A masterful pairing at the Irish Arts Center with Karan Casey and Aoife O’Donovan (IrishCentral)

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:17:54 PDT

Once again the Masters in Collaboration presentation at the Irish Arts Center was one for the ages.

Oliver O’Connell and Mickey Dunne team up to highlight the importance of Irish Travellers to music tradition (IrishCentral)

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 04:33:00 PDT

Mickey Dunne and Oliver O'Connell

On a brief tour of Massachusetts and New York next week are two very lively entertainers from Ireland who each in their own way are the bedrock upon which Irish traditional music survives and flows into the next generation.

Oliver O’Connell, originally from Doolin, Co. Clare, is a historical storyteller, songwriter and musician. He is teaming up with Limerick piper Mickey Dunne for a series of enlightening concerts that will provide a great deal of information about the importance of the traveling community in Ireland in preserving and passing on so much traditional music over the years.

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann ready to gather in Maryland (IrishCentral)

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 04:32:58 PDT

CCE to host their North American convention in April

If Easter has come and gone, then one of the harbingers of spring in the Irish traditional music scene is the annual North American convention of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, a four day celebration of music and dance under one roof usually at a posh suburban hotel.

Doing the honors this year as the host branch is the O’Neill-Malcom CCE centered around Washington, D.C. They’ve taken on the sizeable chore of organizing the massive entertainment and workshop weekend as well as the business sessions slotted for the first full day of activity on Friday.

Pat O’Connor and Eoghan O’Sullivan play NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:02:44 PDT

Coming up this Friday night at Glucksman Ireland House is another pure-drop tandem visiting from Ireland in fiddler Pat O’Connor from Ennis, Co. Clare and Eoghan O’Sullivan from Co. Cork. They are touring around the U.S. and hitting the Big Apple.

It is part of the Glucksman Ireland House Blarney Star Concert series that gets underway at 8 p.m. at 1 Washington Mews on Fifth Avenue just north of Washington Square in Manhattan.

Irish musician Joanie Madden is the Queen of McLean for St. Patrick’s Day (IrishCentral)

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 04:47:42 PDT

Joanie Madden marching in the McLean Avenue parade

Over the past month, some PBS stations acknowledged that there might be more than one group of Celtic women who are making beautiful music that grew out of the heartland of Irish America, so they opened up their airwaves to a production that was filmed at Bushnell University last year.

Karan Casey and Aoife O’Donovan join forces at the Irish Arts Center for Masters in Collaboration series (IrishCentral)

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 04:32:43 PDT

Karan Casey and Aoife O'Donovan

Among many of the exciting programming features of Manhattan’s Irish Arts Center, there are none that appeal to me more than the Masters in Collaboration series now in its seventh edition.

It’s coming up next week as singer-songwriters and interpreters Karan Casey and Aoife O’Donovan join forces for the week long exploration of one another’s music and creativity.

TG4 unveils the Gradam Ceoil Awards (IrishCentral)

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 06:17:35 PDT

Dermot Byrne

Nothing proves the depth of the wellspring of Irish traditional music these days than the annual awarding of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards by the Irish language television channel announced last month.

Since they were first were given out in 1998, many of the outstanding traditional musicians in the contemporary era have been recognized in one category or another.

Celtic Appalachia tops St. Patrick’s Day celebrations - Mick Moloney and Irish Arts Center triumph (IrishCentral)

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:17:26 PDT

Mick Moloney and the Irish Arts Center triumphed once again at the historic Upper West Side cultural bastion known as Symphony Space which serves as a large platform for its increasingly popular themed variety shows.

With a capacity crowd of nearly 800 people in the restored edifice (that is a tribute to the vision of the late Isaiah Sheffer who died last November) the Irish Arts Center latest show Celtic Appalachia II managed to upstage St. Patrick’s Day celebrated earlier that day at the parade. It wasn’t just a great day for the Irish but also for the Celts, most of whom were represented in some way at the evening performance.

Irish folk musicians Lunasa wow Midtown Manhattan audience at the Lincoln Center (IrishCentral)

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:32:19 PDT

I think part of the charm of the St. Patrick’s season is that it really is a harbinger of spring when people are ready to shed any hibernation tendencies.

