How to Be Irish in Philly

Keegan Loesel and Alexander Weir, two of the Sligo-Bound Six

If you’re incredibly good at time management, you might be able to have a total immersion Irish experience on Sunday, but beware: there will be some overlap.

Here’s the Sunday rundown:

Help send the Sligo-Bound Six to Ireland for the annual Fleadh Cheoil—otherwise known as the All-Ireland Championships, or as we like to think of it, the world series of Irish music. A sextet of the area’s best best young Irish musicians are heading to Sligo August 10 through 17 to test their mettle against some of the world’s best players.

A fund-raiser for the Sligo-Bound Six takes place Sunday at Molly Maguire’s Pub in Downingtown. It’s the first of three fund-raisers. The kids will play a brunch concert from 1 to 3, followed by a traditional Irish session from 4 to 8. From 1 through 8, Molly Maguire’s will donate 15 percent of all food purchases to the kids, but you have to let your server know you’re their to support the cause.

Two of the competitors are tops in the world in their age group. Fiddler Haley Richardson was the under 12 fiddle champ last year, and harpist Emily Safko grabbed the trophy in under-12 harp.

Joining them in Ireland will be Livia Safko, concertina and fiddle; Alanna Griffin, concertina; Keegan Loesel, who plays uillean pipes and whistles; and fiddler Alexander Weir.

Next up: Summer starts on June 21 at 6:51 a.m. on the nose here in the States, but in Ireland it starts in May. You can celebrate at the Feile na Beltaine this Sunday from 2 to 6 at American Legion Noonan-Slook Post 38 at 2200 Grasslyn Avenue in Havertown. There’ll be a barbecue, Raymond Coleman will provide the tunes, and there will be fun for the kiddies—including face painting and a moon bounce. It’s all in support of a great cause, the Irish Immigration Center. By the way, it’s pronounced “bee-EL-tin-nuh.” If you’re gonna go, you oughta be able to pronounce it.

Later in the day, catch Cassie and Maggie MacDonald, two Celtic singers and multi-instrumentalists (with some step dancing mixed in) from Nova Scotia at Blue Ball Barn in Alapocas Run State Park in Delaware. The show starts at 7 p.m.

Good luck with all of that.

If you’re looking for a way to invest in Ireland, get an insider’s perspective as the Irish American Business Chamber & Network hosts an Investing in Ireland Seminar Wednesday morning, starting at 7:30, at the Union League of Philadelphia, 140 South Broad. You’ll hear presentations from leading professionals in residential and commercial property, venture capital, and the business and banking sectors. Some big firms are represented: Bank of Ireland, SmartInvest and DTS SherryFitzgerald. Load up on a great breakfast and great business insights at the same time. Details here: http://iabcn.org/event/invest-in-ireland-an-insiders-perspective/

One event to keep in mind for next weekend, because it’s never too soon to plan:

You can attend a Commodore Barry Memorial Mass next Sunday at Old St. Mary’s Church on 4th Street in Philly. The Mass begins at 11 a.m., followed by a memorial service.

And a little further out, on Friday, May 30, help AOH Division 22 raise cash to refurbish and maintain Big Green, an old pumper truck (did we mention it’s green?) that serves as the division’s PR vehicle. Jamison is providing the music, and there are more tunes from a band called Rita’s Fog. If you’re of a mind to march, the Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums will also be on hand. The benefit starts runs from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Lounge at Local 22, 415 North 5th Street in Philly. Details here: http://aoh22philly.org/fundraiser.html

The Phanatic attempting to Irish dance.

Celtic Thunder’s George Donaldson, a familiar face on Philadephia’s Celtic music scene, was only 46 when he died this year of a massive heart attack. On Saturday, his local friends are holding a fundraiser and tribute to Donaldson, who went from bus mechanic to superstart in his 30s, at The Plough and the Stars in Philadelphia, where he frequently performed.

Raymond Coleman will perform at the event, the proceeds from which will go to Donaldson’s teenaged daughter, Sarah, to pay for her education and other needs.

On Saturday evening, the Galway Society will swing and sway to the tunes of the Paul Moore Band at their annual dinner dance at the Irish Center in Mt. Airy.

On Monday, the popular seniors’ lunch takes place at the Irish Center. It’s gotten so popular that it’s moved to a bigger room and you need reservations. Check our calendar for who to contact.

On Monday night, the remarkable Luka Bloom will perform at the Sellersville Theater. John Byrne will be the opening act.

