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How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

Philly Police and Fire Pipe Band from last year’s parade.

This Sunday is Philadelphia’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, the second oldest in the country and one of the best. As veteran parade goers, we highly recommend certain spots on the parade route, which starts at JFK Boulvevard and marches down the Parkway. Anywhere near Tir na Nog is always great—the road is narrow there so you can get up close and personal with the floats, bands, and dancers if you want to get some good photos.

Con Murphy’s Pub on the Parkway is also a great locale—it’s small, so can’t squeeze in lots of onlookers, but if you find a spot you can stay warm while watching the parade with a beer. Kinda like being at home (you can see the parade live starting at 1 PM on CBS3, with Kathy Orr and Chris May), but with a little more atmosphere.

Then there’s the viewing stand down by Eakins Oval parking lot. All the dancers and bands get jiggy in front of the stands, where you can usually find CBS3’s charming traffic guy, Bob Kelly, interviewing folks (you might get interviewed yourself!).

We’ll all be there, so if you see us, come up and say hello! And look for my girls, The Divine Providence Rainbow Irish Dancers, who will be showing off their brand new jackets that they bought with proceeds from their Christmas recital this year. They’re pretty proud of those jackets so let them know how great they look.

BUT, before Sunday comes Saturday and there’s so much going on that your head will spin. In a nice way.

At 2 PM there will be a memorial service at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd where six railroad workers, who died more than 180 years ago, were buried last year. A seventh, John Ruddy, was buried last weekend in Ardara, County Donegal, with members of his family in attendance. Irish Center President Vincent Gallagher donated a spot in his family plot for Ruddy’s burial.

Marita Krivda Poxon will be signing her wonderful new book, Irish Philadelphia, at the Plough and the Stars in Philadelphia on Saturday frm 4 to 5, then from 5:30 to 6:30. It’s a great gift for your favorite Irishman. The book is also available at amazon.com.

The play Jimmy Titanic is still on at the Adrienne Theatre on Sansom Street.

At noon, Galway Guild, a local group, is playing at Marty Magee’s in Prospect Park. They’re heading to Paddy Whacks in Philly at 9 for another Saturday gig.

A couple of other events start in the early afternoon: There’s Beerfest at Harrah’s Philly, which has a tangential link to St. Patrick’s Day in that they’re serving lots of beer (our guess).

Catch the Broken Shillelaghs and Slainte at Dubh Linn Square in Cherry Hill for Paddypalooza, an afternoon delight of music and fundraising for The Claddagh Fund, a charity started by Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphy’s who are appearing at the Electric Factory on Saturday night.

The great little Conshy parade is next weekend, but on Saturday, they celebrate their grand marshal, Tom Couhglin, at a special ball at the Washington Fire House at Elm and Fayette Streets in Conshohocken.

Mary Courtney and Morning Star—she’s an extraordinary singer, and they’re an extraordinary band—will be performing at 8 PM The Irish Center, 6815 Emlen Street, Philadelphia, a Philadelphia Ceili Group concert.

The John Byrne Band and Friends will be debuting the band’s newest CD, Celtic Folk, at a concert at Sacred Heart Church in Riverton, NJ on Saturday night at 7:30 PM.

Mythica and Melissa Cox will be bringing their amalgam of Irish, Scottish, folk and world music to The Queen on 500 North Market Street in Wilmington, DE. on Saturday night.

There’s also a St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Holiday Concert featuring The Maidens IV, Irish Blessing, the Ladeens, piper Chris Lewis, and The Cara School of Irish Dance at the Schneider Center in Parkesburg, Pa.

On Sunday, start your day off right with Mass at St. Patrick’s Church at 20th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia. Archbishop Charles Chaput is expected to be there, along with many other Philadelphia-area VIPs. There are also post-parade parties all over the city, including at The Irish Center.

McDermott’s Handy will be performing the afternoon at Old Friends Meeting House in Bordentown, NJ.

There’s also a St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Holiday Concert at St. Malachi’s in Cochranville featuring all the folks from the Parkesburg concert listed above.

And at 8 PM, head down to the North Star on Poplar Street in Philly to hear The Tossers, a six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, who regularly tour with The Dropkick Murphy’s.

And it’s not even St. Patrick’s Day yet.

On Monday, the Mayo County Council (yes, that Mayo) will be at Maloney’s Pub in Ardmore where you can learn more about Admiral William Brown, an Irish-born Argentine admiral who became Argentina’s greatest naval hero. There’s no charge and there will be bar specials.

