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2008 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Crowned

How DID the judges choose? That's Colleen Tully, their choice, at the far right. Colleen Gallagher, the 2007 Rose, is in the center.

How DID the judges choose? That's Colleen Tully, their choice, at the far right. Colleen Gallagher, the 2007 Rose, is in the center.

A 25-year-old Loyola University business grad and commodities trader is the 2008 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee. Colleen Frances Tully of Downingtown was crowned on Friday, June 20, at the event, sponsored by the Philadelphia Immigration and Pastoral Center, held at the Hyatt Regency on Columbus Boulevard in the city. This year there were six contestants, ranging in age from 18 to 25.

Tully has studied ballet since the age of four and is an accomplished ballerina who is also a student of Irish dance. She will go to Ireland in August to compete in the international Rose of Tralee Festival in Tralee, County Kerry. The 2007 International Rose is Lisa Murtagh of New York. Typically, there are more than 30 Rose contestants from around the world—even from as far away as Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Rose selection—in its 49th year—is televised in Ireland.

June 27, 2008 by
News

Luck of the Irish Holds Out for Penn’s Landing Festival

Paul Moore of Paddy's Well.

Paul Moore of Paddy's Well.

The weather forecast on Sunday, the day of the Penn’s Landing Irish Festival, looked chancy. Early in the day, as Mass was celebrated for the first time at the Irish Famine Memorial a few blocks away, a sudden shower forced congregants at the open-air service to pop their umbrellas … and for a group of middle-aged “altar boys” to hastily move a canopy over the altar.

Turns out, that was pretty much it. Though there were moments when the skies threatened to open up again and give us all a sampling of true Irish weather, mostly we got a sampling of Irish luck—from the moment Paul Moore and Paddy’s Well hit the stage down on the Great Plaza along the Delaware to the big finale featuring Blackthorn.

“Not a drop,” remarked organizer and Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade Director Michael Bradley. “Rain slid just north, so bad that parts of I-95 in the city were closed, but we were blessed.”

Like most of the festivals in the PECO Multicultural Series, the Irish fest offered up a wide-ranging display of music, dance, food and drink, and other aspects of this particular culture. Festival-goers do seem to be seriously drawn to the Paddy rock bands—and Philly has some of the very best of that breed—but for the first time, they also heard some of the unplugged traditional music in the form of the Pat the Budgie Ceili Band.

As always, just about every Irish dance school you could think of was on hand to perform between the musical acts—and, sometimes, during the musical acts, as Michael Bradley coaxed the Celtic Flame dancers up onto their feet to prance about as Paddy’s Well played. (Not that Irish dancers ever need much coaxing.)

Vendors sold the usual shirts, hats and other tchochkes, volunteers painted many little faces, and the people selling beer and other liquid refreshments did land-office business on what turned out to be a hot, hot early summer Philly day.

If you couldn’t be there, no worries. We were on hand to take lots and lots of photos.

The first Mass ever was celebrated at the Irish Memorial at Penns Landing before the festival began.

June 26, 2008 by
News

Get Ready for Your Day in the Sun

Blackthorn closes out the festival.

Blackthorn closes out the festival.

Maybe it’s that our people come from a place where a “warm” summer day tops out at 70 degrees. (And don’t even talk to me about the surf temperature.) Still, there’s just something about 80- and 90-degree Philadelphia weather that brings out the best in an Irishman. (And an Irishwoman, too, of course.)

You can find out for yourself on Sunday, June 22, from noon ‘til 9 p.m. as the annual Philadelphia Penn’s Landing Irish Festival kicks off on the waterfront at Chestnut Street and Columbus Boulevard.

Unlike previous festivals, this one just lasts a day instead of the whole weekend. So if ya snooze, ya loose. And to hear Michael Bradley tell it, you’d be missing a whole lot.

Bradley, who directs the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade, also runs this event. He sees it as a way to continue to provide needed exposure for the many groups, organizations and traditions of Irish Philadelphia. Too, he’s so well-connected because of his Parade activities, he’s just the man for the job.

