How to Be Irish in Philly

Blazing fire, Christmas tree, dancing ... there's a Christmas Ceili at the Irish Center this week.

Christmas moves into high gear this week in the Irish community. Here’s how we roll:

Saturday
The Peter J. Hanlon Jingle Bell Run gets started at 7:30 AM at St. George’s at Venango and Edgemont. The annual event honors a former officer of AOH Div. 87 and raises money for charity.

Bring the kids to meet Santa, play games, and do arts and crafts at the Rose of Tralee’s Santa’s Workshop and Christmas celebration in the Irish Center’s cozy Fireside Room. Meet the reigning Mid-Atlantic Rose of Tralee Mairead Conley.

The Celtic Tenors will be performing that evening at the War Memorial in Trenton.

Sunday
If you’re in the gift-giving mood already, consider phoning in your pledge to help keep the WTMR 800-AM Sunday radio shows on the air. I’ll be there taking calls and I’ll toss in an extra $5 for every call I get! So, call me! (Imagine me making that little call-me thing with my hand.)

Then head on over to Finnigan’s Wake on Spring Garden Street in Philly for a day of Irish music, dancing, food, and vendors (think Christmas shopping). You might see me there too, but don’t expect me to give you $5. BYOMoney.

Also on Sunday, in Cochranville, PA, St. Malachi’s Church is giving the first of two performances of its candlelight Celtic music event, with Celtic gifts and free appetizers. The second performance is December 11.

Tuesday
Catch the preview performance of “Dublin Carol,” by Conor McPherson, at the Amaryllis Theatre on Sansom Street in Philadelphia. On Broadway, everyone’s favorite CSI actor, William Peterson (Grissom), played the lead role. This is just one of a half dozen or so Irish plays coming to Philadelphia this year, creating an unofficial Irish Theatre Festival. The play, a decidedly Irish take on the Dickens’ classic, runs for two weeks and tickets cost only $10!

Friday
Philly’s newest Irish organization, IN-Philly, will hold its Christmas party at Tir na Nog at 16th and Arch in Philadelphia starting at 6 PM. Guests of IN-Philly members get a discounted rate. Not a member? Here’s your chance to join up while everyone is feeling very jolly (not that they’re not always jolly), meet some new people, and network in a Christmassy way.

The Philadelphia Ceili Group’s Christmas Ceili is also this night. Bring your instrument, your dancing shoes and a batch of Christmas cookies and have a blast. Actually, you don’t have to bring any of those things—just yourself. But if you want to bring Christmas cookies, no one will stop you.

Looking ahead:
Saturday, December 11, you can catch a movie (“Wizards of the PCT,” a documentary about a group of wild hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail, along with music from the performers who did the soundtrack, including Damion Wolfe, Camp Arawak, and The Helots) at Jenkintown’s McSwiney Club.

Up in Bethlehem, enjoy a delicious dinner and some delicious harp music from local harper Ellen Tepper at McCarthy’s Tea Room.

Slide, an Irish group who do traditional music “with attitude,” will be at the Zellerbach Theatre on Saturday night.

Burning Bridget Cleary is on tap at the Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville, one of the region’s most Irish towns.

Then, on Sunday, Irish Christmas in America comes back to the Irish Center featuring one of Ireland’s best traditional bands, Teada, with singer Seamus Begley. Not to be missed.

See our calendar for all the details!

Oisin MacDiarmada of Teada will be bringing Irish Christmas in America to the Philadelphia Irish Center.

Between a hefty dose of turkey and getting up at 3 AM to be first in line at Walmart, you’re all probably going to sleep through the weekend. But, seriously, if you wake up from your nap occasionally, consider being Irish by:

• Attending the 122nd Donegal Ball on Saturday night. Not only is Blackthorn playing (Blackthorn!), part of the evening is turned over to the selection of the next Mary from Dungloe from Philadelphia. The winner of this annual pageant will go to Dungloe, County Donegal, next summer (provided there still is an Ireland) to compete in the international event.
• Listening to the Sunday Irish radio shows on WTMR-800AM starting at 11 AM. Vince Gallagher and Marianne MacDonald will be launching their next appeal for funds to help pay for the shows, which have been a Delaware Valley tradition for many years. Consider whether you could be an advertiser for the shows, that reach thousands of people from all over the Philly area and New Jersey. If you have an Irish-themed business or are an Irish-themed person yourself, you may be able to reach your target audience via Irish radio.
• Sunday-brunching in Bethlehem at McCarthy’s tearoom which features a delicious menu and traditional Irish music.

