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How to Be Irish in Philly
Mick Moloney and friends at St. Malachy’s.
By Kathy McGee Burns
This year St. Malachy’s will celebrate 25 years of something special–25 years of a unique friendship, 25 years of commitment, dedication and love.
On Sunday November 4, at 2 PM, Mick Moloney will once again arrive at St. Malachy’s Church to perform his annual concert.
I’ve been attending for many years, and the whole event is magical. The church is wearing its autumnal best: orange pumpkins, shafts of wheat, bouquets of yellow mums, baskets of multi-colored leaves and copper-tinged husks of corn. The light presses through the stained glass windows spilling a warm glow on the church’s vast nave.
Mick and his loyal, faithful musicians, who come from far and near to perform each year, begin their musical journey. The church always filled. To the side, Father John McNamee, now the pastor emeritus of the mission church in North Philadelphia, will be sitting in a pew, gazing with admiration at his long-time friend.
I talked to Mick a few weeks ago on the phone and asked him how it all started. “I can’t really remember whether John asked me or I volunteered,” he said. “I told him I’d be pleased to do some concerts with Eugene O’Donnell.” The Derry-born O’Donnell, a fiddler who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1957, performed with Moloney on the classic recording, “The Music of Ed Reavy.” Reavy, also an Irish-born Philadelphian, is considered one of the most important composers of Irish music of the 20th century.
Father Mac, as he’s known, said he met Mick through the late historian Dennis Clark, at the Balch Institute. Introducing himself, Mick said, ”Oh, I know who you are, John. I want to come and do a benefit concert for your school.”
And so this is how it began.
Mick Moloney admired what St. Malachy’s had done in its little corner of Philadelphia. Everyone was welcomed. No one who needed help was ever turned away. It was the kind of think Mick wanted to support.
“You know, 25 years ago, that neighborhood was really tough,” says Mick, who originally came to Philadelphia from Limerick to get his PhD in folklore at the University of Pennsylvania. “It had lots of crime and lots of people who were victims of violence in many ways. John McNamee was an amazing figure in the middle of all the chaos, poverty, crime and violence. He was a mighty man!”
That, he says, is the highest accolade one can be called. “He defines the word vocation. He defines the word commitment and he defines the words, generosity of spirit. John is a big man in every way. He’s bursting with humanity and he’s a great poet. I love the twinkle in his eye.”
Mick wanted to bring music to St. Malachy’s. And it had to be Irish music. St. Malachy’s parish was founded by Irish immigrants and the Sisters of Mercy in 1850 as “the church in the woods.” In the early 20th century, the neighborhood was home to numerous manufacturing companies. When they declined, so did the neighborhood. It and its people fell on hard times.
Music was the art that was formed in Ireland in the troubled times, Mick told me. The people who performed the best songs, the best music, the best dances and the best stories were all the poor farmers and fishermen.
“I thought wouldn’t it be lovely to have all this music at a service for this wonderful church and this wonderful man.”
John McNamee says, “Every year, for 25 years, Mick Moloney arrives. Half of life is showing up.” He softly chuckles as he says this. “His musicians are with him, his bagpipes, flutes, banjos. You know what I like about Mick Moloney? He is so casual. He has seemingly dissimilar characteristics of intense and serious and casual. Something like, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. As the great Irishman said, ‘Life is too important to be taken seriously.””
Father Mac says he feels completely comfortable with Mick and thinks Mick feels the same way. “There is no pretense about him. He knows that he’s good but it doesn’t matter. He enjoys what he’s doing and that’s good enough. If he seems unprepared about what the program is going to be, it doesn’t matter because he begins to unfold; he lets the musicians shine in turn and it all works out very well.”
I asked Mick why 25 years? He said he loves to see art put at the disposal of good causes. “This art helps people through hard times. I can’t think of a better thing to do. This is like coming home.”
Father Mac says if you try and thank Mick for coming and bringing the others with him, he humbly says,” It’s my pleasure, John.”
