How to Be Irish in Philly

She's ready for the St. Patrick's Day parade! First fundraiser this weekend!

Had enough snow? Too bad—more is on the way. But you’re so experienced at navigating streets that look like the South Pole that it probably won’t stop you from heading out this week for a hit of Irish.

Like tomorrow. The first of several fundraisers for the Philadelphia’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is happening at Paddy Whack’s on the Roosevelt Boulevard, sponsored by AOH Division 25. Slainte will be providing the music and AOH 25 President Pearse Kerr will be celebrity bartender (and a real celebrity he is—Kerr, who grew up in Belfast, is grand marshal of the Burlington County St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New Jersey).

Also on the agenda for Saturday is the installation of the statue of Our Lady of Knock at the Irish Center by the Mayo Association. The group will place the statue, sculpted in Knock, County Mayo, in the Irish Center dining room. There will be a party afterwards.

If you’re in Bethlehem or heading to the Christmas city, Tony McAuley, author of “The Paperboy,” set in 1970s Belfast, will be speaking at Granny McCarthy’s Restaurant and Tea Room at a breakfast event.

Interested in your family history? Head on down to the Irish Immigration Center on Thursday, February 10, and genealogy expert John McDevitt will help you unearth your ancestors (on paper, that is—no shovels required).

And get your tickets now for next Saturday’s big concert at the Irish Center. Danish banjo and bouzouki player Jonas Fromseier and American piper and flute player Isaac Alderson will be joining forces on the stage as part of their two-week US tour. Don’t let those names fool you. This is a Philadelphia Ceili Group concert so the music will be Irish.

Looking ahead: The Abbey Theatre of Dublin’s production of the play, “Terminus,” is coming on February 16 to the Zellerbach Theater in Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia Irish Theater Festival. Remember, you can get 20 percent off ticket prices by getting tickets to two or more plays through the Theatre Alliancec of Greater Philadelphia. So while you’re at it, buy tickets for Martin McDonagh’s “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” at the Plays and Players Theater (Theatre Exile) which debuts February 17. Order tickets here.

Two thirds of the Clancys here--Aoife and Robbie O'Connell, far right--will be in Ambler this week. The extra Clancy is Donal.

Round up the usual suspects—there’s a Blackthorn concert this weekend! The popular local Celtic rock group is playing a benefit for AOH Black Jack Kehoe Division 4 on Saturday night at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Springfield.

And that’s just one of many enticing events this weekend. For example, they’ll be kicking up their heels at the AOH Notre Dame Hall in Swedesburg Saturday night at their annual ceili. And multi-talented trad performer Gabriel Donohue and singer Marian Makins will be performing the same night at the Shanachie Pub and Restaurant in Ambler.

On Sunday, fiddler Brian Conway will be holding a traditional fiddle workshop at West Chester University and you can catch him later that night at a special session at Kildare’s Pub in West Chester.

More big doings at Shanachie: Robbie O’Connell and his cousin, Aoife Clancy, will be celebrating the Clancy legacy (he’s a former Clancy Brother though his mom was a Clancy sister, and her dad was one of the Clancy Brothers) at the Ambler pub on Thursday, January 27.

On Friday, a freebie from Jamison—a thank-you show (they were voted best Irish band in the US in the Strangford Lough Brewing Company’s annual battle of the bands) at the AOH Div. 39 Hall on Tulip Street in Philadelphia.

And all this week—“Pumpgirl,” Abbie Spallen’s play about dark deeds in a Northern Irish border town and Martin McDonagh’s darkly funny “A Skull in Connemara” are on stage. “Pumpgirl” is produced by the Inis Nua Theatre Company and is at the Adrienne at Sansom and 20th, while “Skull” is at the Lantern Theater Company’s location at St. Stephen’s Church at 11th and Ludlow Streets in Philadelphia. We’ve reviewed them both.

Check out our calendar for all the details.

Martin McDonagh, whose play is starting up next week at Lantern.

Some great events coming up this month, including the exciting Philly debut of “Pumpgirl” a play that comes from Northern Ireland, and a Martin McDonagh classic, “A Skull in Connemara,” all part of a particularly rich season for Irish plays in Philadelphia. You can even save money on tickets if you see two or more of these topnotch productions

The play, “Pumpgirl,” which opens on Tuesday, January 11, at the Adrienne Theatre in Philadelphia, takes place in a post-Troubles world, specifically in a border town rural Northern Ireland. It’s the story of a homely, tomboyish “pump girl” at a gas station who develops an obsession with a handsome, married race car driver. It’s being produced by the Inis Nua Theatre Company, which presents modern plays from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

“The play really presents a different side of Northern Ireland,” says Inis Nua Artistic Director Tom Reing. “Most works about the north are very Troubles-focused. It’s definitely there in ‘Pumpgirl,’ but the references are all in the past, like ‘it’s that hotel that was bombed in 1994.’ It’s also filled with weird things about Irish country music and stock car racing, which is huge over there and
which most people aren’t going to really be familiar.”

