How to Be Irish in Philly

Officer Brad Fox

Plymouth Township Police Office Brad Fox, a decorated Marine Corps veteran, was ambushed and killed by an ex-convict he was pursuing in October 2012. In March 2013, his widow gave birth to his son, Bradley Michael. On Saturday, May 4, The AOH Notre Dame Division is hosting a benefit for the Fox family at their hall at 342 Jefferson St. in Swedesburg.

Music is being provided by the Paul Moore Band, Belfast Connection, Oliver, the John Forth Band, No Irish Need Apply, the Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums, and DJ Sean. The Coyle School of Irish Dance will also perform. Tickets, which cost $30, covers food, draft beer, speed rack and six hours of entertainment.

Also on Saturday, Timlin and Kane will be performing at St. James Gate at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem.

On Sunday, the Gloucester County AOH will hold a Hunger Strikers Memorial event to honor the 10 men who died in 1981, protesting their treatment in Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. There will be a Mass at St. Matthew’s Parish Hall and the pipes and drums of the Second Street Irish Society will perform. Afterwards, there is a meal at the division hall with live music provided by the Shantys.

On Thursday, catch Rosaleen McGill, Sean Earnest, and Bradford Upp doing Irish songs and tunes at Jack McShea’s, 34 E. Lancaster Avenue, in Ardmore.

Mark your calendars for the following week: The Galway Society Dinner Dance will be held at the Irish Center on Saturday and on Wednesday, May 15, it’s Irish Heritage Night at PPL Park in Chester where you can see the Philadelphia Union take on Robbie Keane and the defending MLS champions, the Los Angeles Galaxy.. Keane is the Irish National team captain and all-time leading scorer. There will be traditional Irish fare served, and Irish drink specials. Proceeds go to help support The Irish Memorial, which is celebrating 10 years as a Philadelphia landmark. For tickets, contact Greg Imming of the Philadelphia Union at 610-497-8933, or gimming@philadelphiaunion.com or Bob Gessler, 215-806-7298.

Dancer Shannon Dunne will teach you how to do this on Saturday.

It’s a perfect Irish week: A little music, a little drama, a little dancing, a little fighting. Just like your house, you say? Probably not.

The last few performances of Inis Nua’s latest hit play, The Hand of Gaul, happen this week. Your last chance for the laughs.

On Saturday, put your dancing shoes on and head over to the Irish Center to learn sean nos dancing—that’s Irish step dancing without the back-breaking leaps—with dancer Shannon Dunne.

Hang out all day and stay for Fight Night 2, the fundraiser for the Young Irelands Gaelic Football Club featuring both male and female amateur boxers—all for fun.

Joe Magee of Marty Magee’s Pub (and Galway Guild) is hosting a meet-and-greet on Sunday for all Philadelphia-area musicians. There will be jamming all day and it’s all going to be captured in audio.

Get your dancing shoes back on on Sunday. AOH Div. 1 in Bridgeport is holding a ceiili with music by Tom McHugh with Kevin and Jimmy McGillian.

On Tuesday, Claddagh, the music and dance extravaganza with an international flare, comes to the Sellersville Theatre.

Mark your calendars for May 4 when AOH Div. 1 hosts a benefit for the family of Officer Brad Fox, who served on the Plymouth Township Police Department. Fox, a veteran, was killed in the line of duty, leaving behind a pregnant wife. (she has since given birth to a son). The Paul Moore Band, Belfast Connection, Oliver, John Forth Band, No Irish Need Apply, Fisher & Maher, Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums, Coyle School of Irish Dance and DJ Sean will appear on two stages. The event lasts for six hours and you can buy tickets at the door.

As always, check our calendar for all the details.

Bob Hurst Jr. of the Bogside Rogues, at the Red Rooster on Saturday.

“I did not attend his funeral but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” This quote, erroneously attributed to Mark Twain, just about sums up how many in the Irish community felt about the late Margaret Thatcher.

And those feelings—for some folks, incendiary—prompted a mock wake for the former British Prime Minister, who was buried this week in London, at The Red Rooster Inn on Dungan Road in Philadelphia on Saturday. The Bogside Rogues, Malone and Ward, Mike Brill, the King Brothers, and other local Irish bands will be playing.

And on a more positive note, the new Glenside GAA is holding a registration at the MacSwiney Club in Jenkintown for kids 5-17 to learn and play Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie. And Mary Courtney, who wowed the crowd at the Irish Center a few weeks ago with her group Morning Star, will be doing a solo gig at Tir na Nog in Trenton on Saturday night.

“The Hand of Gaul,” a play by local actor Jared Michael Delaney, continues its run at the Off Broad Street Theater at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia this week. It’s an Inis Nua Theatre Company production. Inis Nua presents contemporary plays from Ireland and the UK.

Books are not dead. In fact, there are 1,000 of them on sale for $1 each at the Irish Immigration Center, 7 S. Cedar Lane, in Upper Darby. Bring your totes on Saturday, starting at 9 AM, and load up with summer beach reading.

The monthly dinner at the Irish Center is cancelled for this Sunday but will continue monthly.