This concert has probably raised a million dollars over the years. Mick and the musicians come from wherever they are in the US or the world, paying their own way. This year, expect to see Robbie O’Connell, a member of the amazing Clancy family; uillean piper Joey Arbata, button accordionist Billy McComiskey; fiddler Dana Lyn, and folk singer and harmonica player Saul Broudy, vocalist Murray Callahan, and, of course, Mick Moloney.
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The Watson brothers, who unearthed the stories and the bodies of the Duffy’s Cut victims, will be telling real ghost stories at the Irish Center on October 28.
If you’re anywhere near Havertown on Sunday morning, stop by Sacred Heart Church on Wilson and Manoa Roads. Some good-hearted folks are holding a huge bake sale to raise money to defray the medical expenses of a young couple from Belfast whose four-year-old son is in Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.
Last week, we wrote about little Oscar Knox, who was born with a rare genetic condition, and then developed a rare form of cancer that strikes mainly babies and children. Supporters in Ireland raised about $400,000 to bring “wee Oscar” to Philadelphia for potentially life-saving cancer treatment, but while here, his doctors found he also had a rare complication from previous cancer treatment that means he can’t undergo immunotherapy, a relatively new treatment that trains the body’s immune system to fight cancer on its own.
As of Friday morning, Oscar was still at CHOP, though he was out of the intensive care unit and plans were being made to take him home, where his two-year-old sister, Isobella—known as “Izzy”—is waiting for him.
The Knoxes ran through the money that was supposed to pay for the immunotherapy—instead, it paid for Oscar’s treatment for pulmonary hypertension, the new illness that has kept him in Philadelphia since October 6. The Knoxes knew no one in Philadelphia when they arrived, but a large group of supporters has grown around them. Sunday’s bake sale is just the first of many fundraisers planned to help the family and little Oscar cope with the setbacks. That will be your good deed for the week.
There are plenty of fun events this week. It’s the final week to catch “A Slow Air,” a Scottish play produced by the Inis Nua Theater Company at the Off Broad Street Theater at First Baptist Church on Sansom Street in Philadelphia.
On Saturday night, catch Dick Hensold on the Northumbrian pipes—small, quiet bagpipers from Northeast England—at the Water Gallery in Lansdale. Several local Irish musicians have their jewelry and art at the gallery, which also has live music on a regular basis. It’s just down the street from Molly Maguires, a popular Irish pub which also has live music. There’s your Saturday night, right there.
Or, if you’re in Bethlehem, catch Timlin and Kane at the St. James Pub at the Sands Casino, where they’re pretty much the house band.
Jamison fans—and it’s hard not to be a Jamison fan once you hear them—can find their faves at Curran’s in Bensalem on Saturday night.
If you have that good old republican (with a small “r”) spirit, join the group planning a centennial commemoration of the Easter Rising at the MacSwiney Club in Jenkintown on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday evening, celebrate Samhain (that’s Halloween to you non-Irish speakers) at the Irish Center with ghost stories! And they’re straight from the ghosts’ mouth, literally. They’ll be told by Frank and Bill Watson, who are responsible for discovering the bodies and revealing the stories of the 52 Irish immigrants and railway workers who died or were killed during a cholera epidemic at an area called Duffy’s Cut in Malvern nearly 200 years ago, and a paranormal investigator who has worked at the archeological dig. That starts at 5 PM.
The dancers and music lovers who used to spend Sundays at the late, great Emmett’s Place in Philadelphia are holding a reunion at the Rising Sun VFW—with Emmett Ruane himself—on Sunday night. Expect music, dancing, and lots of camaraderie.
A word about next weekend: It’s the annual Mick Moloney and Friends fundraising concert at St. Malachy’s Church in Philadelphia on Sunday November 4. Mick and his friends—all top Irish musicians—will also be stopping at Villanova the night before to raise some money for the Literacy Council.