And during the week:

On Tuesday three of Ireland’s top young novelists—Kevin Barry, Claire Kilroy and Paul Murray (longlisted for England’s 2010 Book Prize) will read from their recent works at Villanova University’s Falvey Library Lounge.

On Wednesday, the Brehon Law Society is having its annual Christmas part at Tir Na Nog.

On Thursday, continue in the Christmas spirit when the Irish American Family History Society holds its Celtic Christmas Celebration at the Camden County Library Voorhees Branch. Hopefully, you won’t have to keep your cheer to a dull whisper.

Three fun events next Saturday:

The Peter J. Hanlon Memorial Jingle Bell Run sets off from St. George’s Catholic Church at Venango and Edgemont Streets in Philadelphia to raise money for charity in the name of a former officers of AOH Div. 87 who dies in 2007.

The Philadelphia Rose of Tralee will be holding its annual Santa’s Workshop and Christmas celebration at The Irish Center. There will be arts and crafts, face painting, games, raffle prizes, food and a visit from Santa. Bring canned food donations—one can equals one free raffle ticket! Kids and parents can meet the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Rose of Tralee, Mairead Conley.

The Celtic Tenors will be performing with the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra at the Patriots Theater at Trenton’s War Memorial on Saturday night.

As always, you can find details and even maps on our interactive calendar.

And don’t forget to get your tickets to see Irish Christmas in America, which comes to the Irish Center on December 12. Featuring Irish band Teada, singer Seamus Begley and a remarkable Irish dancer from Connemara, Brian Cunningham. Get ready for a warm, wonderful Christmassy evening with some amazing music. Contact Jim McGill at ceiliconcerts@gmail.com or Tom Walsh at the Irish Center (215-843-8051).

And while you’re feeling the Christmas spirit, consider “Dublin Carol,” a play by Conor McPherson at the Amaryllis Theatre on Sansom Street in Philadelphia which opens for a two-week run starting December 7. This take on Dickens involves a Dublin undertaker whose life was nearly destroyed by drinking who, while telling his young assistant about his life one Christmas eve, is interrupted by a mysterious visitor who brings his past and present together, and threatens his future. Call 215-717-2173 for tickets.

The John Byrne Band will be appearing at the World Cafe Live on Friday night.

It’s a surprisingly busy week for the one leading up to Thanksgiving. If you’re not too crazed making stuffing, cranberry relish, and pies, there’s lots of Irish craic going on. There are even some events where you can take your visiting relatives so you don’t actually have to talk to them.

But let’s start with Friday. The John Byrne Band is playing Friday night at the World Café Live where a new chef—Jim Coleman of Coleman’s in Blue Bell and WHYY’s Saturday morning radio show, “A Chef’s Table”—is taking over the restaurant which was already good. Starting off the evening will be Citizen’s Band Radio which shares some band members with Byrne. Very handy.

If you’re in Bethlehem, check out “The Lost Ones,” a play based on a short story by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett about an entire world enclosed in a small cylinder and the people who inhabit it. And no, it’s not that little world you saw in “Men in Black.” The play was originally performed at the Capitol Fringe Festival.

On Saturday, the McDade-Cara Dancers are holding their annual dance recital at Msgr. Bonner High School in Drexel Hill. It may seem weird to go to a dance recital when you don’t know any of the dancers, but McDade-Cara produces some world class Irish dancers so it’s great entertainment. And the little ones are so cute! We went last year and had a blast.

One of Northern Ireland’s greatest folk singers is coming to Chestnut Hill for a house concert on Saturday night. Gabriel McArdle was one of the musicians chosen to represent Ulster at the Smithsonian Folklife Celebration in Washington a few years ago. Check the calendar for contact info—the location’s a secret unless you pay for a ticket.

On Sunday, Irish Network-Philly will be raising the flags at the Irish Memorial on Penns Landing. Every few months, a different Irish organization in the area takes responsibility for raising both Old Glory and the Irish tri-color. The event starts at 12 pm and is followed by a reception at the Plough and the Stars which is nearby.

On Sunday night, the Philadelphia Athletic Association is holding its all-star banquet at the Irish Center. Lots to honor this year—two national champion ladies football clubs in Philly. Those girls rock.

