How to Be Irish in Philly

Paraic Keane will perform at the Philadelphia Ceili Group benefit on May 21.

Blockbuster weekend at the Philadelphia Irish Center—too bad you can’t sleep over.

On Saturday night, the Philadelphia Ceili Group is hosting a benefit concert featuring the region’s top trad talent to raise money for the 2011 Ceili Group Irish Traditional Music and Dance Festival, scheduled for September 8-10.

On the bill are Erin Shrader, US Irish fiddle champ, teacher, bow maker, and writer, and recent transplant from California; fiddler Paraic Keane, a Dubliner and son of The Chieftains’ Sean Keane and nephew of noted box player James Keane, also a recent transplant; Ellen Tepper, harpist and historian who plays a variety of harps, including medieval instruments and the Irish wire strung harp; Tim Hill, who has been part of the Philadelphia Irish music scene since he was 9 (he’s 17 now), an uillean pipe and whistle player; Paddy O’Neill, flute and tin whistle player from Derry City; Caitlin Finley, a 20-year-old Columbia University student from King of Prussia who is one of the most highly regarded fiddle players on the East Coast; Andrew Boyd, a fiddler from Cape Breton; and Dan McHugh, an uillean piper who plays in the Philadelphia/Baltimore areas.

It promises to be a foot-tapping, hard-shoe-dancing, clap-till-it-hurts kind of time.

This weekend is your chance to see the Druid Theater’s version of Martin McDonagh’s play, “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” at the Annenberg Center. It is, like all of McDonagh’s works, darkly comic.

On Sunday, the Irish Center and the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia honor 12 women of Irish descent whose lives serve as an inspiration to others. The Inspirational Irish Women Awards will be presented at a cocktail reception hosted by CBS3 reporter Kathy Orr, herself a 2010 recipient of the award.

Two remarkable musicians—multi-instrumentalist and singer, Gabriel Donohue, who has toured with The Chieftains, performed at the White House, and at Carnegie Hall (five times—that’s a lot of practice, practice, practice), and singer Marian Makins—will be performing. The Rince Ri Dancers will open the awards presentations and there will be a tribute performance by Dennis Gormley and Kathy DeAngelo (McDermott’s Handy) for the late Liz Crehan Anderson, one of the honorees and well known in Philadelphia’s Irish traditional music community. Photographer Brian Mengini’s portraits of the women will be on display.

For more information, go to the Inspirational Irish Women Awards website.

Oh, and there’s more going on elsewhere. On Sunday at Molly Maguire’s Pub in Lansdale, our friend Bill Reid of East of the Hebrides Entertainment is bringing in those wild barbarians of drum solos, Albannach, and Paul Moore and Friends for “Molly’s Music Fest,” in the streets. Should be a good time.

The Bucks County Irish Center Festival is also taking place on Sunday at Park Polanka in Bensalem. And The Old Blind Dogs, a Scottish group, will be performing at Hockessin Memorial Hall in Hockessin, DE, the same day.

On Thursday, the 22nd Annual Cape May Music Festival kicks off with an all-star Irish band. The Pride of New York features some of the greats of Irish traditional music, including Cherish the Ladies’ own Joanie Madden, fiddler Brian Conway; accordion player Billy McComiskey (whose son, Sean, was recently on stage at the Philadelphia Irish Center and who, we hear, will be there himself for the Ceili Group festival in September) and keyboardist Brendan Dolan. Opening for this Irish supergroup is our own local McDermott’s Handy (Dennis Gormley and Kathy DeAngelo).

Check out our calendar for all the details.

Our Galway friends will be dining and dancing, not marching this Saturday.

Here’s something you don’t often hear us say: It’s a relatively quiet week in Irish Philadelphia. But there’s still craic going on.

This is the weekend that you can dine and dance with the Galway Society—yes, all of them–at their annual dinner-dance at the Philadelphia Irish Center. The Vince Gallagher Band and Friends will provide the music for this Saturday night gala.