Harper Janet Harbison will be performing on Monday night at the Markeim Center for the Arts in Haddonfield, NJ. You can also hear her—and get some pointers—at her workshop on Tuesday night at the Virginia Harp Center in Haddonfield.

On Wednesday, you have your choice: The Irish Rovers on their farewell tour at World Café Live at the Queen in Wilmington, or the amazing accordionist from Galway, Sharon Shannon, at Sellersville.

On Thursday, catch Dervish at Longwood Gardens (and on this little video).

Or you could taste-test some Irish coffee at AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 Hall in Swedesburg, a little event that gets bigger every year, with eight to 10 contestants brewing up their finest creations for the judges (and you get to be one). That runs from 7-9 PM.

Also on Thursday, hear Billy Donahue and Jack McKee of the Shantys at Schileen’s Pub in Westville, NJ. And Galway Guild at the Tap Room in Morton, PA.

On Friday, tune in to CBS3 at 6:30 AM to hear Blackthorn playing us up to St. Patrick’s Day. Later in the evening, the band will be performing at La Costa in Sea Isle, NJ. (Is it summer yet?)

On Friday night, The John Byrne Band, with No Irish Need Apply, will be doing the music of Shane MacGowan and the Pogues at the World Café Live in Philadelphia. They will all have teeth.

Also on Friday night:

Natalie MacMaster, the powerhouse Canadian fiddler, will be at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Carbon Leaf, a Celtic band from Virginia that often performs at Bethlehem’s Celtic Classic, will be at World Café Live at the Queen in Wilmington.

The Trenton Titans hockey team is having Irish Night at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton. Expect both dancing and fighting.

The Galway Guild will be at Con Murphys on the Parkway in Philly starting at 6 PM.

And The Broken Shillelaghs will be at Lazy Lanigan’s Publick House in Sewell, NJ.

A little taste of what’s ahead: St. Patrick’s Day is on Sunday! And on St. Patrick’s eve, look for parades in Bucks County, Conshohocken, and Springfield, Delaware County; Jamison at Paddy Whacks; a St. Patrick’s Day Party at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Glenside with the Molly Maguire’’s Ceilidh Band (expect authentic traditional Irish celebration); and much, much more.

Don’t believe me? Check our calendar.

And keep checking back. New things are being added every day. Um, pretty much every minute.

March 8, 2013 by Denise Foley

News

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

If you haven't seen GAA sports, do!

Better late than never!

Your usual trusty HTBI guide Denise Foley is enjoying a well-deserved rest, which leaves the task of filling you in on all things Irish and Philly during the upcoming holiday week up to me.

As seems to be the case every time Denise hits the road, most of the coming week is a bit on the light side. Maybe everyone’s at the shore.

But there is one big exception: Sunday.

Let’s start with the Project Children Benefit in Kildare’s in Manayunk, Sunday from noon to 3. We’ve been there, of course, and it’s a great venue in one of Philly’s funkiest neighborhoods. Hard to think of a better place for the fund-raiser. Project Children helps contribute to peace in Northern Ireland in its own small but significant way, bringing Protestant and Catholic kids from that often troubled area of the world to the United States for summer vacations. Price of admission is $20 for adults, and $10 for kids. (Kids under 10 get in for free.) There’s going to be a great buffet, plenty of draft beers to keep you cool, and Irish tuneage by Frank Daly of Jamison and friends. Irish dancers, too, of course, and fun for the kiddies, including face-painting.

More details here.

Sunday being a bright, beautiful sun-filled day in the summer, there is, of course, more to do on Sunday. Starting at 2 the same day, there’s Irish football and hurling at cardinal Dougherty High School field. If you haven’t seen these uniquely Irish sports, find time sometime this summer to take in an afternoon of games. (Bring plenty of sunblock. There aren’t many trees.)

And if you love Irish music, Sunday is a day full of traditional Irish music sessions at local bars. See our calendar for all the details. It’s a pretty good bet there will be a session near you.

See you next week.

June 30, 2012 by Jeff Meade

How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

John Byrne and Andy Keenan of The John Byrne Band. They're in Berwyn on Saturday.

Welcome to the merry month of May and some incredible Celtic entertainment.

First, this weekend:

You know that old show biz saying, “Break a leg!” Well, John Byrne did—playing soccer. Well, technically he fractured his hip. Either way, ouch! Nevertheless, he will be propping himself up on stage this Saturday at a brand new venue in Berwyn, the Performance Annex on Main.

