Philadelphia’s Irish community is known for its musical family dynasties.
There are the Boyces—brothers Michael and John are the linchpins of the Celtic rock group Blackthorn, while sister Karen, formerly with the group, Causeway, still sings solo at many Irish events. The McGillians—they’re Boyce cousins—include accordion player John and guitarist Jimmy. Sister Mary will burn up a keyboard now and again. There’s John, Judy, and Eugenia Brennan, a perfect trio of guitar and fiddle, keyboard, and voice. And siblings Dylan and Haley Richardson, a guitarist and fiddler respectively, have already produced their first CD and they’re not even out of their teens.
Now, these musical siblings have to make room for the McGroarys. Donegal brothers Seamus and Raymond are well known in the area. Both singers and guitarists, they’ve played most of the Irish musical pubs in the city and suburbs though, Raymond says, “Seamus play a lot more bars than I do. I mostly play events and people’s parties.”
The papal visit is upon us at last! If you’re going downtown, go with our good wishes. It’s been so easy to get caught up in all of the pope-ageddon hoopla. You can’t so much as stop for bag of chips at a 7-11 without seeing Pope Francis bobble-head dolls for sale on the counter. But let’s set all of that nonsense aside for now. This truly is a meaningful moment for Philadelphia.
There’s really no smooth way to segue from that particularly historic moment to the other big weekend event.
We’re talking about the Irish Fall Festival down in North Wildwood. Irish people from Philadelphia have been migrating down to the shore every year to close out their summer with one big last celebration. If you’ve never been, the whole Wildwood resort area is awash, so to speak, in Irish things to do.
At a Mass at beautiful St. Anne’s Church on East Lehigh Avenue in Port Richmond Wednesday night, the Irish delegation to the World Meeting of Families got to witness brotherly love in all its glory.
The church was packed—you couldn’t find a parking space for blocks—and the fans couldn’t do much to lower the temperature inside. But no one seemed to mind—certainly not the Most Reverend Liam S. MacDaid DD, Bishop of Clogher, Council for Marriage and the Family, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, or any of his traveling companions.
With St. Anne’s Pastor Father Ed Brady serving as host, representatives of many of Philadelphia’s Irish organizations were well represented. There was an honor guard from the 69th PA Irish Volunteers, a dance performance by the Rince Ri school, and tunes by the Second Street Irish Society Pipe Band.
Also attending with the Irish delegation:
The Most Reverend Donal Murray DD, Bishop Emeritus of Limerick, Council for Marriage and the Family, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Reverend Peter Murphy DD, Executive Secretary, Commission for Pastoral Care and the Council for Marriage and the Family, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Reverend Eamon Kelly LC, Vice Chargé at the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem
Had you heard? The Pope is coming to Philly this week. Welcome to the City of Brotherly Love, Pope Francis! And the AOH Irish Fall Festival starts on Thursday. And Bethlehem’s Celtic Fest starts on Friday. So, if you were hoping for a nice, quiet Fall week, you are so out of luck.
Blackthorn will be rocking Norwood Community Day and Music Festival on Saturday, September. The day starts at 8 AM with the Ed Snyder 5K Run. There’s a craft fair, moon counces, rock climbing, pony and horse rides for the kids, a food court serving everything from mini-stromboli to crabcake sandwiches, a beer garden, and cow pie bingo—ewww—to round out the day. Blackthorn will be preceded by many other bands. The lads take the stage from 7 PM to 10 PM. BYO lawn chairs and sunscreen.
It’s been sold out for weeks, but we need to mention that the John Byrne Band is holding its CD release party at World Café Live on Saturday night. Their newest offering is “The Immigrant and the Orphan,” and features “Dirty, Used Up, Chewed Up, Screwed Up Love,” which is getting airplay on WXPN. Check out the video below.
On Wednesday, Father Ed Brady of St. Anne’s Catholic Church on Lehigh Street in Philadelphia will be concelebrating an “Irish Peoples Mass” at the church where he’s the pastor with various priests from around the region and visitors from the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference in the city for the World Meeting of Families. This is the organization meeting in Philadelphia that drew the attention of Pope Francis, who will be in the city to address them.
