All posts from Jeff Meade
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The Center for Irish Studies Presents “Bellow”
Wednesday, March 11 | Thursday, March 12 | Friday, March 13 | All shows at 7 p.m. Topper Theater of the John and Joan Mullen Center for Performing Arts Bellow tells the extraordinary real-life story of one of Ireland’s foremost accordionists, Danny O’Mahony, a man who had dedicated his life to the preservation of traditional Irish music. Now, after 40 years of breathing life into centuries-old tunes, Danny is finally taking a moment to stop and consider […] Read More
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Conor McPherson’s Haunting “The Weir” Comes to the Irish Heritage Theatre
Picture yourself in a comfy little pub in Ireland’s rural County Leitrim in the 1990s. It’s a dark, rainy night, and a few of the locals are on hand for a comforting pint or two. The owner of the pub, Brendan, holds court behind the bar. There’s Jack, the local garage owner and mechanic, along with Jim, Jack’s assistant. Finbar, a businessman, is visiting. Lastly, there’s Valerie, the stranger, a blow-in from Dublin who’s renting […] Read More
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A Tale of Two Women: Irish Heritage Theatre Presents the Tragicomic “Beauty Queen of Leenane”
Sometimes, under the right conditions, you can become the very thing you hate. Life is rarely that simple, or the Irish Heritage Theatre’s upcoming production of playwright Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” would be incredibly short. Instead, the path to a ghastly, deeply sad predestined fate can be winding indeed. And therein lies a brilliant story. McDonagh’s tale paints a vivid portrait of two women living together in Connemara, County Galway – the […] Read More
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The Long-Hidden Story Behind the IRA’s Only Officially Authorized Attack on U.S. Soil
At the heart of journalist Mark Bulik’s exhaustively researched book, “Ambush at Central Park: When the IRA Came to New York,” there is the story of a bold plot to kill an informer, one Patrick Joseph “Cruxy” O’Connor, who had made his way to New York City in hopes of eluding the Irish Republican Army’s grasp. But there is so much more to this book. You’ll learn rich details about the operations of the Cork […] Read More
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Interview with Irish Choreographer Marguerite Donlon
Irish Philadelphia: You are choreographing a piece for BalletX. It’s a world premiere and what’s it called? Marguerite Donlon: Yeah, that’s right. It’s a world premiere and it’s called “Big Wig.” Irish Philadelphia: And where is that coming from? Marguerite Donlon: Well, the inspiration came basically from my childhood of Irish dancing. Back in Ireland, that’s all we ever did. There was no other kind of dancing at that time. And I just remember as a child, first […] Read More
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‘Duffy’s Cut’: Local Oncology Nurse and Playwright Tells a Ghost Story with a Modern Moral
When Einstein oncology nurse Liz Kerr sat down to write an ambitious three-act play about 57 Irish railroad workers and two women buried in a deep mass grave not far from the tracks in East Whiteland Township, she had an unusual muse. It was the ghost of young John Ruddy, believed to have been savagely murdered by nativists who wrongly blamed the Irish for bringing cholera to a nearby town near the worksite now known […] Read More
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Podcast: Interview with Merton Play Actress Kirsten Quinn
“Rendezvous in Bangkok … Who Killed Thomas Merton,” written by Sabina Clarke and Thom Nickels, premiered in 2021. It’s back, revised, for a performance at the Commodore Barry Arts & Cultural Center (the Irish Center) Sunday, Sept. 22. What follows is a transcript of an audio interview with Kirsten Quinn, who portrays Merton friend Joan Baez. She is also the casting director. Quinn is associated with several theater groups in the Philadelphia area, including, notably, […] Read More
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Eight Months and Counting Until the First Glenside St. Patrick’s Day Parade
It’s going to be a relatively modest affair compared to other parades in the area, but the first St. Patrick’s Day parade planned for Glenside in Montgomery County is a pretty big deal to its well-organized planners. Members of the organizing committee met one evening recently around the dining room table at Noreen Donahue McAleer’s house not far from the proposed parade route. The parade—planned for March 8, 2025—is still months away, but the committee […] Read More
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Help the Philadelphia Ceili Group Celebrate 50 Years of Its Annual Festival
Come October 10, 11 and 12, the Philadelphia Ceili Group hopes to present its 50th annual traditional Irish music and dance festival. “Hopes to” because it isn’t necessarily a sure thing. Whether it happens is in large part up to you. The Ceili Group is trying to raise $25,000 to bring the very best in Irish traditional music and dance to the Commodore John Barry Arts and Cultural Center (the Irish Center) because, frankly, that’s what […] Read More
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Raise a Toast to the Inspired Creator of Pops McCann Irish Whiskey
Jason Fogg grew up in the bar business. So, it’s probably not a big surprise that he is the driving force behind Pops McCann Whiskey, his brainchild and a means of perpetuating family history. Now, Fogg has opened a storefront in Wayne, where patrons can imbibe his whiskeys, and hand-crafted cocktails. Fogg’s mother, Mary Frances (Frassee), has been a bartender for 45 years, and his father owned a neighborhood bar in Juniata Park, Pat’s Pub. […] Read More