The Cranberries—a blast from the past—will be at The Electric Factory in Philly on Saturday night.

Over in Burlington on Saturday afternoon, your $40 buys you all you can drink of 40 rare craft beers at the first fundraiser for the Burlington St. Patrick’s Day Parade. There will also be music by Clancy’s Pistol. Best of all—you don’t have to miss the Kentucky Derby. It will be show on a big screen in the parking lot of the Mount Holly Township offices.

There’s also an evening of Irish food and entertainment at St. James School Hall in Elkins Park on Saturday night.

And the very popular AOH Ceili will be held on Saturday at 7 PM at the AOH Div. 1 Hall in Bridgeport.

This is a major week for Irish plays, and you have quite a choice.

Brian Friel’s classic play, “Philadelphia Here I Come,” is the debut production of the Irish Heritage Theatre at the Walnut Street Theatre, Studio 5, in Philadelphia. Opening night is Saturday.

You can catch the last few performances this week of Martin McDonagh’s “A Behanding in Spokane,” at the Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia. This is a Theatre Exile production.

And the Inis Nua Theatre Company, which produces contemporary plays from Ireland and the UK, will debut the Enda Walsh play, “The Walworth Farce,” starting May 8 and running through May 27. Walsh, who was just nominated for a Tony for the book of the hit Broadway play, “Once,” explores the comic and tragic life of a family, a father and two sons in a rundown London bedsit.

Next Friday, make sure you have your tickets to the farewell performances of “Riverdance” at the Merriam Theatre. The play that made being Irish totally cool—in a way Bono couldn’t—is playing in Philly for the last time. It runs May 11-13. Click on the Riverdance ad at the top of our pages (they revolve, so wait for it) to get more information and buy tickets.

On Sunday, Roy Bourgeois, an outspoken Maryknoll priest who earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam, will speak at The Episcopal Peace Fellowship in Philadelphia after a screening of the award-winning documentary, “Pink Smoke Over the Vatican,” which explores the controversial issue of women’s ordination in the Roman Catholic Church.

Bourgeois has run afoul of the church hierarchy for his belief that women should be ordained. This event is being sponsored by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference, Call to Action and the Community of Saint Mary Magdalene.

Fun stuff next week too, if you want to read ahead on our calendar.

Just a reminder: You can add your event to our calendar for free. Just go to the orange bar at the top of the page, click on “Irish Events Listing,” and follow the instructions. Bands, you’re free to add your gigs too! And pubs, listen up—if you have something going on, get it on here! This is the first stop for everyone who wants to get their Irish on.

May 4, 2012 by Denise Foley

Columns

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Musicians of all ages at the Plough and Stars

After the long holiday hoohah, it looks like Philly’s Irish are taking a break.

The main event this week is a meeting Monday night to discuss Senate Bill 1983, which would allow Irish professionals to live and work in the United States on E3 work visas. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Finnigan’s Wake at 2nd and Spring Garden in Philadelphia.

If you’re a fan of the prolific Irish author Edna O’Brien, you’ll definitely want to take in “She Moved Through the Fair,” a comitragedy about the life and loves of an Irish countrywoman. The play, based on the works of O’Brien, is performed by actress Polly MacIntyre. It’s on stage at the Centre Theatre Montgomery County Cultural

Center, 202 DeKalb Street in Norristown. Show time are Saturday the 14th at 8 p.m. and Sunday the 15th at 2 p.m. For details, visit the website.

Other than that, there is something of a lull in the proceedings. (Don’t worry; it won’t last. It never does.) So it seems like a good time to draw your attention to the wonderful Irish music that happens all around us most days of the week. We’re talking about the traditional Irish music session, an often hours-long total immersion experience that draws in many of our best Irish fiddlers, pipers, whistlers and what-all. They circle up on their chairs and stools and they slam through reels, barn dances and jigs, and many other tunes whose names they can’t remember. The tunes are free, but because sessions usually are held in a bar or restaurant, you’ll have to order food and/or drinks. (We presume beer and fish and chips is not a hardship.)