The ever-popular Enter the Haggis, a Canadian band that makes its way to the Philly and Lehigh County areas several times a year, will be on stage at the Sellersville Theatre on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Hey, you can buy pies—go see this high-energy group that mixes highland pipes and fiddles with contemporary instruments. They’re actually doing a second show on Thanksgiving night. Forget all the cooking and have your bird at the Washington House, next door to the theatre. (And no, the boys are not missing Thanksgiving at home. Canadians have their Thanksgiving celebration on the second Monday of October.)

The Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas step dances off on black Friday at the Downtown Marriott on Market Street in Philadelphia—hundreds of dancing boys and girls, men and women, all competing at this annual regional event. It goes through the weekend and is a sight to behold. Bring the family. You can get some shopping in at Macy’s, which is across the street and is decorated for Christmas, or at the Reading Terminal Market. You can take the kids for giant burgers at the Hard Rock Café. There, your afternoon is planned.

And don’t forget the Donegal Ball on Saturday, November 27. The new Mary from Dungloe will be selected that evening and music will be provided by—wait for it—Blackthorn! With Vince Gallagher! Admission to the ball is only $20 in advance, $25 at the door, though refreshments are extra. Bring your dancing shoes.

And as you’re making your lists and checking them twice, consider patronizing our local Irish gift shops and other establishments to support your own. Sure and everyone loves an Irish gift for Christmas. To find local outlets, check our Irish gift shop finder. New stores are added frequently so keep checking back. Buy Irish!

And a very Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Irish Philadelphia!

Battlefield Band, live on stage.

This weekend, three stalwarts of the Irish community will be inducted in the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame: musician and businessman Vince Gallagher, president of the Commodore Barry Society (the Irish Center); former city representative Kathleen Sullivan, vice president of the Irish Memorial Board; and Msgr. Joseph McLoone, past of St. Katherine Drexel parish in Chester and chaplain of the Donegal Association and the Irish Hall of Fame.

The three will be honored at a dinner on Sunday night, November 14, and there will be special musical guests (but we’re sworn to secrecy so we can’t say who). For more information (well, except for the musical stuff), contact president, Kathy McGee Burns, at mcgeeburns@aol.com. And read her very personal profiles of the three inductees, below.

But before that happens, consider making a little excursion down to the Coatesville Cultural Center in Coatesville to catch two great Irish traditional musicians—accordian player John Whelan of Wexford and singer Tommy O’Sullivan of Kerry. They’re on stage on Friday, starting at 8 PM.

If it’s a little Scottish music you’re after on Friday, head to Sellersville Theatre to hear the boys from Glasgow, Battlefield, do their trad-modern mix.

Saturday’s a big night for a couple of AOH divisions. AOH/LAOH Div. 87 is having its 113th Hibernian Ball at Romano Caterers in Philadelphia. The AOH Color Guard will be holding a beef-and-beer night with music by the popular Bogside Rogues at the Swedesburg Volunteer Fire Company in Bridgeport, just down the road from AOH Div. 1.

You can meet the artistic director of Ireland’s acclaimed Abbey Theatre at 3:30 PM on Wednesday at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Walnut Street in Philadelphia. Fiach Macconghail will be talking about the history of the Abbey and where it’s going in the 21st century, presenting classical and contemporary Irish and European work. You have a second chance to meet Macconghail that evening at the Philopatrian Literary Institute at 1923 Walnut Street for an Irish Network-Philly evening of Irish culture that will include local artists and author Thomas J. Lyons (“You Can’t Get To Heaven on the Frankford El”).

In Bethlehem on Thursday, you can see a rarely performed short story by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, “The Lost Ones,” which tells the story of an entire world enclosed in a tiny cylinder and the people who inhabit it, at the Touchstone Theatre on Fourth Street. The play was performed at the Capitol Fringe Festival.

And in Philly on Thursday: the second annual Inis Nua Theatre Company “Craic Down” (craic is the Irish word for fun). Actors from this theatre company—the only one dedicated to bringing contemporary Irish, British, Scottish and Welsh plays to Philadelphia—will be playing rock stars (and some rockers will be playing, well, rockers) at this benefit.

You may want to just stay overnight at the World Cafe because the John Byrne Band with Citizens Band Radio will be performing the great upstairs room on Friday night. Call for reservations and get a bite to eat before these two rip-roaring bands get you up and dancing.

