How to Be Irish in Philly

It is, dare we say it, a little quiet on the Celtic scene as May washes and blows out of here, leaving us shivering and longing for one of those humid Philly springs we’ve come to know and love. Or not.

But leave it to Blackthorn to leave it on the upbeat. This popular Celtic rock group is holding its annual Memorial Day bash at Canstatters’ German Club in Northeast Philadelphia on Monday. You can enjoy Irish music and German food and beer (appropriate, since we learned from CBS-3’s Larry Mendte that among immigrants in Pennsylvania, the Irish were most likely to marry Germans, creating people, well, like himself, and my cousins, the Costellos). Also on the bill—the Hooligans and some great weather, according to CBS-3’s Kathy Orr (we believe everything she tells us).

Looking ahead, the Irish stuff picks up in June and doesn’t stop. Sadly, this year, if you want to follow Philly’s Donegal Gaelic Football Club (AKA Four Provinces), you can only watch the action at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, New York. This is a great team, last year’s championship winners, and they’re going up against Down GFC on June 1. We’ll miss those Sundays at Cardinal Dougherty High School. But this is the big time for our guys.

On Friday, June 6, look for Scythian, those crazy guys from Washington, DC, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That’s also the day the AOH Div. #1 holds its annual Celtic Festival in Mont Clare, PA.

If you aren’t festivaled out, the Fourth Annual Celtic Festival is being held on June 7 at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, NJ with the usual bagpipers, Celtic music, craft vendors, and an all-day Irish buffet.

Our Donegal footballers are going up against Derry that evening at Gaelic Park.

Closer to home, make plans to head down to Coatesville on June 7 for a remarkable pairing: concertina player Micheal O’Raghallaigh (pronounced ME-haul O’Riley) and uilleann piper Ivan Goff.

And, of course, the Frank McCourt musical, “The Irish and How They Got That Way,” will be at the Walnut Theater until the end of June.

You’ve got plenty of time to get rested up for the Rose of Tralee pageant on June 20 and the rocking Irish Festival on Penns Landing on June 21.

Check out these and other Celtic events on our calendar, soon to be a major motion picture.

Jam-packed is the word for this week. Lots of Celtic craic and, of course, much of it at the same time.

If it’s not washed out, tonight (Friday, May 16) is Irish night at the Phillies. Along with the Toronto Blue Jays, you can see the Bogside Rogues, singers Vince Gallagher and Timmy Kelly, a host of Irish dancers—but no green hats on the Phils. We hear from a reliable source that since the team lost while wearing green hats, they’re not wearing them again. At least, not during the season.

There’s a $4 discount if you use the word “Irish” when ordering tickets. If you haven’t been to Citizen’s Bank Park, it’s great fun, even if you couldn’t care less about baseball.

Saturday at noon, the Camden County Emerald Society Pipe and Drums is holding its Irish Festival at the RiverWinds Community Center in Thorofare, NJ. There will be a pipe band competition, of course, but also a fire truck pull, so it sounds like a great day for kids. The adults aren’t left out either—there’s also a beer garden, craft vendors, and great live music presented by Blarney, Birnham Wood USA, and the Broken Shillelaghs.

That night, plan on being at the Irish Center for a one-man show by the amazing Sean Tyrell, who will tell the story, in words and song, of lesser-known Irish hero John Boyle O’Reilly. “Cry of the Dreamer” traces Reilly’s journey from early childhood set against a backdrop of famine, revolution, Fenianism and penal servitude for life in Australia and his great escape from there to the US where he became a newspaper editor and poet. It’s a coup to have this show in our area. Tyrell plans to take it wherever Reilly went: Dublin, London, Fremantle, Liverpool, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

On Sunday, head over to Park Polanka in Bensalem for the annual Bucks County Irish Center Irish Festival. Then make time to watch the Allentown Hibernians in their first match ever against the Philadelphia Shamrocks at Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia. The game is hurling and starts at 4 PM. Read our story.

At the Irish Center at 5 PM Sunday, Michelle Mack will be crowned the new Mary from Dungloe. An Irish dancer and assistant director of residence life at Holy Family University, Michelle will travel to Dungloe, County Donegal, Ireland, in August to compete in the international contest.

