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Music, News

Have an Irish-American Christmas!

I love Christmas. I usually start humming carols as soon as the last trick-or-treater leaves my porch. But Frank Daly has me beat by a mile. Or, more accurately, by four months.

He was playing Christmas music in the car last July, driving his four kids to the shore for vacation. “I was saying, what do you think about this one?” recalls Daly, lead singer for Jamison Celtic Rock and co-founder of American Paddy’s Productions. “And my kids were, ‘Really, Dad?’”

Daly wasn’t rushing the season but planning for it. With his American Paddy’s partner, C.J. Mills, he’s producing his second American Celtic Christmas show for December 7 at Bensalem High School. Producing a show—and they have a thousand moving parts–isn’t like Christmas shopping. It takes more than a couple of months and you sure can’t do it the night before.

It took more than a year to plan the first one—from finding the venue, nailing down the performers and yes, selecting the music of the season when it wasn’t the season. But he loves it. “I have a passion for theater, for theatrics and incorporating a lot of moving parts,” he admits.

He’s also partial to Christmas. “I am a Christmas lover. Always. How can you tell?” he laughed. “I make a conscious effort this time of year not to be overwhelmed by shopping, stress, time constraints, weather. Many years ago I was talking to a priest and he was telling me that when he does funerals, he always asks [the deceased’s loved ones] about vacations and Christmas because those are the memories that are strongest in most people’s minds. That stuck with me.”

There were 1,000 people at last year’s show, which featured former Causeway singer Kim Killen, Celtic Flame Dancers, the Bucks County Dance School, a hip-hop DJ, and, of course, Jamison. Killen, Celtic Flame, the Bucks County Dance School and Jamison will be back, and joining them this year will be singer-songwriter John Byrne (who will be performing solo and with Jamison) and DJ Dan Cronin, founder of the Hair O’ The Dog black tie charity event (which this year benefits the Claddagh Fund and takes place on November 27 at Vanity Nightclub in Philadelphia).

American Paddy’s other event, The Philadelphia Fleadh, held in Pennypack Park last June, mixed traditional Irish music and culture with Celtic rock and other strictly American music. Hip-hop DJs, uillean pipe players, Irish step dancers in full Book of Kells regalia, and modern dancers in leotards all came together at the big Irish-American table. Likewise, the American Celtic Christmas Show is a genre-twisting night of Irish culture. As Daly likes to say, “we celebrate being Irish American and not just Irish.” So the Celtic Flame Dancers will be dancing to a technoclub song—you’ll see how step dancing easily makes the genre leap—while the Bucks County Dancers will do a modern dance to an Irish reel.

Daly and Mills hoped that the show would take off and become a holiday tradition for Irish-American families and they saw evidence of that last year. “A lot of people started buying tickets for family groups,” says Daly. “People were telling us they invited family from an hour or two hours away and had a dinner. It served as their Christmas gathering because it gets so crazy the week of Christmas.”

Daly also hoped it took off because he quit his day job last year when the planning got bigger than he could handle in a 24-hour day. (He was director of marketing for the McGrogan Group, which owns Kildare’s, Harvest, and other restaurants). It was a gutsy move. “I quit with no means of support except what we make in the band. And I have four kids and a mortgage.”

But there was that love thing too. “I absolutely love this, it’s all I ever wanted to do,” he says. “I never worked so hard in my life but I never felt so satisfied. It’s been a really good couple of years.”

Pick up some of that Christmas spirit yourself. There are two American Celtic Christmas shows this year, one at 3 PM and the other at 7 PM on Saturday, December 7, at Bensalem High School, 4319 Hulmeville Road, Bensalem, PA. Tickets range from $10 to $20, with a 10 percent discount for groups of 10 or more. For more information, go to the website. You can also purchase tickets by clicking on the American Celtic Christmas ad you see at the top of our pages.

November 8, 2013 by Denise Foley

News

A Look Back at the Irish Memorial 10th Anniversary

[flickr_set id=”72157637019175535″]

Time for reflection

Some of us were there more than 10 years ago, when the drapes rose over sculptor Glenna Goodacre’s breathtaking 30-foot-long bronze commemorating the 150th anniversary of Ireland’s Great Hunger. It was in a cavernous dockside warehouse in Chester—and it was a dramatic reveal.

More than a few people in the building knew exactly what they were going to see—they’d been deeply involved in the long and difficult effort to turn a grand vision into a reality. For the rest of us, it was quite a revelation—and a tribute not only to those who suffered so terribly and died from Britains’ systematic, state-sponsored starvation in the 1840s, but to all of those stubborn, determined people who were responsible for honoring their memory.