Get your phone orders in early for a Philadelphia Ceili Group house concert featuring Northern Irish singer Gabriel McArdle who was one of the musicians chosen to represent Ulster at the Smithsonian Folklife celebration of Northern Ireland several years ago. Because house concerts are held in someone’s home, seating is limited. This one is in Chestnut Hill. And give Paddy O’Neill (our own Northern Irish musician) a call at 610-393-3914 if you think you would be interested in a Friday workshop. McArdle is also a talented concertina and accordian player.

Also coming up: The Philadelphia Gaelic Athletic Association’s All-Star Banquet on Sunday, November 21, at the Irish Center. Lots of folks to honor this year, including two national ladies football club champions.

Take a number to see the calendar for all the details.

Mayo Honoree Sister James Anne with some friends.

The Mayos will be having a ball this weekend. Those of you who know Philly’s Mayo Society know that they have a ball wherever they go and whatever they do, but this time it’s a capital B Ball. Their 105th to be exact. Along with dinner and dancing, they’ll be choosing the next Miss Mayo and honoring one of our favorite people, Sister James Anne, “the dancing nun”—she’s not only good, she teaches!—who is also a longtime special education teacher and chaplain of the Mayo Society.

It’s not the only event crowding the calendar this weekend. Another annual event is Blackthorn’s Ceili for Kayleigh, a benefit to support research into MMA (Methylmalonic acidemia), a rare metabolic disease in which the body can’t break down certain fats and proteins, leading to a build-up of a body acid that can lead to seizures and stroke. This benefit focuses on a local girl named Kayleigh Moran who was born with the illness. It will be held at the Knights of Columbus in Springfield on Saturday night.

Also on Saturday night, you can spend “An Evening with Mick Moloney” at Delaware County Community College where the renowned Irish musician and folklorist will talk about the impact of Irish and Jewish immigrants on Tin Pan Alley and American vaudeville music.

Burning Bridget Cleary is on tap at Daly’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

And you’ll be tripping over Mick on Sunday as he does his annual “Mick Moloney and Friends” concert to benefit St. Malachy’s Church and School in North Philadelphia. Mick has great musician friends (Athena Tergis and Bill McComiskey are going to be with him) and there’s often a surprise guest for this often standing-room only event (get there early to snag a good pew). Delawareans can catch Mick and fiddler Dana Lyn in concert at Timothy’s at Wilmington Hall in Wilmington on Tuesday.

The Donegal Association is holding its annual Donegal Memorial Mass on Sunday at 1 PM and the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal on Chelten Avenue in Philadelphia.

Tir Na Nog, at 16th and Arch in Philadelphia, is hosting the fourth annual Fine Art and Craft Show, to benefit Nancy’s House, nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for caregivers. The suggested donation ($10) gets you a bracelet that entitles you to 10 percent off your meal at Tir Na Nog that day. They’re also serving discounted beer and wine and will run a small cafe on the show floor.

Speaking of good-deed-doing, the AOH/LAOH 51 of Fishtown Hibernian Hunger Project this year–like last year–is collecting food, clothing and cash for the veterans served by the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center. It starts Friday at 5 PM and continues through Sunday at the Thriftway Supermarket at Aramingo Avenue and York Street. See the calendar for exact times.

For you Bethlehem folk: New to our calendar this week, a regular traditional Irish music brunch on Sundays at Granny McCarthy’s Tea Room at Donegal Square on Main Street in the Christmas city.

Technically not Irish, but Scottish (same thing really), the band Battlefield will be bringing it on at the Sellersville Theatre next Friday. No, they don’t play martial music. They’re a Celtic fusion band named for a Glasgow suburb called Battlefield and they mix traditional instruments with modern stuff like synthesizers. We love to hear people from Glasgow actually say “Glasgow.” Try to get them to do it.

Also on Friday, a real treat: Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series is presenting incredible accordian player John Whelan from Wexford teaming up with singer Tommy O’Sullivan of West Kerry, considered one of the finest contemporary folk voices in Ireland today. End your work week with a visit to the Coatesville Cultural Society where you can get a bite to eat then hear a fabulous concert.

