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BLACKTHORN vs DONEGAL TOWN RUGBY MATCH
No pads, No fear, just brute strength, skilled tactics and a little speed, that is what was on display Saturday at College Settlement Park in Horsham. I was surprised to see the range of age in the players and the athleticism of men this size who look like they would be more comfortable sitting in a pub than pushng, pulling there way down a pitch on a nice Saturday afternoon. Sorry I couldn’t stay for […] 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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It’s Asparagus Time!
Imported asparagus are available year-round, but there’s nothing like those locally grown in its short spring season: in Ireland, traditionally beginning on April 23 and ending on Midsummer Day. Although its delicate flavor and seasonality makes it highly desirable in the kitchen, asparagus is much more than just a pretty vegetable and has long been recognized as high in antioxidants and a good source of dietary fiber. Delicious steamed, grilled, or baked, it’s also a […] 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
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My Life with Uncle Jake
The late, legendary Villanova University Athletic Director John “Jake” Nevin wasn’t my uncle by blood, but he was closer to me and my family than any blood relative could be. As the Irish like to say, we’ll begin at the beginning. Jake lived near my maternal grandparents’ humble Bryn Mawr apartment near Lancaster Avenue, in which my mother, Doris, and my aunt, Joanie, grew up. Sadly, their father (my grandfather), Buck, had a stroke in […] Read More
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Song of the Week: Mary Courtney Sings “The Patriot Game”
Singer Mary Courtney appeared at the 2015 Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival. We were fortunate to have the camera running when she sang the brilliant and heartbreaking tune, “The Patriot Game.” Dominic Behan, younger brother of Brendan Behan, wrote the tune, released in 1958. The melody comes straight from a folk song called “One Morning in May,” but the lyrics could hardly be more different. “The Patriot Game” relates the story of a young Irish Republican […] Read More
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Producers of “Where Eagles Fly,” Hope New Musical Can Take Wing Here
Many Irish Americans have a good sense of where they come from. Were it not for their ancestors’ emigration from the Emerald Isle over the last several centuries, 32 million of us wouldn’t be here at all. They fled poverty and persecution, making a treacherous journey, seeking better opportunities an ocean away from their homeland. Many of them landed in Philadelphia and spread out across the country. But not everyone knows their story, and the […] Read More
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In on the Ground Floor with Ambler Celtic Strings
The musicians of Ambler Celtic Strings are assembled in the community room of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library branch in Ambler, hemmed in by lime green plastic stacking chairs, and they’re running through the set list for their first gig at Jenkintown’s MacSwiney Club. As it happens with most practices, some of the tunes are a little rough around the edges, needing a few tweaks here and there, but fiddlers Bruce Fenderson and Aine O’Sullivan, […] Read More
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2023 Irish Memorial St. Patrick’s Day Ceremony
Philadelphia’s Irish gathered at the Memorial to remember those that were starved to death in Ireland by oppressors and the many that travelled on what was known as Coffin Ships to America. Today we paid homage to their courage and fortitude.
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