How to Be Irish in Philly

John Byrne

This Saturday, head to Maloney’s Pub in Ardmore for the first of several fundraisers to help save the Irish Center, which was hit with a huge—and unaffordable–tax bill as the result of a recent citywide property reassessment. John Byrne is the first to go on stage (at 6 PM), followed by an assortment of performers who will be entertaining in traditional Irish house party style. The Cummins Irish Dancers will also be there—they call The Irish Center home. There will be food—underwritten by the party animals of the Mayo Association—drink, and raffles.

Look for John Byrne and his band again on Wednesday, July 23, at Pastorius Park in Chestnut Hill. In case of rain, the music moves indoors at the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s lower school auditorium.

Jamison is performing at Shenanigan’s in Sea Isle, NJ, on Sunday.

Next Saturday, July 26, prepare for one of the most unusual Celtic events you’ll ever see. It’s called Ragas and Airs, a dance performance by Usiloquuy Dance Designs at Philadelphia’s Irish Memorial on Front Street—a combination of “ragas,” which are Indian tunes, and “airs,” which are Irish tunes. There will be two performances—one at 4 PM and the other at 7 PM.

Also that evening, Altan is appearing at the Sellersville Theatre and it’s also the weekend of the 27th annual Irish Pub Tour de Shore, a bike ride from Philly to Atlantic City that raises money for children via its Irish Pub Children’s Foundation.

Look for this guy (Jamesie of Albannach) and more Celtic acts at the Ren Faire this weekend.

Dig out your flowing dresses and your buckskin vests—it’s Celtic Fling weekend at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim (near Lancaster). The three-day event features top Celtic acts such as Gaelic Storm, Albannach, Barleyjuice, the Screaming Orphans, Rathkeltair, and Scythian, with both Irish and Scottish dancers, freckle, kilt, and haggis-eating contests, and highland games.

On Saturday, flute player John Blake will be performing at the Coatesville Cultural Society. Blake, who grew up in London, has been influenced by his Connaught roots and now lives in Dublin. A former member of the group Teada, he has performed with other top traditional musicians including Angela Carberry, John Carty, and the Kane sisters.

On Sunday, it’s Celtic Day in Bristol Borough, down along the scenic Delaware River. On tap: the Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums, No Irish Need Apply, and the Hooligans.

Also on Sunday, The Plough and the Stars in Philadelphia is hosting a fundraiser for the six local Irish musicians who are heading to Sligo in August to compete in the All-Ireland championships. They include two of last year’s winners, fiddler Haley Richardson and harpist Emily Safko, both of New Jersey. Several of the kids play regularly at The Plough session.

Sunday is a very busy day for the Irish. There’s also a fundraiser at Maggie O’Neill’s in Drexel Hill for the 2015 Mary from Dungloe event which is held at the Donegal Ball in November. You can meet the current Philadelphia Mary, Kelly Devine, before she leaves for Ireland to compete and a few other former Marys, including International Mary from Dungloe of 2013, Meghan Davis.

There are still a few seats available for the Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely house concert in Center City Philadelphia on Wednesday, July 2. That’s three-fifths of Lunasa (one of my favorite groups, in case that means anything to you) and not only will the music be fabulous, so will the craic (Kevin Crawford is a hoot). To reserve, email barnstarconcerts@gmail.com. It’s a house concert, so seating is limited.

Enjoy the Fourth!

Joan Diver of The Screaming Orphans

York is less than a couple of hours drive from Philadelphia, and it’s worth it to make the trip this gorgeous weekend if only to see and hear The Screaming Orphans. Four sisters named Diver from Donegal play everything from trad tunes learned from their parents to Celtic pop and rock that they make their own with those tight sisterly harmonies. They’re also a hoot on stage and they’ll be lighting up said stage at the annual Penn-Mar Irish Festival on Saturday at the Markets at Shrewsbury in Glen Rock.