Don’t forget to order your tickets to the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame dinner on Sunday, November 14 (no tickets will be sold at the door). Honorees this year are Vince Gallagher, president of the Commodore Barry Club (The Irish Center); Msgr. Joseph McLoone, chaplain of the Donegal Association, and Kathleen Sullivan, a long-time member of the Irish Memorial board. Call 215-872-1305 or e-mail McGeeBurns@aol.com for information and tickets.

The Inis Nua Theatre Company’s production of “The Early Bird” ends its run at the Adrienne in Philadelphia soon—it’s not to late to get tickets!

Just a reminder: Our calendar of events is free and self-service. Just go to the calendar page (click on “see all” at the bottom of the snippet of calendar that appears on our homepage), click on the line that reads “Notify us about your Irish events” which will take you to a page where you can fill out a form about your event. We get an automatic email that alerts us to new entries, we click a button and presto-chango! Your event appears on our calendar which is seen by more than 1600 people every week and gets featured in “How to Be Irish in Philly,” our hands-down most read feature week after week.

You can catch Shannon Lambert-Ryan and Runa at two venues this week.

Just back from 10 days in Ireland. Did you miss me? What, you didn’t notice that I was gone? Okay for you.

But you won’t want to miss any of the great events on our calendar this week. Good segue, eh?

“The Early Bird,” a play by Irish playwright Leo Butler, opens this Saturday at the Adrienne Theatre in Philadelphia. Produced by the Inis Nua Theatre Company—the city’s finest purveyor of new plays from Ireland and the UK—“The Early Bird” is, like many Irish plays, dark, disturbing and humorous. Hey, we know Irish people like that too. The story: Debbie and Jack blame one another for the disappearance of their child and their exchanges uncover the inner secrets of their relationship. I know it’s hard to imagine how that could be funny, but if past experience with Irish plays is any indication, you will be laughing—at least, some of the time.

If it’s some good music you’re after, RUNA, a Celtic fusion band based in Philly, will be playing at the Tinicum United Church of Christ in Pipersville on Friday, October 22. Tickets are only $10. RUNA will also be opening for Barleyjuice at the Sellersville Theatre on Saturday, October 30.

On Saturday, catch Burning Bridget Cleary at Chaplin’s Music Café in Spring City. This young band has been collecting fans and gigs like nobody’s business over the past couple of years.

Harper Robert Mouland returns to the tri-state area on Sunday with his one-man show, “Before the Dhoul Knows Yer Dead,” at the East Jersey Olde Towne Village in Piscataway, NJ. He plays Michael Keane, a harper who came to American in 1754. He’ll be playing a wirestrung harp and a variety of antique instruments.

Also on Sunday: Blackthorn appears at a fundraiser at the Palombaro Club in Ardmore for the Havertown Republicans. Do Celtic rock and politics make strange bedfellows? We’ll see.

Back for a second year: the (we hope) annual Samhain Rambling House at the Irish Center. Samhain is the Irish version of Halloween (since it started in Ireland, technically Halloween is the American version of Samhain). Last year, a coven of witches, some great performers, and even a Celtic tarot card reader made for a fun, spooky night at the Irish Center which, some folks say, is haunted. The Malones—Fintan Malone and Luke Jardel—will be providing the music (everything from Irish trad to reggae) for dancing, but they’ll surrender the mike to anyone who wants to perform their party piece. That includes stand-up comedy, story telling, singing or dancing. Your $5 admission fee covers all that and some eats too.

Looking ahead: The Irish Immigration Center is holding its first ever gala at the Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing on Saturday, October 30. The first ever Mathew Carey Hibernian Award is being given to Anne O’Callaghan, executive director of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, a nonprofit serving the region’s immigrant community. In the 1700s, Mathew Carey was the driving force behind the organization of the Hibernian Society for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland, one of the first societies of its kind in Philadelphia. A portrait of Carey hangs at historic St. Mary’s Church in Philadelphia, his burial spot (along with that of Commodore John Barry, one of the Revolutionary War’s most famous immigrants).

The John Byrne Band will be playing. For more information on the event, go to www.icphila.org.

Irish guitarist and singer/songwriter Sarah McQuaid will be appearing at the PSALM Salon in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 30. McQuaid will also be conducting a guitar workship before the show, which starts at 8 PM.

I’ve spent the past week updating the calendar, and there’s plenty of good craic coming, including “Irish Christmas in America,” with the band Teada and singer Seamus Begley, returning to the Irish Center on December 12.

