All posts from Denise Foley
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Song of the Week: The Children’s March by The River Drivers
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms, especially to you Mother Jones. This song by the Bristol Borough-born Celtic folk group The River Drivers chronicles the efforts of Mother Jones (Mary G. Harris Jones), an Irish-American labor organizer, to force the government to enforce child labor laws in Pennsylvania mines and mills. In 1903, she led a group of factory children from Kensington in Philadelphia to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt in New York, […] Read More
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InBy Denise Foley
A Belated Focus on Women As Peacemakers in The Troubles: Peace Activist Monica McWilliams
Photos by Tom Keenan At a youth conference in Northern Ireland recently, a young woman taking her O levels in history approached Monica McWilliams, co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition political party and a signatory of the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998. The student had a complaint. The only reference to women during “The Troubles” in the history curriculum, she told McWilliams, “was that women handed out tea and buns when the British […] Read More
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This Local Irish Dance Trainer Brings New Science to the Job
If you want to know the secret behind some winning Irish dancers, the Proud Mama Facebook posts say it all. From one whose daughter placed second in the under 22 age group at the regional Irish dance competition knowns as Oireachtas: “Thank you Angela for getting Chloe into dance shape both mentally and physically.” From another, whose daughter placed third in her competition and qualified for the world championships: “Thank you to all who have […] Read More
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By Denise Foley
Song of the Week: “Ladder to the Sun” by House of Hamill
The birth of House of Hamill, a Celtic folk duo (now trio), is one of those “met cute” stories movies are made of. Rose Baldino’s band, the Harleysville-based Burning Bridget Cleary, was scheduled to perform at the 2014 Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City but her band members were delayed by bad weather. So she approached Brian Buchanan, front man for Canadian Celtic rock band, Enter the Haggis, who agreed to play guitar for […] Read More
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Song of the Week: “Rainbow,” sung by Raymond Coleman
Born in Ardboe, County Tyrone, folk singer Raymond Coleman has amassed a huge fan base in the Philadelphia area for both his ballads and his humor. He has appeared at festivals all over the US and Ireland and is a regular at pubs in both the Philly area and in New York and New Jersey. You can find his recordings on Apple, Bandcamp, Spotify, Soundcloud and others. This April Ray embarked on a month-long campaign […] Read More
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InBy Denise Foley
RUNA and the Choctaw Nation: A Friendship Rekindled
Photo of RUNA with members of the Choctaw Nation by Brad Joe In 1847, members of the Choctaw Nation, who had lost one-sixth of their population in the forced resettlement known as the Trail of Tears only a decade before, did a remarkable thing. It was an act of kindness that would reverberate throughout 175 years of history and create a permanent friendship between two cultures an ocean apart. Members of the indigenous tribe met […] Read More
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Song of the Week: “When You Weren’t Looking” by The Consequences
An exciting and fun new trad group, The Consequences, shared their Kickstarter video with us (there are still a few days left to contribute!). The group includes James (fiddle), Lexie Boatright (concertina/harp), Cara Wildman (bodhrán/dance), and Ryan Ward (piano/piano accordion) who create great on-stage chemistry as they take audiences from exciting dance tunes to lovely slow pieces with slick arrangements and lush harmonies. Their much anticipated debut album will be released in summer 2023. Individually, […] Read More
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Saving the Irish language, One Student at a Time
Growing up in Gweedore, the heart of Donegal’s Irish speaking region known as The Gaeltacht, Sorcha Ní Ghallachóir’s first encounter with the English language was a children’s television program about a red-haired, red-cheeked puppet named Bosco. She watched, mystified. He was speaking a foreign language. “To me it was double Dutch,” recalls Ní Ghallachóir. “I had no idea what he was saying except for the word or two he said in Irish.” Though Irish is the […] Read More
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Song of the Week: RUNA
RUNA is an internationally acclaimed Celtic roots band that has its own roots in the Philadelphia area. Shannon Lambert-Ryan who “grew up at The Irish Center,” her husband, Dublin-born guitarist Fiona de Barra, and percussionist Cheryl Prashker, a Canadian who made her home in Philly for many years, are the foundation of this band whose fans around the world call themselves “Runatics.” They’ve racked up many awards over the years, including top group and top […] Read More
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John Byrne’s Songwriting Skills Take Center Stage
Standing in front of the noontime crowd at WXPN’s Free at Noon concert on this St. Patrick’s Day, John Byrne sounded almost giddy. “How are ye all?” he called to the crowd as he and his eponymous band launched into their version of the Dubliners’ “The Twang Man,” the story of a man who kills his lover’s new partner, then rolled right into “The Well Below the Valley,” an ancient tale of incest and infanticide, with […] Read More
What's Up
Latest Posts
- Interview with Irish Choreographer Marguerite Donlon
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- The Full Irish is Still the Best
- Irish Viral Sensation “Hallelujah” Priest Father Ray Kelly To Perform at Little Flower Charity Event
- Irish on The Inside: Book Review/Commentary