The January 13 performance is a fundraiser for the Irish Immigration and will feature a post-performance discussion with Irish playwright Abbie Spallen, who has been working with Reing during the play’s rehearsals.

“A Skull in Connemara,” one the McDonagh Leenane trilogy, goes on stage in preview at St. Stephen’s Theater at 10th and Ludlow Streets on January 13. The production by the Lantern Theatre Company is directed by M. Craig Getting and Kathryn McMillan, whose most recent show was the critically acclaimed production of “Uncle Vanya.” Official opening night is January 19.

Bonus for Irish theater lovers: These plays are part of the Philadelphia Irish Theatre Festival and Irish Mix Tix. Six local theater companies are presenting works by Irish playwrights now through May and you can save 20 percent off ticket prices if you order tickets to two or more productions at http://www.theatrealliance.org/irish-theatre-mixtix.

Other plays upcoming: Terminus by Mark O’Rowe with the Abbey Theatre of Dublin at the Harold Prince Theater, February 16-20; “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” another of McDonagh’s Leenane plays, at Plays and Players February 17-March 13; Sebastian Barry’s “The Pride of Parnall Street,” at Act II Playhouse in Ambler March 22-April 17; “Dublin by Lamplight,” by Michael West,
at Broad Street Ministries in Philadelphia, another Inis Nua Production; and The Druid Theatre of Galway’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” the third Mc Donagh play this season, at the Zellerbach, May 19-May 22.

Now, let’s take a peek into next week:

On Saturday, January 15, three bands will be playing at J.D. McGillicuddy’s in Kirklyn at the first of two fundraisers to bring in bucks to support the Sunday WTMR 800-AM Irish Radio Shows, hosted by Vince Gallagher and Marianne MacDonald, aired every Sunday from 11 AM to 1 PM.

That evening, guitarist and balladeer Pat Egan and all-Ireland piper Michael Cooney will be performing in the cozy living room at Spring Hill House in Lansdale for a house concert. They’re calling their duo “The Boys from Tipperary” because they are both boys from Tipperary. Now that’s clever.

And on Sunday, join AOH/LAOH Div. 87 for their annual beef and beer at Finnigan’s Wake. We’ve partied with this crew and they are fun, fun, fun. And you can hear the new Paul Moore and Friends band, featuring a few folks from the late great Paddy’s Well. Of course, everything the AOH/LAOH does is for charity so you can have fun while patting yourself on the back for doing a good deed.

The Irish know how to party: Jim Larson of Ardmore at last year's New Year's Eve party at the Irish Center.

The best way to be Irish this week is to spend Christmas with your family and friends. But you knew that.

But after Christmas. . . Stop in at the Knights of Columbus hall in Glenside on December 26 for the annual Wren party, an Irish tradition with silly hats, frivolity, food, drink, music and dancing. There will be prizes for best Wren boy.

On Tuesday, December 28, the John Byrne Band along with faithful companions, Citizen Band Radio, will be performing their holiday show at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia.

Get ready to ring in the New Year at the Irish Center on December 3. The Vince Gallagher Band will be playing, there will be a midnight champagne toast, and some delicious food.

Speaking of 2011, there’s some great stuff coming up in January that we’ll be posting shortly.

We’re going to Craggy Island for about a week, coming back with a brand new look and the same old sass. So if we don’t see you, have a very happy Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Le gach dea-ghui i gcomhair na nollag agus na hath bhliana!

Don’t try to pronounce it. You’ll just hurt yourself.

Get set for a Blackthorn Christmas.

Not invited to any Christmas parties? I’m sure you’ll be welcome at the Derry Society Christmas party at the Irish Center on Friday night at 7 PM. They know how to throw a great bash.

You can party with Coyote Run at the Sellersville Theatre on Friday night too. They’re presenting their annual “A Kilted Christmas.” And “Dublin Carol” is still on at the Amaryllis Theatre in Philadelphia.

Just want to kick back and relax? Or jig? The Broken Shillelaghs are at Dublin Square Pub in Bordentown on Friday night too. Brew, burger, Irish music. . .it’s all good.

Saturday is jam-packed:

The O’Grady Quinlan dance school is holding two Christmas celebrations, featuring performances by their championship dancers and comic performer Seamus Kennedy at the Allentown Symphony Hall in Allentown.

Robert Mouland will again be portraying Irish harper Michael Keane, who came to America in 1754, presenting songs of the season on ancient instruments including the wirestrung harp, clavicord, baroque violin and others at the Old Dutch Parsonage in Somerville, NJ.