On Thursday, enjoy a private concert by young musicians Haley Richardson, Dylan Richardson, and Keegan Loesel in the privacy of your home thanks to Concert Window. You pay what you want, but what you contribute will help defray the costs of 13-year-old Haley’s trip to Ireland in October to compete in the Fiddler of Dooney competition. Haley, who lives in New Jersey, has won an All-Ireland for her fiddle playing. Go to the Concert Window link to have a look and listen starting at 8 PM.
Also on Thursday, the AOH Fall Irish Festival kicks off with a round of golf, followed by three days of nonstop music, vendors, parades, a pipe band competition, a 5K and Mass on Sunday. It’s billed as the largest Irish festival on the east coast, and the interest in this AOH fundraiser never seems to lag. Along with the musicians on the bill, including Cathy Maguire, Haley and Dylan Richardson with Keegan Loesel playing as the new trio, Meara Meara, Ballina, the Birmingham Six, the Broken Shillelaghs, and Galway Guild, most of Philly’s Irish musicians are booked into the pubs that line the route. If you hate Irish music, this is not the place to be.
On Friday through the weekend, find out if your haggis-eating skills are primo by entering the contest at Bethlehem’s annual Celtic Fest. You can also learn how to do the perfect pour of Guinness, watch big men throwing big objects (those are highland games) and thrill to border collies herding sheep.
There’s also a fantastic array of musical entertainment (I’ve heard most of them and can vouch for them) including Timlin and Kane, Seamus Kennedy, Killen Clark, Blackwater, Matt and Shannon Heaton, Emish, Celtic Spirit, the Mudmen, Tempest, Burning Bridget Cleary. Poor Man’s Gambit, Jamison, McPeake, Kilmaine Saints, Bastard Bearded Irishmen, the Gothard Sisters, Glengarry Bhoys, Archie Fisher, No Irish Need Apply, and many more. The Celtic Cultural Alliance doesn’t do anything by halves. I didn’t even mention the pipe bands, fiddle contest, Irish dancers, Highland dancers, crafts, vendors, and workshops. This is worth a trip. There’s almost too much to do and see.
The German duo Milli Vanilli got in trouble for it in the ‘80s, but Jimmy Fallon has made lip synching a viral sensation. Fallon’s popular Tonight Show segment pits celebrities against one another to pretend sing recorded music—and it’s become so trendy there’s talk of giving the skit its own show.
On Friday, October 9, lip synching is getting its own live performance in Delaware County, thanks to the Irish Immigration Center of Greater Philadelphia. In the crowded seas of fundraisers, they’re hoping this one will be a standout.
The idea came from Maura McGee, a friend of Immigration Center social worker Leslie Alcock. “We mentioned it to Katrina Stafford, a chef who provides lunch once a month for our seniors,” says Alcock, “and it just went from there.”
The 41st Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival of Traditional Music and Dance drew to a close last Saturday night with a rousing concert by the young group Girsa, whose name means “young girls” in Irish. And the group, from Pearl River, NY, is usually composed of all young girls, but prior commitments for some of the talented young women meant there was a place on the stage for amazing Irish step dancer and flute player Sean Tierney.
You’ll find videos on our homepage, and plenty of photos below of Friday night’s annual ceili and rambling house, hosted by John McGillian, and the nonstop music and fun of Saturday afternoon.
The Irish American Community of Delaware Valley welcomes the Irish Catholic Delegation!
A special Mass will be celebrated with our special guest and visiting delegation from Ireland and the Irish American Community of the Delaware Valley region.
The delegation of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference includes:
Main Celebrant: The Most Reverend Liam S. Mac Daid DD, Bishop of Clogher, Council for Marriage and the Family, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
The Most Reverend Donal Murray DD, Bishop Emeritus of Limerick, Council for Marriage and the Family, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Reverend Peter Murphy DD, Executive Secretary, Commission for Pastoral Care and the Council for Marriage and the Family,
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference Reverend Eamon Kelly LC, Vice Chargé at the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem
Reverend Edward Brady Pastor, St. Anne’s Church. Plus, other local Priest and Religious.
The nascent supergroup Girsa and the singular singer Mary Courtney sent their audience home happy Saturday night, providing music of the high caliber most people have come to expect from the Ceili Group Festival’s closing concert.