When he was a folklore PhD candidate and professor at Penn many years ago, Moloney, who is from Limerick, helped reinvigorate the Irish music scene in Philadelphia. While in the city, he befriended St. Malachy’s pastor (now emeritus) John McNamee and has given concerts every year to benefit the mission parish in North Philadelphia and, across the river, Sacred Heart Parish in Camden, NJ.
c=”http://irishinphilly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Irish-bread.jpg” alt=”” width=”425″ height=”282″ /> Tullamore Crew will be making dinner at the Irish Center on Sunday. Take a kitchen break!
Don’t worry about cooking up a big Sunday dinner this weekend. Let the Tullamore Crew do it for you. These veterans of the Shanachie Restaurant and Pub in Ambler, which closed its doors this year, will be serving up three courses of Irish fare at The Irish Center in Philadelphia every third Sunday. The cost is $18 for members, $25 for members (now there’s an impetus to join) and $7 for children. You may have tasted their food at the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem last month.
Check out Inis Nua Theatre Company’s latest offering, “A Slow Air,” one of the non-Irish plays they’re doing this year. (The theatre group does contemporary plays from the UK.) Athol and Morna are a middle-aged brother and sister who are forced to negotiate a truce in their rivalry in the shadow of the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack of 2007. The play runs till October 21 at the Off Broad Street Theater at First Baptist Church in center city.
On Saturday night, the Broken Shillelaghs are performing at The Whiskey Barrell Tavern in Gloucester City, NJ. And on Sunday, you can attend a ceili at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethlehem with music by Pancho, Kevin and Jimmy.
On Thursday, Professor Molly McCloskey of Villanova, a writer, will be hosting a non-fiction reading co-sponsored by the English department at the university.
Also on Thursday, the Claddagh Fund, a nonprofit, and The Galway Guild—they’re Celtic rockers—will be raising money for Hope for The Warriors, which supports veterans, at the Dubh Linn Square Pub in Cherry Hill.
And on Friday, catch Jamison at Kildare’s in Manayunk (they’ll be at Curran’s in Bensalem next Saturday).
As usual, check our calendar for all the details.
Photo Credit: iStock photo by Sarah Brossert.
/irishphiladelphia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/WID.jpg” alt=”” width=”380″ height=”380″ /> The Legendary Wid will be getting laughs on Friday for the Irish Anti-Defamation Federation.
Heads up—the first of the county balls happens this week, as does the first fundraiser by the Irish Anti-Defamation Federation which is also a laugh-raiser.
But we’ll start at the beginning.
Head to McGillicuddy’s in Upper Darby on Sunday and dance the night away to the Theresa Flanagan Band.
This week is also the seniors’ lunch at the Irish Center (on Monday). Enjoy a home-cooked meal and listen to the Vince Gallagher Band (or, better yet, get up on the dance floor), all for free. There will also be a short presentation on the Irish link to Tay-Sachs disease, a fatal genetic illness that strikes babies.
On Tuesday, the Irish American Genealogy Society meets at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby.
On Wednesday, Michael Tubridy, founding member of the Irish music group, The Chieftains, will be at the Irish Center, joining dance instructor John Shields teaching a special set dance class starting at 7:30 PM. Admission is $10. A multi-instrumentalist (and an engineer!) Tubridy is also a dancer.
Big doings next Friday. In Springfield, the Cavan Society is having a ball. They have a ball all the time—they’re a fun-loving group—but this is a dress-up ball. Yes, it’s county society ball season, and Cavan is taking the lead. Donegal and Mayo will follow shortly.
Also on Friday, the first big fundraising event for the Irish Anti-Defamation Federation: An Irish Night of Comedy, featuring local favorite, The Legendary Wid, and four other comics. Wid is really Michael Baldwin, a New Jersey native, who is a prop comic. You know what that means—leave your toupee at home. He’ll grab it and improvise for the laughs. Wid (which is short for “without ID”) has appeared on MTV and Comedy Central. We found a mini-documentary on Wid on the internet to whet your appetite. As Johnny Carson used to say, “Funny, funny stuff.” And for a good cause.