Fiddler Patrick Mangan and guitarist-singer Ryan McGiver will be in town on Saturday too, thanks to the Philadelphia Ceili Group. Mangan, from Brooklyn, is a two-time All-Ireland champion who appeared in Riverdance on Broadway at the age of 16 and was a featured soloist from 2006 to the present. McGiver is a critically acclaimed guitarist and singer who has appeared on stage with many performers familiar to Philly’s Irish audiences, including singer Susan McKeown, Kevin Crawford of Lunasa, piper Ivan Goff, The Kane Sisters and Edel Fox. They’ll be performing both Irish and American tunes at this evening concert at the Irish Center.

And Blackthorn will be singing Christmas carols at the Blarney Stone in West Chester on Saturday night too–their annual Christmas show!

As we inch closer to Christmas, there’s a lovely evening of Christmas music planned at St. Vincent DePaul Church in Richboro featuring local musician Bill Monaghan and others. Admission is free, though donations are appreciated—they’ll go to Philabundance, which provides food for the needy, and Bridge to Uganda, a nonprofit that is building a high school in Uganda, Africa. Bring canned goods—specifically cans of string beans, sweet peas, corn, gravy, whole cranberries and cranberries for food baskets being assembled by a local charity.

If you’re doing your last minute shop in downtown Philadelphia on December 23, stop in to hear Bob Hurst and Tim Murphy of the Bogside Rogues performing at Con Murphy’s Irish Pub, right on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It’s mighty pretty downtown right now.

That brings us right up to. . .Merry Christmas, from me, Jeff, and Lori. And I’m sure our friends, including the ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future, our paranormal reporter, SE Burns as well as our stable of volunteer photographers Gwyneth MacArthur, Brian Mengini, Eileen McElroy, and Lisa Marie Hunt join us in saying, “Nollaig Shona Daoibh!” and “Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh!” Though it’s quite likely, only a few of us will say it correctly.

Harper Ellen Tepper will be playing a Christmas show in Bethlehem.

Hoping to get my Christmas spirit on this weekend at the Irish Center. Maybe you’ll find yours there. On Sunday, the Mayo and Donegal Associations are holding their Christmas Mass with dinner afterwards, and that rolls right into “Irish Christmas in America,” the gorgeous musical production from one of Ireland’s top traditional groups, Teada, with singer-musician-comic Seamus Begley guest starring along with harper Grainne Hambley and sean nos dancer, the devilishly handsome Brian Cunningham from Connemara.

Before that, on Friday night, there’s a Christmas Ceili in the Fireside Room with music and dancing and a roaring fire. And all within a few feet of one of the greatest bars ever. And if you’re downtown, stop in at Tir na Nog for the Irish Network-Philly first-ever Christmas party.

In Bethlehem on Saturday, local harper and singer Ellen Tepper will be playing at McCarthy’s Tea Room for two seatings of McCarthy’s traditional Irish Christmas dinner. If you’ve never been to Bethlehem at Christmas—it’s known as the Christmas City, after all—you’re missing a lot. Do a little shopping (at Donegal Square or the Moravian Book Store, two of my favorite spots), stop in at the Hotel Bethlehem to see if there are any vacancies, or wander in to the Bethlehem Brew Pub for a burger and brew before sitting down to a great meal and wonderful music.

Of course, there’s so much going on this Saturday that you’re going to be missing something: Slide is at the Zellerbach Theatre, Burning Bridget Cleary is at Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville, “Dublin Carol” is continuing its two-week run at the Amaryllis Theatre in Philly, Shane O’Donnell’s documentary “Wizards of the PCT” is playing at the MacSwiney Club in Jenkintown (with live music!), and St. Malachi’s Church in Doe Run is holding its annual candlelight Celtic Christmas event.

On Sunday, along with all the festive goings-on at the Irish Center, Father John McNamee, pastor emeritus of St. Malachi’s Parish and celebrated poet, will be reading from his latest book, “Derrybeg and Back,” at the Society Hill Playhouse at 3 PM. He’ll also sign copies of the book—Christmas present alert!

Fiddler Paraic Keane and Mad Mission will be playing at Con Murphy’s Pub on the Parkway Sunday night too—go there after you hear Father McNamee. It’s a hop, skip, and a jump away.

On Monday, a real treat—a preview reading from the play, “Pumpgirl,” which the Inis Nua Theatre Company is bringing to Philadelphia’s Adrienne Theatre January 11-23. Meet the cast at Fergie’s Pub on Sansom Street at 6 PM. Check out Fergie’s new menu—BBQ!

On Friday, December 17, Coyote Run is presenting its annual “A Kilted Christmas” at the Sellersville Theatre. That’s the lead-in to another killer Irish weekend, with trad musicians Patrick Mangan and Ryan McGiver concerting at the Irish Center and lots of fun elsewhere leading up to the big day.

Don’t forget—Sunday, the WTMR 800AM Irish radio shows are conducting a fund drive. Listen in starting at 11 AM and call in your pledges to one of the many hard-working volunteers who sometimes spend two hours tucked into a dark, back studio with nothing but their Android phone for company, text messaging with crazy people. And you know who you are.