This is also a good week to see the Inis Nua Theatre Company’s production of “Dublin by Lamplight” at Broad Street Ministries in Philadelphia. We saw it last weekend and smiled the whole time, even during the “tragedy” parts. It runs through May 14.

And Spike TV’s new reality series, “Bar Rescue,” is coming to town in the early part of the week to Downey’s at 526 South Street in Philadelphia. Like Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” this show will be chronicling struggling pubs’ last shot at avoiding last call. The producers want you to look your best because there will be TV cameras there and you may get your chance at stardom. Okay, probably not. But dress nicely anyhow. The crew will be there Monday at 7 PM, Tuesday at 8:30 PM, and Thursday at 8:30 PM.

Let John McDevitt help you find your ancestors—the ones who left a trail, that is—at the monthly genealogical meeting at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby (be there at 11 AM and stay for lunch) on Thursday, May 12.

On Thursday night, head to the Irish Center for a meeting of the newly formed Irish Anti-Defamation Federation to help strategize a way that we never have to encounter any more of those stupid “[Blank] Me I’m Irish” and “Drink Till You’re Green” t-shirt on St. Paddy’s Day or ever again. We’re tired of photoshopping that out of pictures. And no, I don’t want to see your leprechaun or your blarney stones. You’re making us cranky.

Starting on Friday, the AOH/LAOH Div. 51 will be out in force collecting food and personal items for veterans at the Port Richmond Village Thriftway at Aramingo and York in Philadelphia. They’ll be there all weekend on behalf of the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center in Philadelphia.

On Saturday, May 14, the Phoenixville Celtic Street Fair celebrates its fifth with music, food and vendors—and no admission fee—on Bridge Street between Main and Gay Streets in this most Irish of towns. It runs from 10 AM to 5:30 PM.

That gives you plenty of time to get to the Gwynedd Friends Coffee House in Gwynedd to catch the Jameson Sisters—Terry Kane and Ellen Tepper, two of the most talented and funniest people we know.

Also, local AOH groups are supporting a New York fundraiser for Gerry McGeough, an author, teacher, and president of the Tyrone County Board of the AOH, who is in Maghaberry Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland as the result of a 1981 incident in which McGeough and a British Ulster Defense Regiment soldier  were wounded.

Be sure to go to the Inspirational Irish Women Awards website to order your tickets to this totally feel-good event. Tables are going fast. The wonderful Gabriel Donohue and Marian Makins, along with Dennis Gormley and Kathy De Angelo, will be performing at the afternoon cocktail reception at the Irish Center on Sunday, May 22. You can also read about some of the women–including a Philadelphia police officer who spends her vacation time volunteering in El Salvador, a local kids’ radio host who has won a prestigious Peabody award, and  a nurse who won an award for courage.

Check out our calendar for all the pertinent details, and few not so pertinent ones that we throw in there just for kicks.

Jack Wink is dressed for the Derry Spring Social.

I don’t know about you, but that Royal Wedding tired me out. I stayed up all night making my hat. I donated it to Habitat for Humanity and a family of four is living in it now.

But I’m not too tired to be heading into Philadelphia tomorrow night to see “Dublin by Lamplight,” the latest play in the Philadelphia Irish Theater Festival, produced by the Inis Nua Theatre Company. The play, a tragi-comedy (which is to say it’s Irish) will be at the Broad Street Ministries until May 14. Read more about it here.

There’s plenty going on this week to keep everyone happy. You dancers! The AOH Notre Dame Division 1 in Swedesburg is holding a ceili on Saturday night at 7 PM featuring the musical stylings of Kevin, Jimmy and Judy—that’s two McGillians and a Brennan—family names synonymous with ceili music in the Philadelphia area. It doesn’t get any better.

On Saturday, AOH Div. 87 is holding a beef and beer at their hall on Wakeling Street in Philadelphia to raise money for the families of Irish prisoners of war. Raymond Coleman and Pat Close and the Brigade are providing the music.