It’s the 14th annual festival but the first year for festival organizer Mary Yeaple to take the whole shebang over on her own (with an army of volunteers, of course). And The Screaming Orphans aren’t the only draw. Expect to hear accordionist and all-round good guy John Whelan, the wild and crazy Barleyjuice, and six award-winning representatives of the next generation of Irish trad including three of the local kids heading to Sligo this year to compete in the All-Irelands. Of course there will be Irish dancers, Irish food, and a chance to get a leg up on your Christmas shopping with dozens of vendors.

It only costs $10 to get in and kids under 12 are free.

In Philly on Saturday, catch Friends of Eric, a local band that plaus Irish and old time music, at a free concert at 4th and Bainbridge—all part of the Make Music Philly outside event this weekend.

The Shantys will be providing the Irish tunes at Paddywhacks on the Roosevelet Boulevard on Saturday afternoon.

“The Toughest Boy in Philadelphia,” a gender-bending play based on a true story, continues this week at the Luna Theatre, as does the Joyce-Shakespeare exhibit at the Rosenbach Museum.

On Sunday, the St. Patrick’s Gaelic Football Club is holding a fundraising beenf and beer at Nineteen 19 at 1254 W. Chester Pike in Havertown.

Break up your week with a little bit of Irish music. On Wednesday, listen to NJ singer Bill O’Neill at AOH Div. 61 Clubhouse at 4131 Rhawn Street in Philadelphia.

If you’re in Bethlehem, break up your week with a little Welsh music. Jodee James will be singing the music and telling the stories of Wales at the Bethlehem Public Library on Wednesday, a program sponsored by the Celtic Cultural Alliance.

Next Friday, Jamison will be playing at Curran’s in Tacony.

And get tickets now to hear traditional Irish flute player, guitarist and pianist John Blake at the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series in Coatesville on Saturday.

Sunday, June 29, is Celtic Day at picturesque Bristol Riverfront Park along the Delaware. The Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums, No Irish Need Apply, and the Hooligans will be playing.

Check our calendar for all the details—and don’t forget to add your event!

The names of all the workers are on this monument in West Laural Hill Cemetery, but only 7 bodies have been buried.

There are 50 more ghosts of Duffy’s Cut who need a proper burial and a fundraiser on Sunday at the Twentieth Century Club in Lansdowne will help bring them and the men who’ve kept their memory alive closer to peace.

A group from Philadelphia’s Irish community, including Irish Immigration Center Executive Director Siobhan Lyons, Irish Network Philadelphia President Bethanne Killian, Irish Memorial Board President Kathy McGee Burns, and musician Gerry Timlin, are helping spearhead the campaigh which starts with the musical fundraiser.

Along with Timlin, performers will include John Byrne, Paraic Keane, Rosaleen McGill, Gabriel Donohue, Marin Makins, Donie Carroll, Mary Malone, Den Vykopal and others. Makins and Donohue perform their version of the song, “Duffy’s Cut” on irishphiladelphia.com’s CD, “Ceili Drive: The Music of Irish Philadelphia.” The event, which includes food and drink and raffles, costs $25. Tickets are available online. Sponsorships are also available via the Duffy’s Cut website.

Sponsors include local law firms, a construction company, and organizations such as the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the oldest Irish association in the US, founded in Philadelphia before the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Also on board as a major sponsor: the Irish American Business Chamber and Network. Bill McLaughlin, who founded the IABCN, explains why: “The Irish American Business Chamber & Network is dedicated to promoting business between Ireland and the United States. Our promotion can be elemental as introducing two people, or two companies, that plan to work together. We wholeheartedly support trade between the entire island of Ireland and this region, and we support the work of the Watson brothers, who honor the dead and forgotten Irish workers who came to American in the early 19th Century to find work, while fulfilling their American dream. A dream which became a nightmare all too quickly for them and their families, is finally being solemnly addressed by the Duffy’s Cut project, and the chamber is proud to help in this small way.”

Not only that, but there’s great food, drinks, and music—a great place to take Dad on Father’s Day.

That’s not all that’s going on this weekend. Buck County’s AOH divisions are holding an Irish Music Festival at Maennerchor Field in Doylestown on Saturday, with music (of course), food, and vendors.

