

We’re roughly halfway to St. Patrick’s Day, and you’ll find plenty of ways to celebrate.

Here’s how:

Sunday, September 8

It’s monthly Children’s Story Time at the Irish Immigration Center, 7 South Cedar Lane in Upper Darby, from 3 to 4 p.m. This week’s classic tale: the story of Brian Boru. Stories are followed by arts and crafts activities, supervised by Immigration Center staff and members of the center’s Foróige youth group.

Potty-trained kiddies between 3 and 9 years of age are welcome.

For details, call Ciaran at 610-789-6355 extension 3201 or email him at ciaran@icphila.org to reserve a spot.

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Welcome to the unofficial end of summer. (Cue the copious weeping.)

Fear not, there’s much to keep you occupied as we enter the Labor Day weekend and beyond.

Here’s how things shake out:

Sunday, September 1

If you’ve never been to Brittingham’s annual Irish festival, we’ve been there, and we recommend it. The weather is supposed to be picture perfect and you’ll find plenty to occupy your time in an Irish-y sort of way.

You’ll get to hear tunes from the Paul Moore Band and the Flip-N-Mickeys, plus there will be food and drink specials, raffles and giveaways. Proceeds of the event benefit St. Baldrick’s Foundation for childhood cancer research. In other words, a good time for a very good cause.

You’ll find Brittingham’s at 640 Germantown Pike in Lafayette Hill (right at the curve, across from the Barren Hill Fire Company). It starts at 11:30 a.m. and runs for hours and hours.

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Here’s your weekly dose of Irish-ness. As always, an interesting mix of events, and you ought to be able to find something—or a few somethings—to pique your interest.

Also, we’ve had some requests to include dates along with days in our announcements, so we’ve changed the format a bit to make it easier for you to track what’s up and when.

Saturday, August 24

The John Byrne Band plays the music of Shane MacGowan and The Pogues at Kildare’s Irish Pub, 18 West Gay Street in West Chester. The show starts at 6 p.m. Recommend highly.

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There’s plenty to keep you Irish peeps busy this week.

Let’s start with Saturday night. You’ll have an opportunity to hear two great local bands:

• The first event is Irish night at Cannstatter Volksfest Verein, 9130 Academy Road in Northeast Philly. The biergarten opens at 5 p.m., and The Shanties take the stage at 7:30. Free admission!
• If you’re down the shore, take in the Bogside Rogues at Anglesea Pub, 116 West 1^stAvenue in North Wildwood. The show starts at 9.

On Sunday, another truly fun-packed event, with an opportunity to help well-known local Irish musician Luke Jardel. Luke suffered a severe injury to his hand and required major surgery.

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Welcome to HTBI, or as we like to think of it this week, party central.

Two events tonight:

First, it’s Parents’ Night Out, a Dine and Donate and Adults’ Night Out at Jerzee’s Sports Bar in Glenside, sponsored by the Glenside Gaelic Club. All you have to do (besides having fun) is mention Glenside Gaelic Club when ordering in (or ordering takeout), and 20 percent of the proceeds go to the club. It all starts at 5 p.m. Music by Raymond McGroary begins at 8:30. There’s a $10 charge at the door that will also support the club.

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Hope you’re all having a great summer. You can add to the fun and relaxation this week with three Irish events.

If you’re a golfer, you’ll want to pay attention to this: St. Pat’s Donegal Gaelic Football Club is hosting its annual golf outing Saturday at Cobbs Creek Golf Course, with a 1 p.m. shotgun start. Cobbs Creek is at 7400 Lansdowne Avenue in Philadelphia. For details, contact Gerard Bourke at 215-863-1775. Teams and sponsorship welcome.

We’ve mentioned Maggie’s Boots before. Always entertaining as a trio, you can catch them downsized as a duo Saturday at Pumphouse Plaza, Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road in Kennett Square. The duo includes Hollis Payer on fiddle, and Rob Curto on button accordion. The show starts at 6 p.m. and runs till 8.

And on Monday, be sure to take in Musikfest, 700 Old York Road in Bethlehem. The John Byrne Band takes the stage at 7 p.m.

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It’s not a jam-packed week to be Irish, but what there is, well, it’s truly outstanding.

If you want to watch three of the best and fastest moving field sports in all of athletics—hurling, camogie and Gaelic football—check out the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Annual Continental Youth Championships this weekend at Greater Chester Valley Sports Complex, 37 Line Road in Malvern. (There is no parking at the fields or on Line Road. There is a satellite parking lot at East High School, 450 Ellis Lane, West Chester, with shuttle buses running every half hour.)

Philly is this year’s host for the massive event, with up to 25,000 kids from 4 to 18, and it’s billed as the “biggest tournament of Gaelic sports outside of Ireland.” We’ve been before, and we can’t argue.

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This week features a few big fund-raisers, so it’s time to hit the ATM and be prepared to give generously.

On Saturday, there’s a benefit for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It takes place at Keenan’s North Wildwood, 113 Olde New Jersey Ave., North Wildwood, N.J., from 3 to 7 p.m. It costs $30 to get in, and includes domestic bottle beer, wine, food, and music provided by a DJ. Tickets will be available at the door. For details, contact Kathy Fanning at 267-237-2953.

Closer to home on the same day, the Commodore John Barry Arts and Cultural Center, otherwise known as the Irish Center, is hosting a fund-raising bash at J.D. McGillicuddy’s, 8919 West Chester Pike in Upper Darby. The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m.

For $25, you get light food, music and raffles. There will also be a special raffle for four tickets to the Carl Frampton-Emmanuel Dominguez fight on August 10.

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