On Thursday, Jesse Smith and Sean Gavin will perform at the Water Gallery in Lansdale. Smith, from Baltimore, is a fiddler whose mother, Donna Long, a musician and painter, exhibits at the gallery. He’s toured with Danu. Gavin is the son of County Clare fiddler Mick Gavin and a member of the popular group NicGavisky.

The CD release party for Irish Philadelphia’s CD Ceili Drive, originally scheduled for Thursday, has to be postponed. As most of you know, the Irish Philly gang of three does the site in its spare time, and ran out of spare time this week. We’ll be rescheduling—sorry for the inconvenience.

On Friday, the Donegal Football dinner-dance is being held at the McCall Golf and Country Club in Upper Darby.

And speaking of postponed—the Sean Nos dancing workshop with Shannon Dunne which had been scheduled a few months ago (and had to be called on account of injury) is back on with a vengeance. Want to learn how to do old-fashioned step dancing—you know, the kind where you don’t have to leap off the ground like Dr. J? This is your workshop. It’s at the Irish Center on Saturday, April 27, starting at 1 PM.

And later that evening-the Young Ireland’s GFC Fight Night fundraiser! See our story.

Jameson Sisters: Terry Kane and Ellen Tepper at Fonthill on Friday.

On Saturday night, the Irish fusion band Tempest comes to Sellersville as part of its 25 Years of Celtic Rock Tour. Local wonders, the John Byrne Band, opens for this popular West Coast group.

Continuing this week, The Hand of Gaul, an original play by local playwright Jared Michael Delaney, is on stage at the Off Broad Street Theater in Philadelphia. The action centers on some Irish fans angry over Ireland’s loss of the 2010 World Cup to France.

If you haven’t seen the film, “The Commitments,” and even if you have, head over to the Connelly Cinema at Villanova over the weekend to catch this endearing comedy about a working class Dublin musical group that had it altogether and let it all fall apart. Worth it just to see Oscar-winning songwriter Glen Hansard electrocute himself with his guitar.

On Sunday, grab the kids and head to the Irish Center for the Derry Social, which has food, music, dancing, and loads of activities for the wee ones.

The weekly senior luncheon moves to the Irish Center from the Immigration Center on Monday. There will be live music provided by the Vince Gallagher band. Dancing is encouraged but not mandatory.

On Friday, April 19, join the Jameson Sisters for their “Concert at the Castle.” Singer Terry Kane and harper Ellen Tepper will pay tribute to the first fundraiser held at Fonthill Castle—a soprano and harp concert in 1913 that contained songs from Ireland and Scotland as well as popular songs and classical arias. Ellen Tepper will perform on the classical pedal harp and also the Irish lever harp. Terry Kane will be singing a mix of classical and traditional pieces similar to those performed in 1913. She will also add Irish tunes played on the mandolin.

The same evening, two of the top names in Irish traditional music, Cillian Vallely and Ryan McGiver, will be appearing at The Irish Center in Philadelphia.

Save the date: On April 25, we’re throwing a party to introduce our new CD, Ceili Drive: The Music of Irish Philadelphia, at the Irish Center. There will be yummy food from Tullamore Crew, drinks, and music, of course. Mingle, network. Tickets are $35, payable at the door.

Elizabeth Spellman when she was crowned the 2012 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee.

Also on Saturday night, catch Galway Guild at Marty Magee’s in Prospect Park.

Also, Gerry Timlin—he of the beautiful voice and a million ad libs—will be doing two performances at the Act II Theatre in Ambler on Saturday night.

On Sunday, the annual Easter Rising Observance will be held at Holy Cross Cemetery at the graveside of Joseph McGarrity, prominent financier of the IRA who lived in Philadelphia. Sinn Fein Councillor from Monaghan, Sean Conlon, is expected to speak.

At the Irish Center, catch the GAA weekly telecast: 10 AM, Tyrone vs. Kerry, and at 11:45 AM it’s Cork Vs. Mayo (a delayed broadcast). Pay-per-view cost is $20.

At 1 PM, there will be an open house and free clinic sponsored by the new Glenside GAA, a youth Gaelic sports club, at Bishop McDevitt High School In Wyncote.

On Tuesday, Villanova Theater offers a staging of Oscar Wilde’s “Salome,” a stunning adaptation of the Biblical tale involving St. John the Baptist.

On Wednesday, “The Hand of Gaul,” a new play by Philadelphian Jared Michael Delaney, opens in preview at the Inis Nua Theater Company’s Off Broad Street Theater. It’s been described as “is a wild comedic romp through the ‘what might have been’ of November 18, 2009. That was the day Ireland got bounced out of a place in the World Cup 2010 contention by the unchecked foul of French superstar Thierry Henry. Three ardent Irish supporters decide to avenge their team and get mixed up in international intrigue beyond their wildest imaginings.” You had me at wild and comedic. Opening night is April 10.

On Wednesday, Irish singer Len Graham (County Antrim) and American Brian O hAirt, an award-winning traditional singer, will offer an evening of Irish singing and storytelling at a house concert in Center City Philadelphia, then again on Thursday at The Banana Factory or 25 W. Third Street in Bethlehem. They recently released a CD, “In Two Minds,” and have performed together at the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival. Please see our calendar for information on the concert in Philadelphia–seating is limited.

Enjoy your week! Buy Irish!