It’s hard to believe to believe the monument first took up residence at Front and Chestnut a decade ago. It still stands as one of the Philadelphia Irish community’s proudest tributes. And this past Saturday, it was time to re-dedicate the memorial—and afterward to celebrate with a gala at the Hyatt Regency just across I-95.

We have more than 40 photos of the re-dedication and the gala. Check them out here.

November 1, 2013 by Jeff Meade

Arts, News

The Artist Behind the Harp

Ellen Tepper and some of her artwork.

Ellen Formanek Tepper’s little house in Ardsley looks like it’s been invaded by The Book of Kells.

It’s her artwork, minutiae from the illuminated Gospels created by 9th century Irish monks, painted on glass, which she is gathering to transport for a show at the Community Music School in Trappe, starting on November 9. It’s called Celtic Refractions, and she is still trying to come up with an artist’s description. “I call it taking minutiae and make them huge and bringing light to the Dark Ages,” says Tepper, who is probably equally well known for her work as a harpist and harp instructor as she is for her colorful translucent glass paintings.

Though she’s not Irish, she claims affinity. “I’m a proto-Celt,” she jokes. “My family came from the Rhine Valley and the Danube Valley where the Celts started before they came to Ireland.”

A native New Yorker, Tepper spent her formative years in Vienna, Austria, where her father was principal of the American International School. “We were school-homed,” she says, revealing the sense of humor she’s also known for, both onstage and off.

Her German-born mother, whose Jewish family fled Germany, was a psychologist and professor of education who loved museums, so she “dragged us [Ellen, her brother and sister] reading history along the way” on their extended vacations in Europe. Tepper not only absorbed the history, she assimilated the art, particularly the medieval works that now appear in her own creations. At school, she learned to speak German, to draw, dance, and play the harp.

“My father taught me how to embroider, which he learned from watching his mother,” she says. “When I was ready to go to college I didn’t know whether to go to music school or to art school.”

She went to Philadelphia College of Art—now the University of the Arts—but majored in music. She thought she could do both, but the music courses were so demanding “it was just too much work,” she recalls. But when she finally graduated, “the art just burst out.” She sat down and sketched an intricate and detailed embroidery pattern for a 14th Century Venetian harp she saw on a poster and started sewing. The embroidery won a national prize and, though it’s for sale, now hangs on a wall in her living room.

Sewing was her métier for many years as she raised three children, most of the time as a single mother. “When the kids were little I sewed a lot for them and I made pin money making these quilted vests.” She pulls several out of a plastic bag, tiny vests with rainbows and other toddler-friendly designs, some of which now fit her granddaughter. “I would make art during naptime then I would see my work running around,” she laughs.

Tepper’s glass art came much later, the result of the doodling she does to keep her hands busy when she’s not using them for the harp or other things. “I was doing spiral drawing on blank puzzles at The Shanachie [the now defunct Irish pub in Ambler] while sitting at the bar, listening to other people play music,” she recalls. “Then I started putting them on glass. It was all inspired by the bartender at the Shanachie who was also an artist and who I used to tip with art materials. One day he said that he had a friend who had just started painting on glass.”

She discovered oil-based markers and found herself gravitating toward the Book of Kells, with its intricate and ornate pages that marry Latin religious text with Celtic symbolism. And believe it or not, she takes her designs not directly from the book, but from coloring books, which both magnify and simplify the images. She copies, alters them the way she wants them, and enlarges them. Then she tapes her drawing face down on the front of the glass she’s using—often a discarded window—and traces it from the back, where she also colors it.

And no, it’s not cheating. “When I was in the Embroiderer’s Guild, this was known as ‘original adaptation,’” she explains.

Her pieces range from convoluted Celtic knotwork to figures like the Gospel writers and St. Brendan the Navigator on his ship heading for the “island of the blessed.”

What won’t be on display at her show, which runs through January 5, will be her dragons which she cooks up—literally—in her kitchen. They’re an outgrowth of the dolls she used to make, tiny sculptures of fairies, 14th century composers, and rock musicians she did for fun. The dragons—Tepper calls them her “lounge lizards”—are made from polymer clay which she rolls out of a pasta machine into sheets and cuts into gills, which she layers on a frame made from a coat hanger, aluminum foil, and 16-gauge florist wire, “like shingles on a roof.”

“I also have a dedicated garlic press that I used to make some parts,” she says. “These cooking utensils should never be used for food again.”

Once the lizard is the way she wants it, she bakes it in her oven, using empty cat food cans (she has two cats) to protect its limbs from the heating element.

