Gabriel Donohue with his bandaged hand.
A few days before his February 19 concert at the Irish Center, Gabriel Donohue slipped on an icy step and broke his hand. Not a good thing when you play a guitar. But in the spirit of all the performers who have gone before him, Donohue made sure the show would go on. He hired Harrisburg native Sean Ernest, who recently toured with Teada, to take his place on guitar while Donohue soldiered on with one and a half hands on the piano.
It was a treat to have Ernest back on the Irish Center stage again. As a high school student, he was part of a young group of musicians who captured the attention of some of the top Irish musicians in the world—like Mick Moloney who tapped Ernest to play with him at his annual St. Malachy’s School benefit concert.
The Irish Center’s stage was packed with talent, including Philadelphia-based traditional singer Marian Makins and fiddler Paraic Keane (yes, of those Keanes—his father, Sean, is a long-time member of The Chieftains who are appearing at the Kimmel Center in a couple weeks).