And Philadelphia’s Bloomsday celebration has started. The annual event, which marks the day when James Joyce’s most famous fictional character, Leopold Bloom, began his stream of consciousness stroll around Dublin, is marked by pub quizzes (at Fergie’s on Saturday), exhibitions at the Rosenbach Museum (this one on Joyce and Shakespeare) and readings from the novel Ulysses at three locations on Monday, which is the official Bloomsday. There is also another exhibit opening Tuesday on Joyce’s other famous book, “The Dubliners,” which gave us the character Stephen Daedelus.

Continuing this week: “The Toughest Boy in Philadelphia,” a gender-bending play about an Irish mobster named Whistling Jack McConnell, at the Luna Theater.

On Thursday, the IACBN celebrates its 15th birthday with a celebration at The Fairmount Boathouse in Philadelphia with music, cocktails, food—and most important, opportunities to network with other members of the tribe. (They throw a great party—trust me!)

On Friday, join award-winning local group RUNA as they debut their latest CD, “Current Affairs,” which we review here.

And next Saturday, June 21, it’s worth it to take a little trip to York County. The 13th annual Penn-Mar Festival takes place at the Markets at Shrewsbury in Glen Rock and features some fantastic acts, including an Irish Philadelphia favorite, The Screaming Orphans, four Donegal girls whose harmonies are so tight you’ll think you’re listening to the Angelic Host. You know, if the Angelic Host sang traditional Irish music and Celtic rock. Also on the bill: The Elders, a Kansas City-based Celtic rock bad, along with the Celtic Martins, Irish Blessing (featuring our friend Cushla Scours), NUA, the Spalpeens, and more. The price to get in? $10. You can’t get all that fun for that little anywhere else.

Check out our calendar for all the details.

Commodore Barry’s statute, located behind Independence Hall.

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional joint celebration by the Commodore Barry Clubs of Philadelphia and New York of the life of Commodore John Barry, the Wexford-born, Philadelphia-based father of the American Navy. The Saturday event starts with a Mass and graveside ceremony at Olde St. Mary’s Church on Fourth Street in Philadelphia, concluding with a meal and music at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street in Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy neighborhood.

Or, you could start your day earlier at the Irish Center watching pay-per-view Gaelic football at the bar, with a full Irish breakfast.

If you’re down the shore, you’ll find Blackthorn at LaCosta Lounge, 4000 Landis Avenue, in Sea Isle, starting at 5 PM–look outside, they’ll be under the tent. Catch them Sunday at Cattle ‘n Clover, 3817 Pacific Avenue in Wildwood, NJ.

On Wednesday, May 28, Tyrone-born singer-musician  Garry Gormley will be entertaining at AOH 61’s hall at Rhawn Street and Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia.

On Thursday, May 29, join Irish Network-Philadelphia for a whiskey-tasting dinner at Fado Irish Pub on Locust Street in Philadelphia. On the menu—get ready for your mouth to water—will be smoked salmon tartar with Connemara whiskey; strawberry goat cheese salad served with Tyrconnell; haddock glazed in a Kilbeggan butter on rice pilaf with Kilbeggan; Greenore whiskey marinated duck breast with garlic mash, served with Greenore; and  have  some Molly’s Irish Cream over ice for dessert. Sounds like you’ll need a designated driver or to take public transportation. Cost is $35 for members, $50 for non-members.

On Friday, May 30, Jamison Celtic Rock is helping AOH 22 save “Big Green,” its green firetruck, at the union Hall of the Philadelphia Firefighters and Paramedics Local 22 in Philadelphia. AOH 22 is named for Philadelphia Firefighter John J. Redmond, who was killed responding to a 5-alarm fire in South Philadelphia 20 years ago.

Rugby fans: an invitational tournament featuring 20 of the nation’s top college teams will be competing for the Pete Dawkins Trophy on May 31 at PPL Park in Chester. The reigning champs, University of California-Berkeley will be returning to defend their title. Six teams with strong Philly ties—Drexel, Kutztown, Penn State, St. Joe’s, Penn, and Temple—will be trying to take it away.

Then on Sunday, June 1, head down to Penns Landing for the annual–and free–Irish Festival featuring Blackthorn, the Hooligans, and Jamison on stage, Irish step dancers, food and vendors.