When she’s not making art, Tepper is making music. A harp teacher, she’s also a popular gig artist. With singer-musician Terry Kane, she’s the other half of the Jameson Sisters. The two combine harp, mandolin, and guitar with vocals in both English and Irish, but they also do Baroque and early music, show tunes, and Christmas music. They’re usually at Molly Maguire’s Restaurant and Pub in Phoenixville every fourth Sunday of the month where they lead the session. Tepper also appears solo and does several programs on the history of the harp and of Christmas carols, accompanied by what she calls her “Tepper schlepper,”—whoever she can cajole into carrying her large pedal harp. She’ll be doing that program on November 29 at Glen Foerd Mansion on the Delaware, 5001 Grant avenue in Philadelphia, starting at 7 PM.

And when she lifts the harp off her shoulder, watch her pick up her sketchbook. “I know, I know,” she says with a grin. “I’m prolific. And I can’t stop myself.”

“Celtic Refractions” will be on display at The Gallery at Community Music School, 775 W. Main Street, Trappe, PA, from November 9 to January 5. You can also see Tepper’s work at the Water Gallery in Lansdale, 319 West Main Street in the Dresher Arcade.

Visit with Ellen Tepper and her art via our photo essay.

October 31, 2013 by Jeff Meade

Music, News

Another Successful St. Malachy’s Concert

When Mick Moloney comes to Philadelphia to do his annual concert to benefit St. Malachy’s Church and School, he always brings a collection of superlative performers. He didn’t disappoint this year either.

Along with premier accordion player Bill McComiskey, uillean piper Jerry O’Sullivan, and fiddler Dana Lyn, the concert featured 11-year-old Haley Richardson of New Jersey, a 2013 All-Ireland winner in two categories; British singer John Roberts; folk singers Saul Braudy (who played a mean blues harmonica), Dick Swain, and Murray Callahan; and one surprise—to Moloney at least—bodhran player.

He introduced the crowd to Mal Whyte, whom he hadn’t seen, not mentioned played with, for 40 years. The London native, an actor (Father Ted fans may remember him as the picnic warden in The Old Grey Whistle Theft episode, or, more recently, in The Borgias on Showtime), now living in Philadelphia, joined Moloney on stage and played as though no time had passed.

Mock Moloney

Check out our photo essay and watch the video of Haley Richardson playing with the big guys.

October 25, 2013 by Jeff Meade

Music, News

First Irish Center Pub Concert “A Good Start”

Jim and Betty O’Brien of Ambler dancing to the music of the John Byrne Band.

It was serendipity. Ed Weideman, vice president of the Philadelphia Irish Center board, was talking to musician John Byrne about booking Byrne’s band for the Donegal Ball at the end of November when he got a call.

When he finished on the phone, he must have looked seriously concerned because Byrne asked him what it was about. To pass a board of health inspection, Weideman told him, the Center needed to replace a new sink and ice bin in the bar, install a prep sink in the kitchen, and replace a range hood which alone could cost five figures.

“Then John said, ‘I’ll do a benefit concert for you,’” recalls Weideman.

And that’s what he did last Friday night. Stormy weather may have kept back some potential concert-goers, but what the crowd lacked in quantity it made up for in enthusiasm. There was food available and the ballroom was set with tables to create a pub atmosphere while Byrne and his band—Andy Keenan, Rob Shaffer, and Maura Dwyer—recreated their Pogues’ tribute show from World Café Live, interspersed with Byrne’s own songs and some familiar favorites that got people up and dancing.

Both the band and the Irish Center won new fans. “They’re really good,” said Denise Hilpl, also a Center board member, who said she was hearing the band, which has a wide following, for the first time.

Weideman estimated that about a third of the people who came to the show were either at the Irish Center for the first time or had only been there once or twice. “There were some people who’d never been there before who became members that night. A lot of those people are asking if we’re going to do it again, and we are.”

Over the next few months, Weideman is planning a series of “pub nights” featuring local Irish contemporary bands, along with The John Byrne Band, to introduce the bands—and the Center—to a wider audience. “I’m really excited about this—it’s something different, something new,” he says. “The concert was a good start—a successful start, with more to come.”

Check out our photos from the evening.

October 18, 2013 by Jeff Meade

News

Looking for Help for the Families of Political Prisoners

Jim Lockhart

Though he traces his roots back to Tyrone and Down, Jim Lockhart has never been to Ireland. The “Port Richmond born-and-bred” carpenter and former Ancient Order of Hibernians president (AHO Div. 87) will be making his first trip in July to attend a friend’s wedding. But since he was a 10-year-old walking with his mother on a picket line “in front of British Airways or Gimbels, I can’t remember which” to protest British treatment of the Irish in Northern Ireland, he’s known he has Irish Republican blood coursing through his veins.