If you’re in or near Gloucester City, NJ, a lovely candlelight Celtic service is planned at the First Presbyterian Church of Gloucester City, with Celtic hymns, harp music, and healing prayers.

On Monday night, all you set dancers should head over to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside where the fabulous Matt Cunningham band from County Galway will be providing the get-up-and-dance music.

On Tuesday, May 20, The Swell Season (Oscar winners for best movie theme, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglov from the movie, “Once”) will be performing at the Tower Theater to a sold-out house. Opening for them is Fergus O’Farrell and Interference, a little known but profoundly influential group from Ireland making its first appearance in the US.

The great King of the Pipers, Paddy Keenan, will be playing at upstairs at the World Café Live in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 21. On May 22, Keenan will be giving both piping and whistling workshops at the Irish Center.

Also on Wednesday, soccer fans can head on over to Fado Pub in Philly to catch some live action between Manchester United and Chelsea. Well, live on TV. It’s the 2008 Championship Final. Word of warning: Everyone needs to behave themselves.

“The Irish and How They Got That Way,” a musical by Frank McCourt, is still playing at the Walnut Street Theater and will be there till the end of June.

You’ll find all the details and even some maps on our calendar, which really wishes it had called early for tickets to see The Swell Season. Oh well, it might be getting in to the sound check.

Forget the silly brunch you always take Mom to. There’s a Celtic Street Fair in Phoenixville this weekend. Don’t you think she’d rather check out all the vendors while wearing her new shamrock deely bobbers?

All the craic starts Saturday at 10 AM and it’s free. There will be Irish step dancers, 25 vendors, and many clan and fraternal organizations. There’s also a great array of bands and performers—the Bogside Rogues, the Malones, Oliver McElhone, the Brian Boru bagpipe band and DC’s favorite Balkan-Celtic band, Scythian, with Drew and Angus from the band Brother, opening for them at the Colonial Theater, famous for its starring role in the ancient film, The Blob.

Trad musician alert: This year will feature a seisun stage for some serious jamming. Bring your fiddles, concertinas, bodhrans, and harps.

That same evening, Blackthorn and the AOH Notre Dame division will be raising money for the Upper Merion Police Department at the Radisson in King of Prussia. If you’d forgotten that these men and women lay their lives on the line every day for us, this past week in Philadelphia should be a powerful reminder.

And so you’re not wishing you had planned ahead:

Time to get those discount tickets for Irish Heritage Day at the Phillies—it’s $4 off (whether you’re Irish or not) if you use the promotion code, “IRISH”, when ordering tickets for the May 16 game. The Phils are up against the Toronto Blue Jays. There will be Irish food and, of course, Irish dancing. Bob Kelly of CBS-3 is the emcee for the evening game.

Next Saturday, May 17, the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes and Drums is holding its Irish festival at the Riverwinds Community Center in Thorofare, NJ. Along with vendors, see a pipe band exhibition (natch!), step dancers and a fire truck pull. Music will be provided by Blarney, Birnam Wood USA, and Broken Shillelaghs.

That night, plan on being at the Irish Center for a one-man show by the amazing Sean Tyrell, who will tell the story, in words and song, of lesser-known Irish hero John Boyle O’Reilly. “Cry of the Dreamer” traces Reilly’s journey from early childhood set against a backdrop of famine, revolution, Fenianism and penal servitude for life in Australia and his great escape from there to the US where he became a newspaper editor and poet. It’s a coup to have this show in our area. Tyrell plans to take it wherever Reilly went: Dublin, London, Fremantle, Liverpool, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

On Sunday, head on over to Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philly to see the Philadelphia Shamrocks face off against a brand new hurling team from Allentown. The game starts at 4 PM. If you’ve never seen hurling this is the only place you’re going to in this area. If you like hockey, soccer, baseball, football, and Xtreme fighting, you’ll love hurling. Wear a hat and sunscreen.

Prepare for the coming of the great King of the Pipers, Paddy Keenan, who will be playing at upstairs at the World Café Live in Philadelphia on May 21. On May 22, Keenan will be giving both piping and whistling workshops at the Irish Center.

“The Irish and How They Got That Way,” a musical by Frank McCourt, is still playing at the Walnut Street Theater and will be there till the end of June.

