How to Be Irish in Philly

It’s going to be a very Christmassy week here in Irish Philadelphia land.

An American Celtic Christmas, a multi-media, multi-genre spectacular, produced annually by Frank Daly and CJ Mills of Jamison and American Paddy’s Productions, will be on stage twice on Saturday at Bensalem High School—a matinee at 3 PM and an evening show at 7 PM. Along with Jamison, you’ll hear John Byrne of the John Byrne Band, Bob Hurst of the Bogside Rogues, singer Kimberly Killen Clark, and Sean Hicks. The Celtic Flame School Of Irish Dance and the Bucks County Dance Center will, obviously, be providing the dancing—and it will be thrilling.

On Sunday morning, local Irish folks and organizations will be massing on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum for a photograph to send support and holiday wishes to political prisoners in Northern Ireland. All are welcome.

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Still feeling too stuffed to move? Not the case for the teems of Irish dancers from the Mid-Atlantic region that are in Philadelphia this weekend at the Oireachtas, a major competition being held at the Marriott Downtown on Market Street. It’s an annual event, open to the public and a lot of fun, even if you’re competing.

The Donegal Ball is Saturday night at the Irish Center. The Philadelphia Mary from Dungloe, Shannon Alexander, will be giving up her crown to a new Mary who will compete this summer in Dungloe, County Donegal.

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There are a couple of benefits coming up this weekend before Thanksgiving. First, on Saturday, the Philadelphia Irish Open Golf tournament takes place at Cobbs Creek Golf Course in Philadelphia. It will raise money for the Tansey family, formerly of Mayo, who lost their home, belongings, and pets in an house fire.

Gabriel Donohue, Raymond McGroary, Seamus Kelleher, Bill Donohue, Raymond Coleman, and Diarmuid MacDuibhne will be singing and playing their hearts out to raise money on Sunday for the Philadelphia Sunday Irish radio shows on WTMR 800 AM. It all takes place at The Dubliner on the Delaware in New Hope, starting at 1 PM.

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This Sunday, The Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame will induct four new members and present its new Commodore Barry Award to the Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band.

Musicians Kathy DeAngelo and Dennis Gormley, who helped found the Next Generation group of young Irish traditional musicians in the Philadelphia region; Upper Darby physician Denis Boyle, MD, who offers his care to the homeless and undocumented; and Mary Frances Fogg, who has been both fundraiser and, using her government savvy, red tape cutter for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade will all be honored at the event at the Irish Center.

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The Mayo Ball is Saturday night at The Irish Center. They’ll be laughing and dancing and having, well, a ball, for the 110th time since the Mayo Association was founded. They’ll also be selecting Miss Mayo 2016. It all takes place in the ballroom starting at 8 PM. Entertainment will be provided by Vince Gallagher and his band, DJ John Shields, and the Rince Ri School of Irish Dance.

Also on Saturday night: Designer Bag Bingo to benefit the Cummins School of Irish Dance at the Holy Martyrs Church Hall in Oreland, and the Glenside Gaelic skating fundraiser at Old York Road Skating Club.

There are two events on Sunday where you can enjoy some Irish music and craic: First is the AOH Ceili, known as Veronica’s Ceili, at the hall in Swedesboro of the AOH Notre Dame Division 1. Jimmy and John McGillian and Tom McHugh will be producing the music to dance to. Second, the AOH/LAOH Annual Freedom for All-Ireland benefit will be held at the FOP Lodge #5 in Northeast Philadelphia. Proceeds from the event will go to charity and community organizations in Northern Ireland.

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Before Halloween meant going from house to house in costume demanding candy, it was Samhain (Sah-win), a Celtic festival that marked the end of the year and, most important, a time when the curtain between the living and the dead, the flesh and the spirit, grew thin enough to permit passage between them. Ancient Celts left food for their dead ancestors and participated in rituals to honor the dead and any protective spirits hovering nearby.

It’s a harvest festival, the remnants of which remain in our carving of pumpkins and bobbing for apples (does anyone really do that anymore?).

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It’s the beginning of Ball season in Philadelphia, an Irish tradition started by the various county societies to raise money for causes at “home” dear to the immigrants’ hearts. This Saturday, the Cavan Society starts it off with music and dancing at the Irish Center. You might see the Philly Rose of Tralee, Mairead Comaskey, there. She traces some of her roots to Cavan.

The Cavan event is followed by the Mayo Association Ball on November 7—which includes the selection of Miss Mayo—and the 129th Donegal Ball on November 28, which incorporates the crowning of the next Mary from Dungloe who will compete for the international title in Dungloe, Donegal next summer.

If you’d like to compete in the Miss Mayo Pageant, open to young women 17-27, contact Eileen Barrilli at 215-205-3221. The Mary from Dungloe pageant is open to women of Irish descent 18-29. For more information, contact Meghan Davis—herself a former Philly and International Mary from Dungloe—at 570-574-7966.

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