It was brought home to him again a few years ago. “One of our [AOH Div, 87] members brought some literature in about the Friends of Irish Freedom, an organization that helps the families of Irish political prisoners,” he recalled. “We’re always discussing Irish politics and current events at the hall and some of us thought this was something our guys could get into.”

Lockhart contacted the head of the organization in New York. FOIF was founded in 1916—the time of the Easter Uprising–to support Irish Republican prisoners and their families, though by the 1950s the group had virtually vanished. It was revived in the late 1980s when there was a split in the Irish Republican movement, specifically Sinn Fein, with one group (Provisional Sinn Fein) becoming part of the power-sharing administration in Northern Ireland and the other (Republican Sinn Fein) refusing to reject violence as a means to bring about a unified Ireland.

Lockhart, a voracious reader of books on Irish history and politics, understood the fine line between supporting needy families and funding violence. “Some of these prisoners belong to groups on State Department terrorist lists,” he acknowledges. “What I liked about Friends of Irish Freedom is that it’s a non-political group. The money goes directly to the kids, wives, mothers, and families of these men and women, many of them breadwinners, and not to the prisoners themselves. It’s actually placed directly into their hands, tucked into a Christmas card.”

So, three years ago, he organized a beef-and-beer night to help raise funds for the FOIF’s annual Christmas Gift drive, which for many years was aided by Irish civil rights leader and nun, the late Sister Sarah Clarke as well as the Tyrone Prisoners Dependents Fund, and others in what was essentially a “no questions asked” way—a prisoner’s political affliliation wasn’t a consideration.

The third annual benefit is being held on Saturday, October 19, starting at 2 PM, at Bobby T’s Cigar Bar in Port Richmond. Tyrone-born musician Raymond Coleman will be performing and there will be a buffet, raffles, and door prizes.

One of the beneficiaries will be the family of Sharon Rafferty, a 38-year-old single mother of two from Pomeroy, County Tyrone, who is being held in prison on charges of “directing terror” after wiretaps caught a phone conversation in which she spoke with a man named Sean Kelly about, among other things, targeting police officers and the need for firearms training and financing an organization—in this case, the IRA. Her two children are living with her mother, Lockhart says.

Another, Stephen Murney of Newry, County Down, a member of the Republican group Eirigi, was arrested for collecting and distributing information that may be of use to terrorists—he photographed police at political protests and posted them on Facebook. And although the judge in his case questioned the validity of the charges—in one published report, Murney’s attorney told the court that his client was taking the photos to bolster accusations of police harassment– he offered bail only if Murney never returned to Newry or lived at home with his wife and children. “He has two young boys,” says Lockhart.

Americans, says Lockhart, would be horrified at what’s permitted under the British legal system—like the use of “secret evidence” that’s kept from defense attorneys and the revocation of parole (known as license in Northern Ireland) of former political prisoners who are held without charge or trial. Before his arrest, Lockhart says, Eirigi spokeman Murney was stopped and searched as much as 40 times a week “every week.” But politics is one thing, and children are another, he points out.

“With their mothers and fathers gone, these children go without,” he says, “so we try to help.”

October 18, 2013 by Jeff Meade

News

Missing Delco Man Returns

“Gaffer” Haughey is back.

Haughey—his given name is Gareth—disappeared September 27 from his room at the Summit Motel on Township Line in Upper Darby. Seamus Meenagh, a local contractor, phoned Haughey at 7 a.m. to offer him work for the day. Haughey said he wasn’t available.

And that was the last anyone heard of the well-known part-time laborer from Armagh—until Wednesday afternoon at about 4.

“He phoned his friend, Seamus, who had initially informed me he was missing,” says Siobhan Lyons, executive director of the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia. “Gaffer said he was with a friend that he sometimes stays with. We don’t have a lot of details.”

Not long after that call, Haughey showed up at the center. Lyons called off the search, and quickly disseminated the good news via social media.

“We got the word out almost as soon as we found out,” Lyons says. “He wanted everyone to stop worrying.”

“Worried” doesn’t half describe the fear and concern that swept through Delaware County’s Irish community as the days stretched into weeks. Tuesday night, more than a dozen of Gaffer’s friends and acquaintances met at the Immigration Center to devise a plan to find him. That plan called for a massive sweep of the Cobbs Creek Golf Club this Saturday afternoon. The club is not far from the Summit, and it’s a place where Haughey has been known to hang out.