Remarkable fiddler Randal Bays and guitarist Davey Mathias will be performing at the Coatesville Cultural Center—another blockbuster concert from Frank Dalton.

On Sunday, bring the kids and yourself to the Irish Center as the Derry Society holds its second annual (we hope) Derry Social with three bands, great food, and lots of games for the kids. We went last year and had a ball.

The AOH is busy this weekend. The Gloucester County AOH is holding a memorial event on the 30^th anniversary of the Irish political prisoners’ hunger strike of 1981 during which 10 young men, including Bobby Sands, died.

On May 5, Irish Network-Philly is going to mix some ethnic metaphors. They’re holding a Cinco de Mayo Happy Hour at Tir na Nog on Arch Street in Philly. Actually, it’s a celebration of the first anniversary of this organization founded to bring together disparate parts of the region’s Irish community. Happy Birthday, IN-Philly!

Speaking of anniversaries—the Galway Society is celebrating its 102^nd (gosh, you don’t look a day over 100) on Saturday, May 7, by throwing a dinner-dance at the Irish Center, starting with an open bar at 6 PM, followed by dinner and dancing to music by the Vince Gallagher Band and Friends. Happy Anniversary to our friends from Galway!

As always, check our calendar for all the details. And check back during the week, since we’re always adding more.

Siobhan Hughes leads the procession at Holy Cross Cemetery for the Easter Rising commemoration.

This weekend, the Bristol Riverside Theatre is present Late Nite Catechism 2, the return of “Sister,” who in LNC 1 was filling in for Father Murphy at his late night catechism class because he was attending his weekly poker game. Sister covers everything from Vatican to the afterlife to the “publics”—those unfortunate kids who didn’t go to Catholic School. In the sequel, Sister is instructing her class—that would be the audience—about the afterlife, including heaven, hell, purgatory and limbo. This one-nun play is as instructive as it is funny so even if you were a “public,”  it will probably do your soul good.

On Saturday, the California Celtic group Tempest—which only contains one Celt, fiddler Michael Mullen—will be bringing its high energy brand of modern folk rock with Norwegian influences (group leader Leif Sorbye is a native) to the stage at The Colonial Theatre. Opening for them is the popular local folk group, Full Frontal Folk.

On Sunday, we take a serious turn: Commemoration of the 1916 Irish Easter uprising that helped pave the way for an independent Irish state. The ceremonies take place at  Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon. The event starts with a procession to the grave of Fenian financier Joseph McGarrity, a Tyrone man and member of Clan na Gael, who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1892 where he became a successful businessman. There’s a social immediately after at the Galileo Club of Yeadon.

On Sunday evening, the group Belfast Connection is holding an EP release party at Brittingham’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Lafayette Hill where group members often played when they were part of the late great Paddy’s Well. Dancing is encouraged.

If you own a pub or work in one, you should consider signing up asap for the Irish Pubs Global Conference being held over three days at Philadelphia’s Crystal Tea Room. Dave Magrogan, founder of local pub phenom Kildare’s, is a guest speaker.

Coming up next week: NicGaviskey, a transatlantic trad band (members come from Ireland and the US—maybe they practice via Skype), will be appearing on stage at the Irish Center on Saturday, April 23,  thanks to the Philadelphia Ceili Group. You can listen to them online (try not to tap your toes and bounce in your seat too much) and check out their photos (they’re very cute!). If you think that’s a funny name for a band, read their names. See? Get it? It’s a nice pre-Easter concert and kids are welcome.

If you’re in Bethlehem on Saturday, stop in and hear one of our favorite local bands, RUNA, at the small, cozy Godfrey Daniels Coffee House. If you haven’t been to Bethlehem, you should go. Stop in for lunch or the musical traditional breakfast on Sunday morning at Granny McCarthy’s Tea Room on Main Street (attached to Donegal Square, a huge Celtic gift shop).

Also heading our way, Cappella Caeciliana, the premier liturgical choir in Northern Ireland, will give two free performances, one at Villanova (April 27)  and the other at St. Malachy’s Church in North Philadelphia (April 28), before they head to Washington, DC, to perform at the National Cathedral. We’ll have a story on them next week.

