East Durham, ‘The Emerald Isle of the Catskills’ that time has, thankfully, forgotten

A home away from home for Irish culture in beautiful rural upstate NY

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The annual Feis and the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham invoke the experiences of years past.

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Today, not much has changed. Though the crowds may have tapered off a bit, East Durham knows to expect an influx of Irish returning to the area during the weekend of the annual Feis and, of course, during Catskills Irish Arts Week. These annual events invoke the experiences of years past, showing that while the rest of the world moves into the future, East Durham keeps plodding along steadily not willing to change all too much, thankfully.

While East Durham doesn’t appear to have done much to remain modern, its efforts in preserving the Irish culture are both apparent and growing. Irish arts, both music and dance, as well as Irish sport are all carefully taken care of in the area. The Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural and Sports Centre is primarily to thank for its preservation and promotion of all things Irish.

This past weekend, I found myself quite enjoying much of the same activities my parents enjoyed when they were my age. Heading to the Feis for the day, cooling down with a nice beer while watching the dancers, I was more than thankful that I didn’t have to dance on in stage, nevermind zip up into a velvet costume and wig.

Heading back to the motel - this year, The Shamrock House - we relaxed by the pool and partied into the early hours of the morning accompanied by traditional Irish music.

Generations of dancers from my dance school, The McLoughlin School of Irish Dance, took over the dance floor at both Gavin’s and The Shamrock House for a Four-Hand Reel and a couple of renditions of The Sweets of May. Couples young and old danced old time waltzes, and my mom and her friends took a few turns at some jives. Everyone was up out of their seats for a rendition of The Siege of Ennis at The Shamrock House.

The ending of the night was marked by, of course, the singing Amhrán na bhFiann (A Soldier’s Song) as well as God Bless America, a clear indication of the successful merging of Irish and American culture in East Durham. The next morning? A trip to Our Lady of Knock for Mass, at least for those whose heads weren’t too sore.

Before driving back to New Jersey, my mother, boyfriend and I of course had to stop into the Irish Centre to catch the showing of the Donegal and Kerry semifinal football match. Perhaps one of the only clear indicators of the distance between now and then, we were able to watch the match on a live feed on the big screen, a far cry from the huddling around a radio my mother and father had to do.

Though I was none too pleased to see that Kerry won’t be headed for the All-Ireland Final next month, the range of ages that were in attendance at the showing proved that the Irish community in East Durham is still thriving, something I am thankful for. The live feed on the big screen showed that East Durham is mindful in embracing only certain forms of technology - it uses what’s necessary, but doesn’t overwhelm itself with inundating modernity.

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