“I think it’s a natural for the parade director,” he says. “I have so many contacts in the Irish community. I’m able to promote it much better.”

This year, the great local Irish band Paddy’s Well starts the day with a concert on the main stage at 12:15. Closing out the day will be the inimitable Blackthorn.

“Paddy’s Well will draw people who want to be there early, and Blackthorn will close from 6 to 9,” he Bradley says. “So we’ve got a strong beginning and a strong ending.”

Everything in the middle is pretty strong, too—including a first-ever appearance by a group of local traditional Irish musicians who go by the name Pat the Budgie. They perform from 4:15 to 6.

“I just wanted to try something different,” he says. “These musicians play a lot up at the Irish Center, it’s part of the culture and it was being ignored.”

If you love Irish dance, you can expect to be surrounded by a sea of curly wigs. Eight of the area’s Irish dance schools will be performing throughout the day.

Of course, festival-going is thirsty work. So you can expect some nice cooling drinks—including, for the first time, Guinness. (Hard to believe, ain’t it?) There’ll be lots of terrific food and tables full of Irish beads and trinkets to buy. The number of vendors is double last year’s, Bradley says: “Each year it just gets better and better.”

If you attended the festival before, we direct your rapt attention to our photo essay from 2007.

June 20, 2008 by
News

A Special Sunday Mass at the Irish Memorial

There have been many ceremonies at the Memorial, but this will be the first Mass.

There have been many ceremonies at the Memorial, but this will be the first Mass.

Ireland is dotted with them. They’re called Carraig an Aifrinn, or Mass rocks. They’re stones that marked the spot in the mid-17th century where Catholic priests risked their lives to serve Mass for the faithful during the time of Cromwell. Under the Penal Law of 1695, Catholics were not permitted to hold vote or hold public office. The Catholic clergy was expelled from the country, and those who were found (often by people called “priest hunters”) could be executed. Catholics were not permitted to worship–at least, in the open.

While the Irish Memorial at Penns Landing is no Carraig an Aifrinn, on Sunday, June 22, you’ll be forgiven if the resemblance between the coal-black Glenna Goodacre sculpture of Irish immigrants and those holy stones occurs to you. At 10 AM, a special Mass will be said by Father John Kelly of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Northeast Philadelphia prior to the Penns Landing Irish Festival, which starts at noon. (Father Kelly is the uncle of young local singer Timmy Kelly, who will be performing at the Penns Landing festival.)

Local Irish traditional musicians Dennis Gormley, Mary Malone, and Jeff Meade will play and Karen Boyce McCollum and Phil Bowdren will sing at the service.

“This is the first Mass at the Irish Memorial and will hopefully provide a bridge between the unwavering faith of our Irish ancestors who risked life and limb to celebrate the Eucharist at the ‘Mass Rock’ and today’s Delaware Valley Irish Community,” said Robert Gessler, a member of the board of directors of the Irish Memorial, Inc.

Gessler says the group is considering another mass—this one of remembrance—in the fall.

The Irish Memorial is located at Front and Chestnut Streets.

June 19, 2008 by
News

Help Save Irish Radio In Philly

If, as it is for many, your Sunday morning ritual is Mass, breakfast, and Irish radio, you may need to make other arrangements. Two of the longest running radio shows in Philadelphia are in serious financial trouble and may come to an end.

“Come West Along the Road,” with Marianne MacDonald, and the Vince Gallagher Irish Radio Hour, on WTMR 800 AM, rely on revenues from ads that the hosts must sell themselves. If there aren’t enough ads—and there haven’t been—both MacDonald and Gallagher must come up with the difference to pay for the airtime themselves. “Both Vince and I have spent thousands of dollars of our own money to keep the shows on the air, and we can’t do it anymore,” said MacDonald.

Neither MacDonald or Gallagher make money from the shows. “Contrary to what many people believe, we don’t get paid any type of salary,” said MacDonald, who took over her show from longtime Irish musician and radio host, Tommy Moffitt, about three years ago. Gallagher took over the spot hosted for many years by Mary O’Kane. “We took over something that was already broke,” said MacDonald. “Both Tommy and Mary were struggling too.”