One or more of these rollicking affairs takes place most days of every week, but if you really want to see what we’re talking about, let’s look at Sunday. We’re lousy with sessions on that day, including:

Traditional Irish Music Brunch
McCarthy’s Tea Room
534 Main Street
Bethlehem
610-866-3244
http://www.donegalsquare.com/mysitecaddy/site3/mccarthys.htm
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Molly Maguire’s Irish Restaurant and Pub
329 W. Main St.
Lansdale
267-421-9257
http://www.mollymaguireslansdale.com/
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Supper and Session
Molly Maguire’s Restaurant and Pub
197 Bridge St.
Phoenixville
www.mollymaguirespubs.com
610-933-9550
4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Plough and Stars
2nd Street, between Market and Chestnut
Philadelphia
215-733-0300

Home

5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Check out any one of them this weekend. Note well: Session times shift from time to time. At this time of year, that usually depends on the start time of the Eagles game. No more worries on that score.

January 6, 2012 by Jeff Meade

News

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

What, do we have to draw you pictures? There's fun for everybody at the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival.

This week starts with a bang.

First and foremost, Saturday is the final day of the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival at the Irish Center/Commodore Barry Club in Mount Airy. And a full day it is, starting at 11 a.m. with the John Kelly Music Session in the club’s cozy Fireside Room, and plowing on throughout the afternoon with hands-on traditional Irish music workshops for all skill levels, vendors selling Irish merchandise, lectures in genealogy and the Irish language, dance demonstrations, storytelling for the kids, food and treats, and more. (There’s also a workshop on the ghosts of Duffy’s Cut, just added.)

Saturday night, the great local band Runa opens the festival’s closing concert, starting at 7, leading into this year’s headliners: Brian Conway, Billy McComiskey and Brendan Dolan from the world-class Pride of New York.

Full schedule and ticket info here: http://www.philadelphiaceiligroup.org/

Also on Saturday:

Attend the Gloucester County A.O.H. Commodore Barry Memorial Day, starting with a wreath laying at the Barry Monument at the Commodore Barry Bridge in Bridgeport, N.J., at 11 a.m. Mass follows at noon at the AOH Hall, 200 Columbia Boulevard in National Park. A free luncheon follows, with music by by the Broken Shillelaghs.

If you aren’t all festival-ed out, check out the first-ever Mercer Irish Festival, from 12 to 8 at Mercer County Park, 1638 Old Trenton Road in West Windsor, N.J. You’ll recognize many of the bands, including the Shanties and the Birmingham 6. Dance to “chunes” by the Moyvale Ceili Band. There are lessons from 12 to 2 for beginning dancers. There will be plenty of Irish food—how long since you last had bangers and mash?—rides and activities for the kiddies, and plenty of merch.

Full schedule and maps and directions here: http://www.merceririshfest.com/

Or, Saturday morning at 9, head down to the Irish Center (or maybe sleep in your car at the Carpenter Lane railroad station; this is early for Irish folks) for televised Irish football and hurling. Admission is 20 bucks. Check with the Irish Center for times and matchups: 215-843-8051. (More games the next morning at 11. It’s the camogie championship, Galway vs. Wexford. (Camogie is hurling for women. Not sure we’d call them “ladies.”)

If thou wish, sirs and mistresses, hie thee to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire at the Mount Hope Estate and Winery in Manheim on Saturday from 11 to 8. It’ll give you a chance to brush up your Shakespeare. You might even get to call somebody a “vile poltroon.” (We’re not sure what that is, but maybe it has something to do with chickens.)

For the rest of the week—aren’t you exhausted yet?—catch Scottish singer-songwriter Ian Bruce Wednesday night at 7:30 at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. The concert is hosted by our friends at Green Willow: http://www.greenwillow.org/

On Thursday at 11 in the morning, the Irish American Genealogy Group meets at the Philadelphia Irish Immigration Center, 7 Cedar Lane in Upper Darby.

If you’re not wiped yet, you should be. If you’re a glutton for punishment, there’s lots more on our calendar:

http://irishinphilly.com/calendar

September 9, 2011 by Jeff Meade

Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Piping hot

Well, I can tell you for certain how one local Irish group will celebrate the 4th of July.

The Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipe Band is marching in the 114th Riverton, N.J., 4th of July Parade, one of the truly great local small-town Independence Day traditions. I know this because I will be joining the drum line for the day. Why? Because there’s nothing that says “Ain’t that America?” to me more than wrapping a heavy woolen blanket around my hips, strapping on a 14-pound drum and marching a couple of miles in extreme heat and humidity.

Join me in praying for a cooling breeze off the Delaware.

So what are you doing over the holiday weekend and beyond? Well, judging by our calendar, a lot of you have your own plans.

Sure, the South Jersey Irish Society is holding its big picnic Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Yardville. And that promises to be a great day, with Irish music and dance, swimming, grilling and lots of outdoor activities for everybody. Details here.

