How to Be Irish in Philly

A real treat this weekend: On Saturday night at the Springfield Country Club, the Rose of Tralee Selection Gala will see one lovely lass chosen to go to Ireland to compete in the international pageant. And this one isn’t for sissies. “When girls come to us expressing an interest in the pageant, we tell them it’s a really big deal and they have to be serious about it,” says co-organizer Karen Conaghan Race. “It’s televised and it’s a cool experience, but not for everybody.”

But, she says, she never worries about any of the candidates. “They’re really mature girls who ‘get it.’ I know it sounds corny, but every year I think, any one of these girls would be fine. I never worry about which one gets picked. We can’t go wrong.”

Also this weekend, yet another festival: The Celtic Fling and Highland Games in Manheim, home of the Renaissance Faire in Lancaster County. And in Allentown, the Hibernians hurlers face off against a team from Pittsburgh.

On Sunday, head over to Brittingham’s for some great music and food, and contribute to a great cause. Team Ratty Shoes is in the middle of its third campaign to raise money for multiple sclerosis research—and they always have a good time doing it.

Also on Sunday, Bristol Borough is holding its 13th annual Celtic Day in the lovely Bristol Lions Park along the Delaware.

There’s a brand new session on Mondays at Kildare’s in Manayunk, featuring the angel-voiced Terry Kane. Head over, grab a beer, and some of the great food that comes to you by way of our friend, Chef Brian Duffy, and if you play an instrument, bring it along.

If it’s the weekend, you can pretty much count on two things: Irish festivals and rain. I’m happy about the first. The second? Oy.

But let’s focus on the fun stuff. There should be enough breaks in the wetness for you to help out the hungry and enjoy some great Irish music on Saturday at the Second Annual Irish Hunger Fest in Yardley, Bucks County, to benefit the AOH’s Hibernian Hunger Project. The Bogside Rogues, Brimingham Six, and many other great local bands will be there. You should be there too.

Also on Saturday, the Pen-Mar Irish Festival in Glen Rock, PA, will be going on rain or shine. This one benefits Pen-Mar Human Services. If you’re up north, head over to this one. It’s always fun.

And will they notice a little more water at the annual Philadelphia Currach Club Races at the Columbus Club on the Delaware on Saturday? Oh, probably not. If you haven’t seen these Irish boats skimming across the water, here’s your chance.

Is it still Saturday? Yes. Then Luka Bloom will be appearing at World Café Live in Philly.

Please save some energy for Sunday, when a group of his friends—including the local Celtic group Blackthorn–will be raising money for Paul Sheridan, a 40-year-old Cavan man who lives in Havertown. Along with being beset by financial troubles, Paul was recently diagnosed with lung cancer which metastasized to his bones. He’s undergoing treatment at Penn. Paul has a daughter, Shauna, 12, so it’s appropriate that his friends picked Father’s Day for the fundraiser. Come out to Philadelphia’s Irish Center and support him!

While you still have your good-deed-doing hat on, tune in to WTMR 800 AM at 11 AM on Sunday and make your pledge to keep the Irish radio shows on the air for another year. This Sunday, Vince Gallagher and Marianne MacDonald are offering a special treat: Live music in the studio! You can hear some of our favorite local musicians, including Kevin Brennan, Fintan Malone, and Tim Hill, the 15-year-old boy wonder of Irish music. Call 1-866-799-9090 toll-free and make a pledge.

Check out a video of a recent performance by Vince Gallagher, Kevin Brennan, and Patsy Whelan at the Irish Center during a birthday party for Gallagher’s wife, Vera.

On Thursday, join Kathy DeAngelo of You Gotta Have Harp and 20 of her harpers at Burlington Meetinghouse and Conference Center in Burlington, NJ. It’s free.

Also on Thursday, Scythian—those Baltic-Celtic rabble-rousers from DC—will be performing at the Sellersville Theatre.

Friday kicks off the Celtic Fling and Highland Games at the Mount Hope Winery in Manheim (home of the Renaissance Fair) with a concert by Gaelic Storm, “everybody’s favorite Titanic steerage band.” The Scythian guys are planning to show up, so expect a high-octane evening. Hang in for a weekend of fun, frivolity and caber tossing.

