Will fiddle for airfare. Caitlin Finley, playing at the Philly benefit.
Tullamore, County Offaly, is 3,200 miles from Philly. It’s a long way to go, and a lot of money.
If you’ve flown to Ireland recently, you know the drill. Now imagine trying to arrange passage for 10 young Irish musicians–in this case, the Pearl River Ceili Band, winners of the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil, and contenders in the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Tullamore later this summer. (http://www.fleadh2008.com/)
Now, thanks to two big fund-raisers, Tullamore is a lot closer for the 15- to- 18-year-old band, which features Philadelphia’s own Caitlin Finley on fiddle and banjo.
First, there was the June 20 ceili at the Philadelphia Irish Center. Then, a couple of days later, an all-star blowout at Rory Dolan’s in Yonkers, featuring Joanie Madden, Eileen Ivers, Brian Conway, Gabriel Donohue and Brendan Dolan.
You can always count on Philly’s Irish traditional crowd to support the cause—and they sure did, to the tune of $2,600.
Rose Conway Flanagan, fiddler, teacher and an original member of Cherish the Ladies, played a leading role in the group’s Philadelphia appearance, and she passes along her thanks for the local support: “What a great time the kids had playing for such an enthusiastic crowd of people.”
The $2,600 raised here, she says, was quite helpful, especially given the $600 to $800 cost, per student, of just the airfare alone. “Add to that the cost of housing (figure another 500 Euros) and food,” she says, “and you have quite the bill (especially if you have more than one child going).”
The fund-raiser at Rory Dolan’s added even more to the kitty. How much more isn’t certain, but it’s clear that it will put the group in a good position to compete in Tullamore. “This (Rory Dolan’s) was a great sucess and we do have some money still forthcoming,” says Flanagan. “I believe we will have enough to cover the cost of most of the airline tickets for these kids. They will still have to foot the bill for the rest of the trip but it’s a great help!”
Those of us who were down at Penn’s Landing for the annual Irish Festival along the Delaware missed the amazing outdoor benefit at Rory Dolan’s in Yonkers. Caitlin Finley, the local fiddler and banjo player and member of the Pearl River group, says we missed quite the show. “Some of the musicians included a group who they called the New York All-Stars, made up of Joanie Madden, Eileen Ivers, Brian Conway, Gabe Donohue, and Brendan Dolan. There was also Jameson’s Revenge.”
Flanagan sums up the all-star lineup in one word: “Wow!”
“We had quite the crowd for Jameson’s revenge with Issac Alderson, the McCarthy brothers, Keith O’Neil, and many others and we had a Rockland county band that took the house down—DD Royal,” she says. “Our under-18 band got up to play and then Girsa, an all girl band from this area (which includes some of the band members) got up and also brought the house down—they were having so much fun onstage that Joanie and Eileen jumped up to join them for a few sets! (double WOW!) We had the Ruffians up on stage then and the senior ceili band (which was made up of the teachers) we had a few extra musicians join us for that as well, including Joanie and Eileen !”
Next big stop for the band: Tullamore, County Offaly, for the Fleadh, which take place August 17-24.