As for the rest of the week, there are Irish traditional music sessions all over the landscape. I’m always amazed at the folks who have never taken in an Irish music session. Local Irish musicians—it can be a few, or it can be well over a dozen—get together and play every tune they ever knew (even if they don’t always remember the names of those tunes). Sessions take place at pubs all over the place, and the music is free. (The food and drinks aren’t.) Your being there also helps support local Irish businesses, and in a down economy that’s always a good thing. So take a look at our calendar and by all means, go.

We want to draw your attention to something brand new, if a bit off the beaten track, toward the end of this week.

If you’re up for a road trip, trek on down to Anne Arundel, Maryland, for the Annapolis Irish Festival on Saturday (July 9). It’s a bit of a hike, but on the plus side you get to experience the unbridled joy of driving on I-95. Seriously, we’ve been to the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds many times over the years, and it’s a beautiful rural venue, a terrific place for a summer Irish festival.

This is the first Annapolis Irish Festival, as I say, so you can be in on the ground floor. One of our favorite local bands, Burning Bridget Cleary, is on the bill, as are many other Irish musical groups and performers, including the irrepressible Seamus Kennedy (if you haven’t seen him, do), Screaming Orphans, The Rovers, the Shamrogues, and more. The Chesapeake Caledonian Pipes and Drums will circle up and play from time to time. There are Gaelic games, tons of food and drink, vendors galore, and kiddy activities (pony rides!). Don’t worry about the heat. The festival organizers promise there will be a “misting tent.” (I want one of those.) The whole deal runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Details and directions here.

There’s more coming up this month, including the Celtic Heritage Festival in Graeme Park, Horsham, on the 16th, and a great concert at the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series—Irish Fiddle & Flute Music: Maeve Donnelly & Conal Ó Gráda—on the 20th. Keep checking our calendar for more. New events pop up all the time.

And if you are holding an Irish event and it ain’t on our calendar, then it just ain’t happenin’. Submit your event here.

July 1, 2011 by Jeff Meade

How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

Uillean piper Paddy Keenan will be at Shanachie in Ambler this week.

Irish festival!

We love the sound of that. This time it’s in Phoenixville, one of our favorite places, and it’s free and on the street. You can hear local greats including Barleyjuice, The Brigade, Oliver McElhone, Charlie Zahm, the Ted the Fiddler Band, and the Irish Thunder Pipe Band. Also on tap, the New York Celtic Dancers and the Pride of Erin Irish Dancer. There will be vendors and there are plenty of places to enjoy a bite and a beer—Phoenixville is filled with Irish pubs and restaurants, and many others that aren’t Irish. Afterwards, head down to Gwynedd Friends Monthly Meeting for a concert by the Jameson Sisters, Teresa Kane and Ellen Tepper, two fabulous and funny musicians. That starts at 8 PM.

When you’re all festivalled out, go golfing with the girls. Specifically, the Mairead Farrell Senior Ladies footballers who are holding their third annual golf outing on Sunday afternoon at Edgemont Country Club in Newtown Square. It’s a fundraiser for the team, which edged out the competition in Chicago last year to become national ladies Gaelic foot ball champs! This year the championship games are in San Francisco—that’s some serious moola they’re going to be needing if they earn the right to compete.

I’ve seen these women play and a word to wise, ladies—no unnecessary roughness out on the links!

But before that, you can help a vet in need by contributing to the AOH/LAOH Div. 51’s seventh annual Spring Fill-a-Cart-Help-a-Vet-in-Need collection at Port Richamond Village Thriftway in Philly Friday and Saturday. Food, personal items, and gift cards will be gratefully accepted.

Also on Sunday, at Friends Center on Cherry Street, you can meet Roy Bourgeois, a former Maryknoll priest, who founded the human rights group, School of the Americas (SOA) Watch. A former Navy officer who was wounded in action in Vietnam, earning him the Purple Heart, Bourgeois spend many years in Bolivia as a Maryknoll missionary, ministering to the poor. He was excommunicated three years ago for publicly supporting the ordination of women. The event at Friends is co-sponsored by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, the Catholic Peace Fellowship, and American Friends Service Committee.