Next Saturday, the next Rose of Tralee from Philadelphia will be crowned in Havertown. The winner of this annual pageant will head to Ireland this summer to vie for the international crown in a televised event that breaks TV records every year in Ireland. Not to make you nervous, girls, but this is a big deal.

And on Sunday, Bristol Borough will hold its annual Celtic Day on the waterfront.

What, another festival? Why yes. This Saturday marks the 39th year of the New Jersey Irish Festival, which is being held in Lakewood. Our feeling is, if you’ve been doing it for 39 years, you’re probably doing something right, so the trip is worth it.

The Brigade is playing at Molly Maguire’s Pub in Phoenixville on Saturday night It’s a great place and Phoenixville is more Irish than you may realize.

On Sunday, head down to Wilmington, DE, to hear the group Seven Rings play Irish pub songs and ballads at the Bellevue Arts Center band shell. Bring your blanket, bring your baby, but check first about the bucket of beer.

Round the House, the fabulous Irish traditional band from Tuscon, AZ, will be in the area next week, first at the Harp and Fiddle Pub in York, and then on Thursday at the Contra Dance at Glenside Memorial Hall in Glenside.

A head-up about next weekend. There are two great festivals on tap—the Irish Hunger Festival in Yardley, PA, which raises money for the Hibernian Hunger Project and the 9th Annual Pen-Mar Irish Festival in Glen Rock, PA. And there are currach races! If you haven’t seen these traditional Irish boats on the water, consider heading down to Columbus Club on State Road in Bensalem and watch this wonderful Irish sport in action.

Luka Bloom is also in town next Saturday at World Café Live—so much to do, so little time.

Check the world famous calendar for more details.

Don’t forget to tune into WTMR 800 AM on Sunday morning at 11 AM and make your pledge to keep Irish radio alive in the Delaware Valley. The Donegal Association (my peeps!) will be manning the phones. If you have roots in dear old Donegal, let’s make this the biggest pledge day ever!

Prepare to enjoy yourself this week. There are three festivals and you can go to all three if you want! They overlap a little but the determined fun-seeker can do it!

The annual AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 Festival in Mont Clare, PA, runs all weekend from Friday night on with great music (Tom McHugh and Company, Timlin and Kane, Oliver McElhone, John McGillian, Sarah Agnew, Irish Thunder), dancing, food, and a beer wagon. Proceeds from the event go to AOH charities, as usual.

On Saturday. Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May will hold its annual event, also with music, food, dancing, and vendors.

On Sunday and head down to the annual Penn’s Landing Irish American Festival (where appropriate good weather is forecast) for eight hours of music, food, dancing, headlined by Blackthorn. Before you go, tune in to WTMR 800AM and make a pledge to keep the Irish radio shows on the air for another year.

(Hope you’re not festivaled out—the 39th annual New Jersey Irish Festival is scheduled for next Saturday at the Blueclaws’ stadium in Lakewood.)

The Tony-nominated play, The Seafarers, continues at the Arden Theatre.

On Saturday night, Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul will be rocking Longwood Gardens. We’re major fans of both Ivers and Longwood and we think this is a good combo.

On Monday, The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick is holding its annual golf tournament at the Sandy Run Country Club in Oreland. If you’ve got some time and a hankering to spoil a good walk, check out our calendar for the info. There are still spots available.

On Wednesday, you’re in for a real treat. “The Fellas”—three of Ireland’s top comics—will be appearing at The Trocadero Theater on Arch Street in Philadelphia, part of mini-tour of the east coast (with a detour to Chicago). We’ve been looking at their videos all week, and we’re still laughing. One, Ardal O’Hanlon (whom we loved as the dopey Father Dougal in the “Father Ted” series) talked to us this week. Read his interview here.

On Thursday, the long-awaited Rambling House event resumes at the Irish Center. Lots of music, dancing, songs, and stories. What could be bad?

There are many great days for the Irish this coming week. Start it off right with an evening with the Dublin City Ramblers, joined by the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, at the Irish Center on Saturday night. Have a beer, tap your feet, sing along—the Ramblers love that, or so frontman Sean McGuinness tells us.