On Tuesday, dig up some old relatives at the Irish American Genealogical Society meeting at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby.

Then on Friday, learn how to say “Batter up!” in Irish, because it’s Irish Heritage Night at the Phillies (and Irish Heritage Night at the Reading Phillies in Reading on Saturday!). There will be Irish dancers on the field, Irish music coming our of every orifice, and even Irish food. There’s always beer.

The Mayo Spring Social is also on Friday night at The Irish Center.

Next Saturday, some of the local traditional Irish musicians who qualified to compete in the All-Ireland Championships in Sligo in August will be holding a fundraiser at Molly Maguire’s Pub in Downingtown to raise money to defray their costs. There’s a concert, brunch, and a session afterward.

Also next Saturday, The Irish Immigration Center is sponsoring a Feile na Bealtaine—a welcome to summer—at the American Legion Hall in Havertown. There will be food (barbecue), a moonbounce, face-painting and, of course, music (this time by Raymond Coleman).

The John Byrne Band at last years Philadelphia Fleadh–they’re back this Saturday in the park.

This Saturday, the Philadelphia Fleadh takes over Pennypack Park in Philadelphia with The Mahones and some of Philly’s finest Irish musicians, along with a feis—an Irish dance competition—sponsored by Celtic Flame School of Irish Dance. Gates open at 11 AM and the whole thing winds up around sundown.

Before you go, stop in at the American Catholic Historical Society on 4th Street in Philadelphia to see a one-off exhibit of items relating to James Connnolly the union activist who was involved in the Dublin Lockout of 1913 which set the stage for the 1916 Easter Uprising, one of the first steps towards Irish independence.

If you’re more the sea-faring type, set sail with McDermott’s Handy—that’s Dennis Gormley and Kathy DeAngelo– on the A. J. Meerwald, New Jersey’s only tall ship, at 1:30 when the ship leaves the Riverfront Promenade Dock near the Oneida Boat Club in Burlington.

Local music producer and performer, Gabriel Donohue, is being feted for his 25 years in the business at the New York Irish Center in Queens on Saturday night, with an all-star cast of well-wishers including Cherish the Ladies’ Joannie Madden, fiddler Eileen Ivers, Cathy Maguire, Brian Conway and many others.

On Sunday, St. Declan’s Well on Walnut Street in Philadelphia is hosting a fundraiser for the Malvern-based Amigos de Jesus organization, which runs an orphanage in Honduras co-founded by a local Irish-American priest, Father Dennis O’Donnell. There will be music, dancing, food, beer specials, and raffles.

Like barbecue? Like free barbecue? If you also like Irish music, come to the Commodore Barry Club (The Irish Center) at 6815 Emlen Street in Philadelphia on Thursday to hear a group of talented musicians from all over Ireland who call themselves Porterhead and enjoy a meal hot off the grill.

There are still a few seats available (as of Friday) for next Friday’s house concert with the legendary John Faulkner, who early in his career performed with Dolores Keane, then his wife. Contact barnstarconcerts@gmail.com to reserve your spot in the living room of Gabriel Donohue and Marian Makins to hear this concert up close and personal.

McDermott’s Handy will be playing on Friday night at Café 420 Coffee House in Bordentown, NJ.

If you’re a Celtic Thunder fan—specifically, a George Donaldson fan—his loal friends are holding a fundraiser for his daughter, Sarah, on Saturday, May 10, at The Plough and the Stars, where the late singer often did his solo act. Donaldson died several months ago of a heart attack at the age of 46.

Look for details for all these events on our calendar.

A Screaming Orphan, screaming.

One event that’s definitely on—the annual Midwinter Scottish and Irish Festival at The Valley Forge Convention Center. An incredible lineup of acts—and, for those of us who are winter weary, whiskey tasting classes—will make you forget that you just shoveled two tons of snow in five days and boy are your arms tired. Here’s the lineup—print it out and plan accordingly.