For both hosts, the shows are a labor of love. If you love what they’re doing, come to the Philadelphia Irish Center at Carpenter and Emlen Streets on Friday, June 6,at 8 PM, for a meeting to brainstorm ways to save this important part of Philadelphia’s Irish tradition.

June 5, 2008 by
News

Still Young at Heart

Checking out the photos: Mary Ann and Pat.

Checking out the photos: Mary Ann and Pat.

It was just a slim folder full of old black and white photos, yellowed menus and dog-eared bank statements. You wouldn’t have thought they would have made much of an impression.

Bernadette Coyle, for one, seemed surprised. She brought the photos to the Young at Heart luncheon on Sunday, a reunion of sorts held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city’s venerable Irish Center in Mount Airy. “My dad (Parker McGurk) was one of the original Irish Center shareholders,” said Bernadette. “He was the center’s treasurer, way back in the ’50s. These pictures were his. I’ve still got boxes of them. These are just a few. It’s something I put together on a whim.”

Within moments of Bernadette producing them, the pictures were making the rounds of the room, with folks like the Irish Center’s president Vince Gallagher and Ed Reavey Jr. poring over the fading images, trying to pick out old friends or figure out who was in the picture of the old football team or the band.

More than a few remembered the great meals served up in the old days, too, as they checked out the menus, like one from Tuesday, February 12, 1957, in which “braised turkey wings in jardiniere sauce” and “breaded deep sea scallops remoulade” were available for 85 cents. For an even buck, you could get the whole dinner, including mixed veggies, coffee, tea, Sanka or Postum, with Ross House cheese with crackers, butterscotch sundae or stewed prunes for dessert. (Yum.)

The photos evoked lots of great memories, including those of John King, who used to play piano at the Friday night ceilis with the great Eugene O’Donnell. “That was when my hair was still black,” he added. Still a handsome fella, though.

How much fun was the luncheon? Check out our photos. Maybe 50 years from now, someone will be passing them around the room.

June 3, 2008 by
News

Kilts, Ghillies and a Wee Hairy Coo

One of many wee Scotty-type dogs at the Games.

One of many wee Scotty-type dogs at the Games.

I went to the Colonial Highland Games near Elkton, Maryland, over the weekend to compete with my band in the pipe band competition.

We’ll dispense with the unhappy news first. My band, Philadelphia Emerald, placed 6th out of eight.

There was good news for one local band, though. Cameron Washington Memorial United came in second. And if this matters to you, an Irish band associated with an AOH division in East Islip, N.Y.—Roisin Dubh—came in first.

Congrats to Cameron Washington United.

Of course, this is an Irish Web site, and the Fair Hill Games are decidedly Scottish and a bit south of our normal coverage area. But Celtic is Celtic and, besides, lots of Irish pipe bands do compete (and, just as obviously, win).

If you have never attended Highland games, the experience is well worth it—for general, all-round Celtic cultural literacy, sure, but also because you’ll have a good time.

For me, of course, it is always about the food. And, yes, you can get bridies and meat pies and fish and chips—the lines for that heart-stopping stuff were lengthy at Fair Hill. But I also ran into a fella from a shop called the Highland Creamery in Oxford, Md. (on the Eastern Shore) who was dishing up Guinness and brown bread ice cream. I arrived at his stand too late in the day to snag some of that fabulous stuff. (I had some in Galway a few years back, and it’s pretty tasty.) But I was not too late for the raspberry and shortbread ice cream. That alone was worth the price of admission.

Highland games are also huge fun for kids. Most are thoroughly charmed by the border collies in the sheep dog trials. There’s Highland dancing as well which, while very different from Irish dance—no curly wigs, for one—is fascinating to watch. And if you’re into watching big dudes heaving telephone poles, there’s plenty of that to watch as well. (And a “wee hairy coo”—or “cow,” if you’re not Scottish—to pet as well.)