The Tony-nominated play, “The Seafarers,” set in Ireland, continues at the Arden Theater through mid-July. (Local trivia note: On Broadway, the leading role of the troubled alcoholic brother, James Harkin, was played by Chestnut Hill-based actor, David Morse, whom you know from the TV shows, “Hack,” and “St. Elsewhere,” and the movie, “The Green Mile.”)

Singer Moya Brennan, known as “the voice of Clannad,” is appearing on Sunday night at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia. You may have seen her in March on NBC’s Today Show which was broadcast from Ireland for a week.

On Thursday at 8 PM, join Marianne MacDonald and me at the Irish Center for a special showing of the movie, “The Molly Maguires,” starring Sean Connery and a host of local folks who were extras in the film, which was shot near Jim Thorpe, PA. (We have it on good authority that some of them will be there. Haven’t heard back from Connery yet.) As always, the movie is free as are the sandwiches. If you’re going on the bus trip to Jim Thorpe on Saturday, this is a good opportunity to bone up on your movie trivia.

Friday kicks off the annual weekend-long Irish Festival sponsored by AOH Notre Dame Div. 1. Expect lots of great food, fun, and music (Sarah Agnew, Tom McHugh and Company, Timlin and Kane, Oliver McElhone, Paddy’s Well, Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums, and the Catrin and Coyle Dancers). It all takes place at St. Michael’s Picnic Grounds (rain or shine) in Mont Clare and benefits AOH charities. A weekend package costs only $15—a small price to pay for such a good time.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches. There are two great Irish plays on stage in the region.

The Inis Nua Theater Company, the only company in Philadelphia dedicated to producing contemporary plays from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, is presenting “Made in China,” set in a re-imagined Dublin underworld, Made in China involves martial artists, rogue cops, savage lowlifes and a curious love of snack foods. A dreadful accident creates a tug of war between two criminal footsoldiers over the loyalty of a third. Self-loathing, guilt, loneliness and black, black humor emerge in this frenzied narrative, culminating in a blistering battle for survival. The play was written by Dublin native Mark O’Rowe. It’s at the Adrienne
Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, in Philadelphia.

At the Arden Theater, the Tony-nominated Broadway hit, “The Seafarers,” will be playing through June 14. It’s set at a boozy poker game on Christmas evening in Ireland and involves a group of men, brought together by their own misfortunes. James “Sharkey” Harkin, an alcoholic who has recently returned to live with his blind, aging brother, Richard Harkin, attempts to stay off the bottle during the holidays. But he has to contend with the hard-drinking Richard and his own haunted conscience.

On May 24, the Commodore Barry Club of New York makes its annual trek to join the Philadelphia Barry Club for a mass at Old St. Mary’s Church, where Commodore John Barry is buried, a wreath-laying at the Barry statue near Independence Hall, and dining and dancing at the Irish Center with the Vince Gallagher Band.

If it’s Memorial Day, Blackthorn must be playing at Canstatter’s German Club in the Northeast, and they are.

On Thursday, come join Marianne MacDonald and me for a viewing of “Songbirds, The First Ladies of Irish Song,” an Irish TV special featuring singer Fil Campbell performing the music that a generation of Irish grew up with, all of which were originally performed by Delia Murphy,Maggie Barry, Mary O’Hara, Ruby Murray or Bridie Gallagher. The curtain goes up at 8 PM at the Irish Center. The bar will be open and we’ll have some free treats for the audience.

Things stay as quiet as they ever are (sessions every night, hurling practice, regular events at the Irish Center) until next weekend when the on-air radiothon begins to help raise $36,000 to keep the WTMR Irish radio shows on the air for another year. Move your dial to 800 AM at 11 AM through 1 PM and call in your pledge to keep the Vince Gallagher Irish Radio Hour and Marianne MacDonald’s “Come West Along the Road” playing your favorite songs. St. Patrick’s Parade Director Michael Bradley will kick off the month-long event. For those of you who don’t know Michael Bradley, he’s a force of nature with a great sense of humor, a rabid Penn State alum whose emails end with a quote from Joe Paterno, “Believe deep down in your heart that you’re destined to do great things.” He’s one of those people who, as they say, “can talk the birds out of the trees.” Tune in and you’ll see that resistance is futile.

After the radiothon event, there’s a benefit brunch at the Auld Dubliner in Gloucester City, NJ, with music and food. It’s a great place, just over the bridge from Philadelphia. I spent St. Patrick’s Day there and fell in love with the place, which will remind you of your favorite pub at home (or that place you wish was your home).