Friday night:
8:00 – 8:30 Angus and Didgeridrew
8:45 – 9:45 The John Byrne Band
10:00 – 11:00 Jamison
11:15 – 11:59 Albannach

Saturday
STAGE ONE

10:00 – 10:30 The MacLeod Fiddlers
10:35 – 11:00 Cummins Irish Dancers
11:15 – 12:00 The Bogside Rogues
12:15 – 1:00 Albannach
1:15 – 2:15 Brother
2:30 – 3:30 McLean Avenue Band
3:45 – 4:45 Mick McAuley and Winifred Horan

5:00 – 6:15 Screaming Orphans
6:30 – 7:30 Rathkeltair
7:45 – 8:45 Brother
9:00 – 9:45 Albannach
10:00 – 11:00 Hadrian’s Wall
11:15 – 11:59 Neil Anderson leads the Band Jam

STAGE TWO 

11:15 – 11:30 Campbell Highland Dancers
11:45 – 12:30 Colleen SearsonL
12:45 – 1:30 The Brigadoons
1:45 – 2:30 Rathkeltair
2:45 – 3:30 Hadrian’s Wall
3:45 – 4:15 The MacLeod Fiddlers
4:30 – 5:30 The Bogside Rogues
5:45 – 6:30 The John Byrne Band
6:45 – 7:30 The Brigadoons
7:45 – 8:30 McLean Avenue Band

Seminars and Whiskey Tasting

12:00 – 12:45 Irish Language Workshop
with Casey O’Connor
1:00 – 1:45 Scots Gaelic Workshop with John Grimaldi
2:00 – 2:45 What the Heck is a Bagpipe?
with Kent Wires
3:00 – 4:00 Whiskey Tasting (21 & up)
with Frank McDonald
UPSTAIRS
Casino Food Court

12:00 – 1:00 Olive McElhone and Frank Reed
1:15 – 2:00 Colleen Searson
2:15 – 3:30 Oliver McElhone and Frank Reed

THE WATERFORD BALLROOM
12:00 – 1:15 Scottish Step Dance Class
with Lynnette Brash
1:30 – 2:30 Ceili Dancing
with Rosemarie Timoney
2:45 – 4:30 Bagpipe and Highland and Irish Dance Tattoo
Featuring: The Washington Memorial Pipers,
Campbell Highland & Cummins Dancers

Trousers, a play by Paul Meade and David Parell about two Dubliners reminiscing about their summer in New York, continues this week at the Off Broad Street Theatre at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, an Inis Nua Theatre Company production.

The 2014 CRN-USA North American Open Irish Dance Championships will be jigging and reeling at the Newark Liberty International Marriott Hotel in Newark.

On Monday, Donal Clancy, son of the late Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers, will be performing tunes from his new CD, “Songs of a Roving Blade,” at the Coateville Cultural Center.

On Thursday, Irish Ambassador Anne Anderson will present the Ambassador’s Award to the SAP company at the Hyatt at the Bellevue, an annual event sponsored by the Irish American Business Chamber and Network. The Taoiseach Award will go to Denis P. O’Brien, senior executive vice president of Exelon, and the Uachtaran Award will go to Ann Claffey Baiada, RRN, director of Bayada Home Health Care.

Ambassador Anderson will also meet with Neumann University students to discuss the Irish economy and fields that might provide promising career opportunities before the luncheon at Neumann, which is in Aston.

Then, on Friday, the fundraiser you wait all year for (well, I do, at least), the Delco Gaels “Dancing Like a Star” show in which 16 non-dancers dance their way to the trophy. It’s a fabulous show, the money goes to the Delco Gaels Gaelic sports program, and it sells out quickly so this is your last chance. Go to our calendar for the details on this and all of this week’s events.

Jamison Celtic Rock at Archbishop Ryan on Saturday.

On Saturday, Jamison will be Celtic rocking at Archbishop Ryan, a fun fundraiser for the school’s scholarship fund.

In Collingswood, NJ, Saturday night, the amazing Irish group, Clannad will be performing.

And you can catch the Broken Shillelaghs at Nipper’s Pub in Westville, NJ.

On Wednesday, take your honey to the Birdhouse Center for the Arts in Lambertville, NJ, for an evening of love songs by Annalivia, Justin Nawn, and Bronwyn Bird.

On Thursday, the Irish guitar band Kodaline is performing at World Café Live in Philadelphia.

A heads up for next weekend: The CRN-USA North American Open Irish Dance Championships will take place at Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott Hotel in Newark. Chairwoman of the CRN-USA is Olivia Hilpl, who runs the award-winning Rince Ri Irish Dance School in Bucks County.

And Donal Clancy will be performing at the Coatesville Cultural Center on Feb. 17.

Please check our calendar for other regular events, like the many sessions, and dance lessons in both Philadelphia and Wilmington. But check first before you set out. Some events may be cancelled because of the power problems in the area. We just learned, for example, that the regular AOH Ceili in Bridgeport was cancelled for this week because of power outages.