Of course, everything you need to know is on our calendar, considered on a par with the Library of Alexandria in the depth and breadth of the information it contains. Hope we don’t end up like that one. (Okay, for you non-history nerds, it was once the largest library in the world, but books being flammable and all, it went up in flames several times before finally being destroyed at the behest of a fourth century Christian leader.)

The hit off-Broadway musical, “The Irish and How They Got That Way,” by Frank (“Angela’s Ashes”) McCourt is in Philly till the end of June at the Walnut Street Theater. It sounds “don’t miss” to us.

But you only have one chance to see “Celtic Spring,” winners of the “America’s Got Talent” show. Think the Osmonds—it’s a sibling group—but with Irish instruments. They’re appearing Sunday at the Sellersville Theater at a matinee performance at 3 PM.

Later that evening, AOH Division 65 will honor two stalwarts of the Irish community, Jim Kilgallen and Paul Phillips, both longtime members of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade Observance Association (Kilgallen does the color commentary on CBS-3 the day of the parade; Phillips is treasurer, so he makes sure there’s enough money to have a parade.” The event is being held at the Irish Center from 4 to 8 PM. Parade Director Michael Bradley calls the duo “two of a kind.

“They are always there whenever I need advice and usually give you sound unbiased thoughtful responses,” he told www.irishphiladelphia.com. “Their years of experience in the various Irish organizations in which they belong, is truly priceless for the Irish Community of the Delaware Valley. AOH 65 is honoring 2 of the best we have in the Irish community. I would like to congratulate them on this and the many honors they have received in their lifetime, I am proud to call them friends!”

Next Saturday, plan to head over to the Radisson in King of Prussia for a benefit for the Upper Merion Police Department featuring Blackthorn and the Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums – wow, what a combo! Guys, consider a duet!

Looking ahead, time to think about getting tickets to a Phillies game. For the second year in a row, the Phillies are sponsoring Irish Heritage Celebration at Citizens Bank Park on Friday, May 16 at 7:05 p.m. when the team hosts the Toronto Blue Jays. Come out and enjoy Irish delicacies, live music and learn how to Irish dance. Emcee will be Bob Kelly from KYW – CBS 3.

To help honor the Irish community, the event features a $4 ticket discount off $16 – $27.50 regularly priced tickets. When you click on the “Buy Tickets” button on the Phillies’ website and enter the promotion code IRISH, you’ll get the special ticket offer. We think this is a very cool thing. Just don’t eat any green hot dogs.

All the details are you know where—the only calendar that Senator John McCain calls “friend.” And he’s seen plenty of calendars.

As usual, there are a couple of things we’d like to do this weekend that are going on at the same time. Ah well, it’s not such a bad thing to have an embarrassment of riches.

On tap for Friday night, County Cork’s Liam O’Riordan from the Irish group, Trad Roots, will be appearing at the Trinity Irish Pub and the Pier at Caesar’s in Atlantic City. Don’t worry if you miss him—he’ll be appearing again on April 20 at Emmett’s Place in Philadelpiha and on April 24 at The Shanachie Pub and Restaurant with local (but formerly of County Clare) musician Fintan Malone. We heard Liam about a year ago when Trad Roots made an all-too-brief appearance in the Delaware Valley, and he’s amazing.

On Saturday between 5 and 7 PM, the Irish-American Democrats are holding a rally for Hillary Clinton at Finnigan’s Wake in Philadelphia, featuring Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and New York Congressman Joe Crowley. Primary Day is Tuesday—don’t forget to vote. This is an historic election.

Also on Saturday, you can hear the remarkable voice of Terry Kane at her CD release party at McCoole’s in Quakertown. Kane will be performing with the group, Trad Linn to celebrate their debut CD, “The Roads of Clare.” See our story.

On Saturday night, the Coatesville Irish Music Series presents three superb musicians—Dana Lyn, Tina Lech, and Donna Long—in concert.

And on Thursday night, don’t forget to catch the latest in the Irish Film Series at the Irish Center—“Bloody Sunday,” about the 1972 clash between the British Army and Irish protestors in Derry that left 14 people dead. See our review.

As usual, you’ll find all the details on our calendar, the only one in the world blessed by the Pope. (Was that lightning I just saw?)

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?).