Next Saturday, the Irish Center will be rocking. So rocking, you might be able to hear it in Upper Darby. The Dublin City Ramblers and the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes and Drums are playing a double bill. The Ramblers have been wowing audiences for more than 25 years and have eight gold records for their mix of folk music, ballads, and comedy.

There’s still time to get Mom a mighty nice Celtic gift at the Phoenixville Celtic Street Fair on Saturday in. . . where else, Phoenixville. Loads of vendors have signed up (pray for sun), and there’’s music from the Malones. The Bogside Rogues, the Brigade, Pride of Erin Dancer, Oliver McElhone and the Brian Boru Pipes – all for free.

Saturday night, dance the night away at the Galway Society 100th anniversary dinner-dance at the Irish Center. It all starts with a Mass at 5:45 pm. Happy anniversary, Galway!

Don’t forget hurling practice this week at Torresdale Boys Club and the second Sunday session at Braveheart Pub in Hellertown, one of the new entries in the area’s session schedules.

On Thursday, one of our favorites—uilleann piper Paddy Keenan at the World Café Live. If you think you hate the pipes, Paddy will make you love them.

Starting this week and running through July 31, a photo exhibit called “To Love Two Countries” from photographer, John Minihan, is on view in the Barry Room at the Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street, Philadelphia. The profile photos were taken in the course of two weeks in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. In the words of poet, Derek Mahon, “The photos were based on real people untouched by celebrity.” What they all have in common is that they all emigrated from Ireland in the early or middle decades of the twentieth century. Some local Philadelphians featured in this exhibit are Barney Boyce, John Joe Brady, John Egan, Tom Farrelly, Barney McEnroe, Jimmy Meehan and Darby O’Connor.

Check out our calendar and pay special attention to next Saturday when Teada is scheduled to perform at the Irish Center. These guys totally wowed the crowd in December with their Christmas show.

This is a weekend for good deeds and to honor good-deed doers. And, of course, have fun doing it.

All weekend, members of AOH 51 will be collecting food and money outside the Thriftway Supermarket at Aramingo and York Streets in Philadelphia to support the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center, which feeds and assistant 50-75 homeless veterans a day.

On Friday night, The Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums and the Philadelphia County AOH are holding a benefit at Canstatters in Northeast Philly for two heroes—retired firefighter Tommy Meehan (a 33-year veteran) and Officer Jack Twist of the Philadelphia Police Department who is disabled from chronic pain. Both are members of the pipe band. Jamison will perform.

The Camden County High School Alumni Association will be putting on their usual Irish Festival at the high school on Saturday. This benefit is always fun, and Blackthorn is on the bill.

On Sunday, AOH 21 will be serving up another great Irish breakfast at Smoke Eaters Pub in Frankford. They’re billing it as a “Pre-Mother’s Day” event, but that doesn’t get you out of breakfast-in-bed on the real Mother’s Day.

And speaking of Blackthorn, one of the premiere “benefit bands” in the Delaware Valley will be recognized for its charitable efforts at the Third Annual AOH Fiv 65 Fleadh an Earraigh award ceremony at the Knights of Columbus De La Salle in Springfield on Sunday afternoon. Two other stalwarts of the Irish community will also be feted: musician and long-time Irish radio host Tommy Moffit and former restaurateur Jack McNamee. Very well-deserved. Congratulations all!

Not a benefit, but a chance to see a remarkable performer—on Saturday night at The Grand in Wilmington, Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster.

And if you want to learn the fine points of the game of hurling, the Shamrocks are practicing every Tuesday and Wednesday night at the Torresdale Boys Club.

Make sure you tune in to the WTMR 800-AM radio shows on Sunday. The Vince Gallagher Irish Radio Hour starts at 11 AM, followed by Marianne MacDonald’s “Come West Along the Road.” Last year, the shows found themselves in financial trouble and huge community support kept them going. Well, it’s time to rally again, and plans are on for a radiothon and other benefits in June. It costs nearly $36,000 to keep both shows on the air, and this year’s recession hasn’t made it any easier to get advertising.

Check back here for all the details, and look over our calendar which loves the attention.