But November is jam-packed with Balls (Donegal and Mayo) and the Mary from Dungloe Pageant, Mick Moloney’s return (to Delaware County Community College on November 6 and his always standing-room-only concert “with friends” at St. Malachy’s in Philadelphia on November 7, and at Wilmington Hall in Delaware on November 7); the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame (November 14), the Philadelphia Gaelic Athletic Association All-Star Banquet on Nov. 21 (with two national championship teams, that’s a lot of all-stars), and, of course, the annual Oireachtas—top notch Irish dancers from the Mid-Atlantic competing to be the best—on the Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Can you carve one of these bad boys? Test your punkin-carvin' mettle at Molly-O-Ween.

We’re heading into a big, fat honkin’ weekend, including one big fall festival, not-to-be-missed concerts, and a couple of really fun benefits.

All the Saturday action is concentrated into the nighttime hours. You may have a very hard time making up your mind.

Here’s what’s on tap:

• Two of the most talented and creative Irish traditional musicians appear together in a Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series concert. Breanndán Begley and Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh (Kwee-veen O-Rye-allah, if you want to say it right) take the stage at 8 p.m. at the Coatesville Cultural Society (a very cozy venue indeed), 143 East Lincoln Highway in Coatesville. For tickets, contact Frank Dalton at (610) 486-2220. 
• The Spring Hill House Concert Series hosts Aoife Clancy—she of the amazing voice and hair—starting at 8 p.m. You may know her from her stint with Cherish the Ladies. The daughter of Bobby Clancy, Aoife (“EE-fa”) sings pretty much everything. For you singers, there’s a workshop before the concert. The show takes place in one of our favorite (and most intimate) settings, the home of Bob Hendren and Bette Conway, 136 East Third Street in Lansdale. For details, call (215) 368-0525.
• Blackthorn takes the stage, starting at 8 p.m., for a beef and beer benefit for St. Laurence Parish, 8245 West Chester Pike in Upper Darby. Tickets are 40 bucks per person, including food, beer and set-ups. The boys of Blackthorn never fail to entertain. You just know you’ll be on your feet the whole night. To order tickets, call Ann Char at (610) 789-6960 or e-mail her at achar@stlaurence.org.
• Also Saturday night, The Martin Family Band returns for their third year in an Evening of Celtic Music, Song & Dance at Bucks County Community College Gateway Auditorium, 275 Swamp Road in Newtown, Bucks County. Showtime is 7:30.
• If you want to hear a very talented Scot (Irish, Scottish … we don’t discriminate), lend an ear to singer-songwriter Brian McNeill (founder of the Battlefield Band) Saturday at 8 p.m. at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church, 101 Old Kennett Road, in Wilmington. This is a presentation of the Green Willow Folk Club, and they know how to put on a show.

Sunday is almost as crowded:

• If you’re a golfer, you can start your Sunday on the links and help the Philadelphia Irish Center at the same time. The Irish Center will host a benefit golf outing at Walnut Lane Golf Course, 800 Walnut Lane (near Henry Avenue), with tee time set for 9:30. Call John Nolan at (215) 843-8051 for details. The fee is $60, but it includes a lot: greens fee, cart, awards, luncheon & on-course refreshments. And plan on Saturday night Mass.
• Later in the day, you’re likely to run into lots of your Irish compatriots at Molly-O-Ween, a free (we like “free”) festival at Molly Maguire’s Pub, Main and Wood Streets in Lansdale, Sunday from 1 to 8 p.m. Carve pumpkins! Slip into your Halloween costume, and win a prize! (If you’re looking for ideas, I read a story predicting Lady Gaga and the cast of “Jersey Shore” will be the most popular costumes this year. But I digress, and the mental images are just too disturbing to continue.) There’ll be plenty of great food and drink, of course, plus music by Seamus Kennedy, Celtic Spirit, the Doc Freeman Band, and a local bagpipe band. The Timoney irish Dancers will also take the stage throughout the day.
• Later on that night, Breanndán Begley and Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh will appear in concert at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street in the Mount Airy section of town, starting at 8 p.m. So if you miss them at Coatesville, you get a second chance. Better yet, see them both nights.

And that, folks, is just the weekend!

Inis Nua Theatre Company’s presentation of the Leo Butler play “The Early Bird” continues throughout the week at The Playground Theatre at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., in Center City. Show times vary. Check the Web site for details.