And we’re getting excited about the debut of “Dublin by Lamplight,” an ambitious play produced by the fearless Inis Nua Theatre Company, in which six people play more than 30 roles. The play is being staged in the Sunday School room of the Broad Street Ministry building, a 1901 Gothic Revival church where John Wanamaker used to worship, across the street from the Kimmel Center. Preview is April 26 and opening night April 27.

This week’s answer to the question–where will I find more information on these events?–is the same as it always is. All the details are on our calendar.

It's bingo afternoon at the Irish Immigration Center! Photo by iStockphoto.

This Saturday, you can combine some good-deed-doing with fun at the Eighth Annual Project Children fundraiser at Gloucester County AOH Richard T. Rossiter Memorial Hall in National Park, NJ. (It’s just over the bridge from Philadelphia.) The Broken Shillelaghs and O’Farrelly’s Whiskey will provide the music in support of this organization that brings children from Northern Ireland to the US for four weeks in the summer.

And while you’re in Jersey on Saturday, check out Enter the Haggis, a Canadian group with a huge local following, at the Appel Farm Arts & Music Center in Elmer. On Thursday, the Appel Farm is kicking off its annual June music festival at a free event at Fergie’s Pub on Sansom Street in Philadelphia with performers, giveaways, and drink specials. There will be buses leaving from Fergie’s to take festival goers to Elmer for the day-long event (featuring our own local phenoms, RUNA) on June 4. It’s never too early to celebrate.

Scots folk singer Archie Fisher and Canadian singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers are coming together in concert for Green Willow on Monday at the Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, DE.

On Wednesday, it’s Bingo! afternoon at the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia in Upper Darby. Bring your bingo markers and join in the fun.

Later in the afternoon, enjoy an “Afternoon of Irish-American Poetry” with Dr. Joseph Lennon of Villanova and Dr. Nathalie Anderson of Swarthmore at the Falvey Library on Villanova’s campus.

Beginner ceili dance classes, taught by local dance celebrity Rosemarie Timoney, are being held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside every Wednesday for the next 13 weeks. It’s open to anyone, 12 and up.

On Thursday, genealogist John McDevitt will be offering tips and advice for anyone looking for their Irish ancestors at the Irish Immigration Center. Ooops, adventures in grammar—you probably won’t find your Irish ancestors at the immigration center, but John will help you find them wherever else they may be.

Dublin alt-folk songwriters Kevin May and Mick Lynch of The Guggenheim Grotto will bring their own brand of folk-acoustic stylings to the World Café Live on Thursday.

On Friday, kick up your heels with The Shantys at the Gloucester County AOH Hall in National Park, NJ. That place is rockin’ this week.

Also on tap this week: The paintings of Irish T.C. Murphy at the Rowan Gallery in Philadelphia, and “The Pride of Parnell Street,” a Sebastian Barry play, on stage at ACT II Playhouse in Ambler.

One change to our calendar—the Jam for Japan scheduled for Saturday was cancelled because of flu. They’re going to reschedule when they get well.

Coming up next week—tax day! Boo! Think about celebrating it with the John Byrne Band and Citizens Band Radio at the Tin Angel on 2^nd Street in Philadelphia. Or with the crazy Norwegian-Celtic group Tempest at The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, with their special guests, Full Frontal Folk, one of the area’s best folk groups. The Bristol Theatre is bringing Late Night Catechism II to the stage for those of you who missed Sister. And the Irish Pubs Global Conference is coming to Philly—but it’s only open to pub owners and staffs. Our own Dave Magrogan (founder of the Kildare’s empire) will be a speaker.

Later this month—Irish Night at the Reading Phillies, Fiddler Randal Bays and guitarist Davey Mathias, a visit from a celebrated Belfast choral group (we’ll have more on them later), and much, much more. Stay tuned! And read the calendar for all the details.