Photo by Gwyneth MacArthur

The Luna Theater’s production of Martin McDonagh’s “The Pillowman” continues at the Luna Theater, 620 S. 8th Street.

Slainte is performing at Paddy Whacks Pub on Roosevelt Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, then rejoining their fellow musicians with Jamison at Curran’s Tacony on Saturday night.

On Monday night, Inis Nua Theatre Company’s production of “High Noon in Grays Ferry, Twilight on Falls Road” by Tom Reing will take place at the Off-Broad Street Theatre at First Baptist Church at 1636 Sansom Street.

Harpist Maeve Gilchrist and dancer Nic Gareiss will be doing a house concert together in Center City Philadelphia on Wednesday night. Seating is limited, so contact concert hosts Marian Makins and Gabriel Donohue at barnstarconcerts@gmail.com to make your reservation.

Got a head filled with useless information? Then Trivia Night, a fundraiser for the Cummins School of Irish Music on Friday night, is for you. It will cost you $25—that covers beer, wine and food—and you can be part of a team competing for money and prizes at the VFW North Penn Post 676 on Jenkintown Road in Glenside.

Check our calendar for all the details.

They’re heeeere!

Expect a wild weekend in Philly: The Celtic supporters are here!

Fans of the Celtic Football Club of Glasgow are descending on the city for a series of events, many of them at The Plough and the Stars on Chestnut Street, home of the 2nd Street Plough Bhoys Celtic Supporters Club. They’ll be watching a game—Celtic Vs. Motherwell—and holding a sing-song in front of the Plough’s fireplace afterwards. A couple of Tyrone guys—Patsy Ward and Raymond Coleman—will be performing, as well as members of the Irish Thunder Pipe Band. Check the calendar for a list of events.

On Saturday, get your tux out and head to the Sheraton Downtown for The Hair O’ The Dog black-tie party which this year benefits The Claddagh Fund, founded by Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys. The Fund supports underfunded nonprofits in Boston and Philadelphia.

If you’re in Upper Darby this weekend—and it’s not a bad idea—head to Cawley’s Tavern on West Chester Pike to help this popular Irish pub celebrate its 40th anniversary with specials and music through Sunday night. The food is good and you may see someone you know there (I always do).

Paddy Whacks Pub has live Irish music almost every weekend, and this Saturday you can catch the Shantys with fiddler Paraic Keane at the Roosevelt Boulvard sports bar.

Martin McDonagh’s darkly comic play—does he do anything else?—“The Pillowman” debuts at Luna Theater in Philadelphia on Saturday. It’s the story of an author of grisly short stories who becomes the suspect in a rash of child murders that bear an uncanny resemblance to those in his works. It runs through February 8. Check our calendar for a schedule of dates and times.

On Sunday, tune in at noon to 800AM, WTMR, to call in your pledge to Marianne MacDonald’s “Come West Along the Road” Irish radio show. Marianne works tirelessly (in her spare time) to produce the show and relies on pledges to keep it going. You can win tickets to hear Clannad, Solas, the John Byrne Band, and Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfetones, as well as CDs, DVDs, and gift cards to local Irish shops. Tune in online at www.wtmrradio.com and/or call in your pledge at 856-962-8178. Let’s keep Irish music on the air, and Marianne out of trouble.

On Wednesday, performer Billy McGovern will be doing an acoustic show at the AOH Div. 61 Clubhouse at Rhawn and Frankford in Philadelphia. Stop by for a pint even if you’re not a Hibernian.

A head’s up for the coming weeks:

A Mass to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of Bloody Sunday will take place at the Irish Center on Sunday, January 26.

The Inis Nua Theater Company is doing a staged reading of director Tom Reing’s “High Noon in Grays Ferry, Twilight on Falls Road,” about the lives of teens in Philadelphia and Belfast, on Monday, January 27, at the Off Broad Street Theater at First Baptist Church on Sansom Street in Philadelphia.

Ever seen sand dancing? You can, done by dancer Nic Gareiss, who will be performing with harpist Maeve Gilchrist, in a house concert in Philadelphia on Wednesday, January 29. Gareiss, a Michigan native, has perofmed with The Chieftains, Dervish, Beoga, Teada, Martin Hayes, Liz Carroll and more. Gilchrist, who is from Scotland, has shared the stage with everyone from Alasdair Fraser to Kathy Mattea. Here’s your chance to share a livingroom with two great performers. Since it’s a house concert—and there needs to be room for sand dancing—space is limited. To reserve your spot, email barnstarconcerts@gmail.com.