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Cathie Ryan of Cherish the Ladies will debut her new album at the Tin Angel this week.
Incredible weekend ahead!
Clannad, the family band that was formed in Gweedore, County Donegal, in 1970—Moya Brennan is their voice—will be appearing at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside on Saturday night.
And FullSet, a brand new ensemble—named “new group of the year” at the 2012 Live Ireland Music Awards—is at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.
As they say on the late-night infomercials, “but wait, there’s more!”
Timlin and Kane are playing at St. James Pub in Bethlehem on Saturday night.
On Sunday, catch the wonderful little Irish movie, “Once,” that won its stars an Oscar for best movie theme (“Falling Slowly”) at Villanova’s Connelly Center Cinema. Look for our friend, Fergus O’Farrell singing his song, “Gold,” during the session scene.
On Wednesday, Cathie Ryan of Cherish the Ladies will be performing tunes from her new CD, “Through Wind and Rain,” at the Tin Angel. Marianne MacDonald of WTMR 800FM’s Irish music show, “Come West Along the Road,” interviewed Cathie last week and played some cuts. Cathie’s voice will pierce your heart.
On Wednesday, the Brehon Society is starting a three-day symposium on doing business in the US and Ireland. Registration closes on Monday, October 8, so get your dibs in quick. Tickets are available for breakfast with Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia at 8 AM on Friday. Contact Siobhan Lyons at 267-702-5771 for details.
Another plug for our self-service calendar—you can put your own events right on there without any interaction with a human whatsoever by clicking on the Irish Events Listing in the orange bar at the top of our home page and following directions. We’re frequently not home, so we leave the door open for you, our friends to let us know what you’re doing. Don’t make us come after you.
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No Irish Need Apply will be at Brittingham's in Lafayette Hill.
Huge Celtic doings in Bethlehem this weekend as the Celtic Classic gets underway with treats for those who trace their roots back to Ireland or Scotland. That means you can listen to Irish groups like the Glengarry Bhoys, Bua, Barleyjuice, Burning Bridget Cleary, RUNA, and Girsa, while eating haggis.
While the music is always fabulous, what we love about the Classic are the highland games, in which (mainly) burly (mainly) men toss big weights, hammers and cabers—think telephone poles—as far as they can. And there are also the border collies, who would herd butterflies if they could.
It runs throughout the weekend, and there’s plenty of parking and shuttle buses. We have the entire lineup for each day on our calendar.
There’s more—Blackthorn times two. The boys from County Delaware will be at Adelphia in Deptford on Friday night then at the Cardinal O’Hara All Class Reunion on Saturday night at The Deck in Essington.
Catch the Shantys at Paddywhack’s on Welsh Road on Saturday night too. They’re also doing a gig on Friday at the Hibernian Hall in Bristol Borough.
Two local musicians, Cara Frankowicz and Maeve Gilchrist, will be be playing a house concert in Lansdale on Saturday night.
Kevin McCloskey will be playing Irish and American folk songs at Dolan’s Irish Pub in Burlington, NJ, on Saturday night as well.
You’ll need your dress-up clothes for the Philopatrian Ball on Saturday night. It’s being held at the Doubletree in downtown Philadelphia and benefits St. Malachy’s School in North Philadelphia.
Also getting jiggy on Saturday night: No Irish Need Apply will be at Brittingham’s in Lafayette Hill, and Slainte, an offshoot of Jamison, will be at Curran’s Irish Inn in Palmyra, NJ.
On Sunday, there will be a mass in honor of the Northern Irish hunger strikers at St. Anne Church on East Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia with refreshments afterwards.
At the Irish Center, hurling championships from Ireland will televised live. At 8:15 AM, catch the junior final with Dublin facing off against Tipperary. At 10:30 AM, Kilkenny takes on Galway for the senior final. Admission is $20 and breakfast is available for purchase.
AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 is holding its ceili on Sunday in Bridgeport. There will be dancing and music by Tom McHugh with Kevin and Jimmy McGillian.