On Thursday, May 18, the amazing Irish uillean piper Paddy Keenan will be playing in concert at the Shanachie Pub and Restaurant in Ambler. Keenan came from a travelling and musical family and was born in County Meath, though he grew up in Dublin. He was a member of the famous Bothy Band, founded in 1974, whose members over the year included fiddler Paddy Glackin, accordion player Tony McMahon, fiddlers Tommy Peoples and Kevin Burke, and guitarist-singer Micheal O Domhnaill.

This week’s the end of the line for Inis Nua Theatre Company’s brilliant production of “Dublin by Lamplight” at Broad Street Ministries—unless, by some good fortune, they extend the run. It’s also the beginning of the line for the Druid Theater of Galway’s version of Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy (does he do any other kinds of comedies?), “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” at the Anneberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Get yourself to the Phillies website or stubhub.com asap if you want to tickets to Irish Heritage Night at the Phillies on Friday, May 20, to see the Irish dancing, listen to the Irish music, and watch the Phils host the Texas Rangers and hopefully beat the pants off them. You can also meet the 2011 Philadelphia Rose of Tralee, the lovely Beth Keeley.

And get yourself to www.inspirationalirishwomen.com to buy tickets to this gala event on Sunday, May 22, at the Irish Center. Twelve local women of Irish descent whose lives serve as an inspiration to others will be honored. And if you’re a big WXPN Kids Corner fan—or were when you were a kid—you can meet Peabody Award-winning host, Kathy O’Connell, who is one of the winners.

Lots more coming up in the next few weeks, including the Penns Landing Irish Fest on June 5. More on that lineup later.

In the meantime, peruse the calendar at your leisure and pick a few things to do this week that will remind you that you’re Irish.

May 13, 2011 by Denise Foley

How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

NicGaviskey: a group from both sides of the Atlantic will perform Saturday at the Irish Center.

The Easter Bunny isn’t the only visitor showing up this weekend.

On Saturday at The Irish Center in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Ceili Group is hosting NicGaviskey, a lively and authentic Irish traditional band from both sides of the ocean that includes flute player Sean Gavin, fiddler Bernadette Nic Gabhann, concertina player Caitlin Nic Gabhann and accordianist Sean McComiskey. Think of it as the girls from County Meath meeting the boys from Counties Detroit and Baltimore. And actually, that’s what happened. They all ran into one another at the Catskills Irish Arts week in upstate New York in 2009 at an early morning session and the rest, they say, is history.

Caitlin NicGabhann is a three-time All-Ireland concertina champ and a regular on National Irish Radio as well as an accomplished Irish dancer who has toured with “Riverdance.” Her sister Bernadette has performed with Michael Flatley’ “Lord of the Dance” and done solo gigs and tours throughout the world.

Sean Gavin’s from Detroit but this flute player is the son of Clare-born, Mick Gavin, a fiddler. Sean McComiskey of Baltimore is the son of celebrated accordian player Billy McComiskey.

It promises to be an amazing evening.

It’s always an amazing evening with RUNA, the award-winning local Irish band that combines some interesting musical sensibilities—a little jazz, a little country—with some solid Irish traditional style. They’re at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem on Saturday night.

You can also catch the Broken Shillelaghs at McMichael’s Pub and Grill in Gloucester City (fabulous place!) and The Shantys at Daly’s Irish Pub in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Just a note on Molly Maguire’s in Phoenixville: They’ve instituted “Supper and a Session” on Sunday at the pub and kids eat for $1! They’re hoping that plenty of young Irish dancers will come for dinner and a jig, not necessarily in that order.

On Monday, join the Gloucester County AOH at the Richard Rossiter Memorial Hall in National Park, NJ (right over the bridge from Philly) for its Easter Monday flag raising. The event is followed by a Mass and lunch and is open to all.

The Inis Nua Theatre Company’s ambitious production of “Dublin by Lamplight” opens for preview on Tuesday at Broad Street Ministries in Philadelphia, across from the Kimmel Center. It opens the following day for a two-week run. Read more about it here.

Later in the week, a post-Easter treat. Cappella Caeciliana, Northern Ireland’s foremost liturgical choir, will be performing two free concerts, the first at St. Thomas Church on the Villanova University campus on Wednesday and the second at St. Malachy’s Church in North Philadelphia on Thursday. Read our story on this remarkable choir.

On Friday, The Reading Phillies are holding Irish night as they go up against the Portland Sea Dogs at First Energy Stadium in Reading. If you’ve never been, the Reading Phils play ball like it should be played—in a stadium where you’re close to the action and food doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. It’s a great family evening.

Check our calendar for all the details, and Happy Easter!

April 21, 2011 by Denise Foley

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