There are a bunch more Highland games throughout the summer, most no more than a couple of hours’ drive away. Here’s a list:
http://www.euspba.org/events.aspx

We captured some of the spirit of Fair Hill in the accompanying photo essay.

May 20, 2008 by
News

Take Time to Help Our Vets

Ancient Order of Hibernians/Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 51 – Fishtown will be holding their 6th Armed Forces Weekend this Saturday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon to 6 p.m.) at the Thriftway Supermarket at Aramingo & York.

The division will collect canned goods (vegetables, meat, fish, soup, gravies, etc.), non-perishable items (rice, pasta, cereals, etc.), personal grooming items (disposable razors, bar soap, shampoo, etc.), as well as cash donations.

It all goes to the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service & Education Center in Old City. The Center feeds an average of 75 – 100 homeless veterans on a daily basis, as well as providing them with other basic services.

Every little bit helps.

Here’s what the division’s Phil Bowdren has to say.

AOH/LAOH 51 has been running this event for five years. You’re going into your sixth year. Where’d the idea come from? Was it tied into the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict?

Actually, it was suggested to the Division by a member who has volunteered at the Center. It really wasn’t tied into the Iraq conflict, just the need that the Center had.

Does the division have some connection with the Center?

Like I said, the Center was suggested to us. It ties into our efforts with the Hibernian Hunger Project because what we collect helps to feed homeless veterans. Since we began our effort, I was asked to join the Center’s Board of Directors, also, the Center’s CEO, Ed Lowry, has since joined our Division.

Have you all had an opportunity to see firsthand how your event might be benefiting local vets?

A number of us have volunteered to help at the Center with their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the Homeless Vets. We’ve helped serve them a hot meal, and we’ve seen and heard how much they appreciate it. If it wasn’t for the Center most of these men and women would not get a hot meal or the opportunity to get a shower or put on clean clothes.

What do you need most?

As for what is needed most, I always tell people bulk food containers (#10 cans of vegetables, etc., and 1-, 25 or 50 lb. bags of rice, pasta, etc.), more bang for the buck with bulk packaging.

What should people bring?

People can bring any canned goods, non-perishable foods (rice, oatmeal, pasta, etc.) and there is always a need for personal grooming items (disposable razors, bars of bath soap, mouthwash, etc.). If anyone has contacts with companies that sell / distribute either sample size or travel size items, and they can get some cases of these items donated, it would be great.

What’s the most you’ve gotten in a single donation, and do you remember from whom? I mean, a particular school, organization, what have you?

A few come to mind… Becky & Joe Minarik from the neighborhood have always donated big bags of rice and #10 cans of vegetables; Judge Pat Dugan, who is an Iraq Veteran, donated an entire shopping cart full of food. And both AOH Divisions 22 and 25 have dropped off bags of food in the past.

Does it bother you that veterans should require charity? Put another way, we’ve expected these folks to risk their lives for us—so shouldn’t they be entitled to benefits of the sort that the Veterans Multi-Service Center provides?

The Veterans Center is a private non-profit organization, which USED to get funding from the City, State and Feds for particular programs, but for one reason or another the funding dried up a great deal. We received a $600,000 grant from Senator Santorum a while ago, only to have the Labor Department cut funding to the Center by $500,000, so in actuality, we only received $100,000 from the Feds.

The Street Administration cut a lot of our funding that helped us get the homeless vets of the street during the day and into the Center. The Center was forced to sell one of its 12-passenger vans because of the cost of insurance.

Once I was told by an “enlightened” person that they didn’t believe that there was such a thing as homeless veterans. I offered to take her out and introduce her to some, the offer was declined.

I have sent a number of letters to President Bush complaining that instead of cutting veterans benefits, the government needs to not only increase them, but expand them to the families of returning Iraq veterans. These people need to know 1) what to expect of their returning vet, and 2) what to look out for as far as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is concerned. And YES, it bothers the hell out of me.

May 15, 2008 by