Two fantabulous Irish groups will be joining forces on Saturday, April 12, for a show at the Sellersville Theater. Tempest, that crazy Norwegian-Irish fusion group from California that creates so much energy you’d think they were the aurora borealis, are headlining the show with local group, Burning Bridget Cleary, doing the warm-up (we’ve seen them and they’re perfectly capable of doing a heat-up). Tempest has a strong local following, and they’ll also be appearing on Sunday night at Brittingham’s Irish Pub in Lafayette Hill.

But before that: On Friday night, think about heading to Ardmore for AOH Comedy Night. No, not a bunch of Hibernians cracking each other up—real Irish comics such as Joey Callahan and Ed McGonigle (with the wonderful Oliver McElhone providing the music) all coming together for a good cause, the “Treasures for Our Troops” project which provides essentials and comfort items to soldiers overseas and financial help to the wounded and their families. A worthy cause, a lot of laughs, music—that’s the AOH for you.

And they’re doing it a second time this weekend. AOH Division 1 in Gloucester County, NJ, is holding a benefit for Project Children, a 33-year-old program that brings Protestant and Catholic children from Northern Ireland to the US for the summer so they can get to know one another away from any strife. There will be beef and beer, the Shantys and friends, and raffles.

Also on Friday night: New local group The Pointe will be releasing its first CD at a special performance at Molly Maguire’s in Phoenixville.

One thing you can take off your calendar is the Young at Heart Luncheon scheduled for Sunday at the Irish Center. That has been rescheduled for June. More details to come.

Sign up now to have breakfast on Friday, April 18, with Temple basektball coach Fran Dunphy, one of the all-time winningest coaches in Philadelphia Big 5 history. It’s sponsored by the Irish American Business Chamber & Network and will be held at The Pyramid Club in center city.

A portion of the admission of $35 for members/$40 for non-members will be donated to Coaches vs. Cancer which Dunphy chairs in this area with St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli. Space is limited so call 215-772-3101 or email irish_event@iabcn.org to make your reservation.

Don’t forget Movie Thursdays at the Irish Center! This week’s film will be “The Snapper,” an hilarious adaptation of the Roddy Doyle novel (adapted by Roddy Doyle himself), starring the ubiquitous Colm Meaney and Tina Kellegher (Niamh from “Ballykissangel”). The plot: A young woman (Kellegher) becomes the talk of the town when she becomes pregnant and refuses to name the father, to the consternation of her Da (Meaney). This is one of Meaney’s best performances (and he’s had plenty).

Start your weekend off right and go to the Irish Center on Friday night, April 4, to listen to a Frenchman play Irish music on his fiddle.

Patrick Ourceau was born in Paris in 1967, but the minute he first heard Irish music he was hooked. He had planned to learn the concertina, but he had such a hard time finding one in France that he switched to the fiddle, which he started learning at the age of 12. He moved to the US in 1989 to play Irish music in New York with the likes of Andy McGann, Paddy Reynolds, Brian Conway, and Tony DeMarco (whose last performance in Philly earned him three standing Os).

Ourceau is accompanied by Dublin guitarist Eamon O’Leary who also came to New York in the late 1980s.

Expect a toe-tapping, get-up-and-dance kind of evening.

Expect an equally rousing adventure if you join the Shamrocks Hurling Club on Friday night at the Irish Times in Philly’s Queen Village for a social. Learn about this great sport that’s exciting to watch and, we hear, equally exciting to play. The Shamrocks and other Gaelic Athletic Association sports teams play on summer Sundays at Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia and it’s always a blast. What’s hurling look like? Check out the photos.

Blackthorn fan alert: On Saturday night, your boys are playing a benefit for a very worthy cause—the Special Equestrians, which provides equestrian experiences for disabled children. Tickets are $25 and it starts at 7 PM at Finnigan’s Wake.

On Sunday, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, the 69th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Irish Brigade, will provide the honor guard for the annual commemoration of the late Irish activist and Philadelphian Joseph McGarrity, who played a pivotal role in the Easter Uprising of 1919, which led to the independence of the Irish Republic. A social will follow at Galileo Hall, 401 Bailey Road, Yeadon, PA, across from the graveyard. Admission to the social is $25 and includes food, drink, and music by Declan McLoughlin.

Monday night offers you a chance to hear Kevin Burke and Cal Scott at Moorestown Community House in Moorestown, NJ. Burke has been called “one of the great living Celtic fiddlers” and you’ll find out why.

On Thursday, join www.irishphildelphia.com and WTMR radio host Marianne MacDonald for Thursday night at the movies at the Irish Center. We’re co-sponsoring this six-week series of Irish films that you need to see—and if you’ve seen them, you need to see again. (We’re on our third go-round with “The Boys and Girl from County Clare,” our first film; and we can recite most of the dialogue for our second, “The Secret of Roan Inish.”) Up next: The Butcher Boy, a gritty film about a young boy’s tumultuous childhood, based on a novel by Patrick McCabe that was shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize and won the 1992 Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for fiction. The bar will be open (host Marianne McDonald says you may need a drink with this one–read her review here) and Barry Club manager John Nolan will be serving up his soon-to-be world famous hand-cut fries.

And on Friday, the AOH Comedy Show—sold out last year!—goes on stage at the Palombaro Club in Ardmore. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to “Treasures for our Troops,” a program that supplies American soldiers with daily essentials and comfort items, as well as providing financial assistance to wounded troops.

You know where to get all the details: Our calendar, which will be seen on the next season of “Dancing with the Stars” if it doesn’t make the “American Idol” cut.

Apparently some in the Irish community did not get the memo asking for a moratorium on all things Celtic for a respectful period after St. Patrick’s Day. After all, we need the time to get the green Jello coloring out of our hair and wean ourselves off the early morning Guinness.

But no, there’s no rest for the Irish. There’s plenty going on this week—and it’s quite varied.

For example, on Friday, March 28, you can hear Kevin Burke and Cal Scott—a popular duo in these parts—at the Cultural Center in West Chester. Or you can go the the AOH Div. 67-sponsored Irish Night Benefit for Our Lady’s House in Glenside, a home for unwed mothers and their babies. The Stanton Family singers and the Timoney Dancers are scheduled to perform. That starts at 7:30 PM.

But get a good night’s sleep, because the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies AOH are holding their big Cook-In on Saturday in northeast Philly for the Hibernian Hunger Project, a program that started in Philadelphia and has spread across the country. Their goal: To make and freeze 10,000 meals for the needy. All hands welcome.

On Saturday night, join the Donegal Association of Philadelphia as they welcome Bishop Boyce, the Bishop of Raphoe in County Donegal. He will say Mass at the Irish Center and talk about the Ards Friary in Donegal. Dinner will be available for purchase. Later that evening, the Tyrone Society will hold its annual ball at the Irish Center, starting at 9 PM with music and dancing. It’s their 99th—so expect big things for the centennial next year.

If you’re in Delaware, stop in at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts in Dover to hear McDermott’s Handy perform as part of the In Harmony series.

Sunday is Allentown’s day to go green. It’s the last St. Patrick’s Day parade on the roster and opens with breakfast and a Mass.

It gets a little quiet until Thursday when the second in a series of six Irish films will be shown at The Irish Center. See our story here. The first one was way more fun than we’ve ever had at the Regal.

There are some terrific events scheduled for next weekend too. For details on all the Irish events in town, go to our calendar, which combines the good looks and intelligence of George Clooney with the zaniness and hot body of Jenny McCarthy (and aren’t you proud to know that they’re both Irish?).