More celebrations—the McDade School of Irish Dance invited back 50 years worth of students to help it celebrate the big one. There will be music and dancing and reminiscing at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield on Sunday night.
If you’re anywhere near Coatesville, you can hear the talented Irish brothers, Cillian and Niall Vallely at the Coatesville Cultural Society.
Do you have a business that could us an international arm? Find out how to do it on Monday at a conference at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia. Experts, including several lawyers, will talk about the challenges and opportunities—including business-friendly taxes—of establishing your business in Ireland.
He doesn’t sound Irish until you hear him play. Carlos Nunez, an honorary member of The Chieftains, who plays the Galician bagpipes, performs “Celtic music with a Latin passion.” He’ll be at the Sellersville Theatre on Wednesday, October 3.
On Wednesday, join Irish Network-Philadelphia at the Twenty-Two Gallery, owned by member Shawn Murray, for some wine, cheese, chatter, and art-gazing. IN-Philly is also heading to Lancaster for a golf weekend at the end of the week. If you don’t play golf, one word for you: outlets.
Slainte will be playing at Con Murphy’s on the Parkway on Thursday night.
Lots of good music coming up in a few weeks, including Clannad at the Keswick. Mark your calendars for October 19 for the Irish Anti-Defamation Federation’s first major event, a night of comedy. And no, there won’t be any terrible Irish jokes.
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Mmm, butterfly potatoes, a delicious staple of Irish Fall Weekend in N. Wildwood. Get some this weekend.
It’s Irish Fall Weekend in N. Wildwood. You know what that means. Music, food, parades, vendors, and fun by the sea.
On Friday night, catch Belfast Connection, Celtic Connection, the Bogside Rogues, Sean Fleming Band, and Secret Service in the Tent at the Point at Moore’s. On the free live entertainment stage, you’ll hear Brimingham 6, Celtic Pride, Ballina, Moira Maestro McKinney, First Highland Watch, all of whom will be playing the following day as well.
On Saturday, you can hear the Highland Rovers Band, Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfetones, and Celtic Connection at the music tent. That’s after you’ve participated in the 5K run and 1 Mile Walk or taken your free Irish dance lessons at the Anglesea Volunteer Fire House at 2nd and Olde New Jersey Avenues. Don’t forget the Brian Riley Pipe Exhibition at 10 AM with six of the best pipe bands on the east coast. And on the free stage, the Broken Shillelaghs close out the evening.
On Sunday, there’s a parade that starts at 12:30 PM at 24th and Surf Avenues. That follows a Catholic Mass at St. Anne’s Church, 2900 Atlantic Avenue in Wildwood at 10:30 AM.
But that’s not all. This is a big weekend for Irish musicians in New Jersey, as it always is. On Friday night, No Irish Need Apply is performing at Owen’s Pub in North Wildwood, followed by the Birmingham 6. You can hear Clancy’s Pistol at the Anglesea Pub along with the Willie Lynch Band, the Paul Moore Band at Westy’s Pub Deck, Irish Slamm Band at Flip Flopz and the Broken Shillelaghs at Tucker’s in nearby Wildwood.
On Saturday, Slainte (an offshoot of Jamison) is at Keenan’s Irish Pub in North Wildwood, while the Broken Shillelaghs will be at Tucker’s in Wildwood. Don’t miss the Hooligans (with the wild and crazy Luke Jardel) at Westy’s Pub Deck, the Barley Boys at Westy’s Downstairs, the Shantys at the Anglesea Pub tent, the Irish Slamm Band still at Flip Flopz, Seamus Kelleher at Owen’s Pub, the First Highland Watch at the Shamrock Pub, the Malarkey Trio at Westy’s Downstairs, the Paul Moore Band encoring at Westy’s Pub Deck, and Galway Guild at the Anglesea pub tent. We know we’re missing some, but hey, that’s a lot of Irish bands to account for.
On Sunday, the music plays on with some of the same bands. A few changes: the Essex Pipes and Drums will be playing at Owen’s at 3-4 and Barley Juice will be at Flip Flopz from 7 to 11.