If that was where Haughey was, those concerns were well-placed. Cobbs Creek Golf Course, owned by the city of Philadelphia, can be a chancy place. Long overdue renovations are in the works, but the shabby course has a well-known and unsavory history. A recent news story compared Cobbs Creek to the world-class Merion Golf Club. Merion is just five miles distant, but worlds away. The comparison wasn’t flattering:

Merion has hosted five U.S. Opens. Cobbs Creek has a fallen tree on the fourth tee box which has been there for two months. Merion has mansions lining its outer edges. Cobbs Creek has local homeless occasionally sleeping on its greens. At Merion, you can run into the who’s who of the city. At Cobbs Creek, you can sometimes get propositioned by a prostitute.

Cobbs Creek is a place where anything can happen—and often does. Ten days before Haughey vanished, someone trying to retrieve golf balls from the creek found something else—something exceptionally disturbing. It was a decomposing body floating in the rippling waters next to the golf course.

Last Wednesday, a walker discovered another body, this one in Cobbs Creek Park, three miles away from the golf course. The news sparked widespread speculation in the Irish community that the body might be that of Gareth Haughey. As word spread, Lyons fielded countless text messages and phone calls, all with the same question: “Is it Gaffer?” they asked. The answer, without question: No. Still, the rumor mill was working overtime. Many people continued to assume the worst.

It wasn’t unlike Haughey to go missing. It has happened in the past. But this was the longest he’d ever stayed away without notifying the people closest to him. After the meeting, Shannon Rice—another contractor friend—described Haughey’s prolonged absence as “really scary.”

“He’d at least call somebody,” Rice said at the time. “He might go away for two or three days, but he’d always call.”

Now that Haughey is back, all those fears have been set aside.

“Gaffer was a little bit overwhelmed by the number of people who cared about him. He really has great friends. People are just delighted. We got a lot of phone calls, e-mails, and text messages. Literally thousands of people found out about this,” Lyons says. “At the same time, she laughs, “they’re also lining to slap him for being so much trouble. But it’s nice to have a happy ending.”

October 17, 2013 by Jeff Meade

News

Have Yourself an Irish Little Christmas

By Dana Schellings

The Christmas season is rapidly approaching, and Santa Claus isn’t thing only one making a list. There’s no denying that Christmas shopping can be stressful; with images of crowded malls and long checkout lines dancing in their heads, more and more people are choosing to do their shopping online. However, sometimes the most frustrating part of Christmas shopping isn’t how or when to shop, but what to buy. An Irish gift is an excellent solution to this problem. Ireland produces a wide range of clothes, jewelry and other goods that make great gifts for even the most hard-to-shop-for person.

The Irish are known the world over for their warmth and hospitality. The Irish blessing is a longstanding tradition where wishes of love, happiness and good health are bestowed upon friends and family. This blessing for the home is cast in bronze and mounted in a sturdy frame adorned with Celtic artwork. Whether displayed on the wall, dresser or windowsill, it will bring joy and comfort to all who see it.

The weather is getting cooler, and for those who love the great outdoors a good jacket is a must. A GAA Hoodie Fleece is light, warm, and durable, perfect for activities such as hiking, biking, or enjoying a leisurely stroll on a chilly day. This jacket is a colorful blend of white, blue, and green, the official colors of the Irish flag, with GAA Logo proudly displayed on the front and back. It’s a great gift for athletic types who aren’t afraid to get dirty, since it’s also machine washable.

Sweaters have long been a staple of holiday gift giving, but finding a really nice one that’s also comfortable can be a challenge. The Mens Traditional White Irish Aran sweater along with the Ladies Traditional Turtle Neck Sweater is one of the country’s most popular exports due to its excellent quality and unique history. The sweater first appeared in Ireland in the early 1900s, but the design is based on clothing used by fisherman in the British Isles for centuries. They’re made from soft, fine wool that is both water resistant and breathable, allowing the wearer to stay warm and cozy. Finally, the stitching comes in a variety of different patterns that weave a rich, compelling tale of Irish culture. Available in both men’s and women’s sizes, they’re the best defense against a long winter.

Of all the iconic images to come out of Ireland, few are as admired for their beauty and symbolism as the Claddagh ring. Jewelry often holds some type of sentimental meaning, and the Claddagh ring is no exception. Its simple yet elegant design—two hands clasping a heart surmounted by a crown—has represented friendship, love, and loyalty for over 300 years, making it a lovely gift for a close friend or loved one. Claddagh rings are most commonly made from gold or silver, and little tweaks such as including a birthstone add a more personal touch while still preserving the integrity of the original model.

These are just a few examples of all the wonderful choices that are only a few mouse clicks away. So if you’re looking for a gift that’s fun, interesting, and a tribute to a country rich is culture and spirit, think Irish. Happy browsing!

October 16, 2013 by Jeff Meade

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