Blackthorn will be performing in Sea Isle City this weekend at various times at La Costa, along with West of Galway and Cletus McBride.
And Jamison has six gigs over the weekend, sometimes one right after the other. See them at Casey’s on Third in N. Wildwood on Friday, at Keenans from 4-8 PM, then Casey’s from 9:30 till who knows when on Saturday. They’re back at Caseys on Sunday at noon. They’ve just released a new CD and you’ll get it first if you hook up with them at the shore.
You might think that with all that going on in Jersey, things would be quiet elsewhere, but no! The “Irish Superbowl”—the Sam Maguire Cup match between Donegal and Mayo Gaelic footballers—is on in Croke Park in Dublin. There’s a big pep rally at the Irish Center on Friday night in the ballroom with live music, food, and drink specials (though, alas, we haven’t heard that the Donegal and Mayo societies are sending cheerleaders). Then you can watch the game on TV over a home-cooked Irish breakfast at the center on Sunday at 10 AM for only $20 for the game and $10 for the breakfast.
The Irish Center is also hosting Donegal fiddlers Peter Campbell and Caoimhin Mac Aoidh on Friday night in the Fireside Room. The two will also be appearing on Sunday at the West Chester University Phillips Autograph Library in West Chester.
Oh, but that’s not all. If you can’t go to the shore for the weekend, how about the river? Maggie’s Waterfront Café is holding its own Irish Fall Weekend on Saturday featuring drink specials and The John Byrne Band.
Byrne has started a new regular Sunday session at Maloney’s of Ardmore which will be having two sessions every week. The second, on Tuesday, is the heretofore itinerant session from the Shanachie Restaurant in Ambler, which closed several months ago, led by Fintan Malone. The Shanachie session moved down the street to Finn McCool’s, but when the pub closed after a rear wall collapsed, the session musicians wound up playing in private homes. Now they have a pub to call their own.
How about a blast from the past? The Tannahill Weavers will weave their Scottish musical magic at the Sellersville Theatre on Sunday night. Members get in for half price.
On Tuesday, William Desmond, Irish philosopher and professor at the Higher Institute of Philosophy at the Katholicke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and at Villanova, will be leading a discussion at Villanova’s Driscoll Auditorium on the complexities connected with the philosophical thinking development in the Irish tradition. We Irish love to philosophize.
Then on Wednesday, Irish brothers and musicians Cillian (“Lunasa”) and Niall Vallely will perform at a house concert in Voorhees, NJ. They’re back the following Sunday for a concert at the Coatesville Cultural Center.
Fresh from her triumphant appearance at the Democratic National Convention, one of the “nuns on the bus,” Sister Simone Campbell, will be speaking at Chestnut Hill College on Thursday. Not only is she a religious leader, she’s an attorney and poet who lobbies on issues of peace building, health care, comprehensive immigration reform, and economic justice.
Also on Thursday, the Irish group, BUA, will be performing at a house concert in Ambler. In 2009, they won the Irish Music Awards’ “Top Traditional Group” prize.
Next weekend: Bethlehem’s Celtic Classic, definitely worth a trip north; the Philo Ball at the Doubletree by Hilton, which is raising money for St. Malachy’s School in North Philadelphia; and plenty more. Check our calendar for all the details.
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There's a golf tourney this week to benefit Ciara Kelly Higgins, who doesn't let a little thing like cerebral palsy get her down.
If you’re new to this area, you may not realize this: September is waaaay more Irish than March. And this September is more Irish than usual.
We started out with the national Gaelic Athletic Games in Philly this year, moved to the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival of Irish Music and Dance last week—along with the Mercer Irish Fest in New Jersey—and this week we have the Gloucester City Shamrock Fest in Gloucester City, NJ, the Commodore Barry Day on the New Jersey side of the Commodore Barry Bridge, and the opening day of the AOH Irish Fall Weekend in N. Wildwood, NJ.
Yes, it’s halfway to St. Patrick’s Day, and around here we need to do a lot to keep our spirits up through the fall and winter.
Blackthorn is performing at Xfinity Live for a Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day event on Friday at 9 PM—totally free, along with parking. Nice!
They’ll also be on the main stage at the Haverford Music Festival in Havertown (someone needs to explain that one to me) on Saturday, an all-day fest with all kinds of music.
On Friday night, catch Timlin and Kane at Brittingham’s in Lafayette Hill and the Shantys at the Glenside Pub.
Monday, it’s golf for charity day. In Plymouth Meeting, you can tee off at the Ciara Kelly Higgins Benefit for Cerebral Palsy, which is followed by a dinner, raffles and auctions, The Paul Moore Band, and comic Joe Conklin at the Plymouth Country Club. It benefits 9-year-old Ciara, who is adorable. She was born prematurely and suffers from a form of cerebral palsy, though if you know this feisty little girl, “suffers” may be too strong a word. But her therapy is expensive and her family needs the help.
In Cherry Hill, NJ, on Monday, The Claddagh Fund holds its first annual celebrity golf tourney at the Woodcrest Country Club. The foundation, helmed by the Dropkick Murphy’s lead singer Ken Casey, raises money for underfunded charities serving children, veterans, and recovering substance abusers in the Philadelphia area.
On Wednesday, bring a batch of business cards to the Fairmount Boathouse on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia for the “welcome back” networking reception sponsored by the Irish American Business Chamber and Network. The Chamber promotes business between the US and Ireland as well as business connections between its members.
Those of you who missed the great folk singer Sean Tyrell at the Irish Center last week can catch his one-man musical show, “Who Killed James Joyce?” at the Falvey Library at Villanova University on Thursday. I saw him last week and it was a funny, informative, and moving show that sent me to Google to find some of the Irish poetry Sean set to music.
Boxing fans: The traditional first event of the N.Wildwood Fall Irish Festival is a boxing match, and it’s no different this year. At the Irish Music Tent at Spruce and Olde New Jersey you can catch the action between the Harrowgate Boxing Club of Philadelphia and the Holy Family Boxing Club of Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thursday, September 20.
The music, frivolity, parades, food, vendors and the like start on Friday, September 21, one of the busiest days of the week, Irish-wise.
At the Irish Center, you can take your pick: the 2012 All-Ireland Football Championship rally which will feature drinks, light refreshments, and music to cheer on your favorite team. It’s Donegal Vs. Mayo this year and there are plenty of people in the region who trace their roots back to those two counties, so count on some heated cheering. Then you also have Peter Campbell and Daoimnhin Mac Aoidh—performing as the Fiddle Cases—making those fiddles sing, hopefully in another room, far, far away from the pep rally. They’re also scheduled to appear at West Chester University on Sunday night. Since they’re both Donegal fiddlers, I guess we know who they’ll be rooting for.
Head back to the Irish Center at 10 AM on Sunday to actually watch the game. Wear your helmets.
You can also see Blackthorn again at La Costa in Sea Isle City both Friday and Saturday. I know I’ve said it before, but I liked it better when Blackthorn was in Wildwood during the Irish Weekend. It really sweetened the musical lineup and spread that mayhem over a wider area.
Jamison is in N. Wildwood, playing at Casey’s on Third on Friday night, and at Keenan’s Irish Pub on Saturday, and then back to Casey’s on Sunday. You can catch The Broken Shillelaghs at Tucker’s Pub in Wildwood on Friday night.
Next weekend also starts a new session at Maloney’s Pub of Ardmore, with John Byrne of the The John Bryne Band launching a 6:30 Sunday trad and ballad session.
Coming up: The Bethlehem Celtic Classic and the McDade School of Irish Dance 50th anniversary celebration. But more on those later. Check out our calendar for other upcoming events, including many more events at Villanova, and the Vallely brothers, Cillian and Niall, coming to the Coatesville Irish Music Series on September 30.