Beautiful healing music in Newtown, CT with the Shamrock Traditional Irish music Society (IrishCentral)

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 04:17:23 PDT

Sliabh Notes, Matt Cranitch, Donal Murphy and Tommy O’Sullivan.

Newtown, Connecticut --It was indeed a picturesque New England town in Connecticut before that awful day in December when a deranged young man perpetrated a senseless killing spree that claimed the lives of 26 beautiful educators and children who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The world saw a different, harsher image of the bucolic town on the edge of suburbia just a few months ago than the one in my mind from a number of lovely visits to hear Irish music there hosted by the Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society (STIMS) rooted in Fairfield County.

Irish traditional music happenings around St. Patrick’s Day (IrishCentral)

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 04:47:15 PDT

Jameson's Revenge will be playing in Parsippany

In Parsippany, New Jersey, the Sheraton Hotel has joined with Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann for a St. Patrick’s party on Friday, March 15 starting around 8 p.m. in the Tipperary Pub. This is both a social night and fundraiser for the CCE children’s fleadh education fund in the mid-Atlantic region, bolstering the efforts of the provincial fleadh which will take place over May 10-12 also in Parsippany (www.nyfleadh.com).

Entertainment will be by Jameson’s Revenge. Call Tom Vesey at 973-977-8863 . . .

Dr Mick Moloney’s Celtic Appalachia comes to Manhattan (IrishCentral)

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 06:02:15 PST

Green Fields of America

As one of the pre-eminent folklorists in Irish American music history, Dr. Mick Moloney has spent a lot of time in the 19th and 20th centuries studying aspects of performance, especially as it appeals to the Irish emigrant community in the United States.

I am not sure anyone can juggle a roster of artists like he can in the series of shows he has been doing for the Irish Arts Center in recent years. Upcoming is another spectacular production and the second year exploring the mountain music of Appalachia and the crossover connections to traditional Irish music.

Sober St. Patrick’s Day a musical festival (IrishCentral)

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 06:02:14 PST

John Whelan performing at last year's Sober St. Patrick's Day

Well, if last year’s event was any indicator, it certainly looked like the novel gathering at Regis High School in Manhattan for the first annual Sober St. Patrick’s day was an idea long overdue. The sold out crowd packed the Catholic high school with great enthusiasm and curiosity for the visionary occasion organized by television producer William Spencer Reilly.

A wealth of Irish traditional music shows for the green season of St. Patrick (IrishCentral)

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 05:32:08 PST

Altan is ready to hit Zankel Hall in New York City.

It is time once again to make our readers aware of the multitude of musical opportunities with within the tradosphere as the Green Season is upon us.

Get your exercise in marching in all the local parades, then relax and take in some great Irish music by some of the finest artists anywhere, and in some new venues for the first time as well. You can show your Irishness by supporting the arts and the musicians who create it.

Donie Carroll’s twin CD launch of Divil of a Noise (IrishCentral)

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:16:45 PST

While the talent and entertainment options abounded around the Norwegian Epic all week, some soirees really will stay in my mind’s eye as emblematic of what a friendly gathering it was.

Once again Gabriel Donahue played a crucial role in helping Donie Carroll navigate the seaboard launch of his newly pressed CD Divil of a Noise that arrived just in time to make the ship’s departure from Miami. Since he worked closely with Donie on this album from his state of the art studio in Center City Philadelphia and also Donie’s maiden effort a few years ago, Gabe was well clued in on how to let it play out on ship and steered a steady course.

Sailing the high seas - Folk n’ Irish cruise with Joanie Madden (IrishCentral)

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:46:46 PST

The heart of the Irish is in their music and songs, and with stalwarts like Madden traveling the world by land, sea and air the Irish folk tradition is alive and well. Long may it continue.

Temple Bar Trad Festival for The Gathering was a huge treat (IrishCentral)

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 05:01:37 PST

Michael Rooney conducting The De Cuellar Suite.

Temple Bar, Dublin -- In the year of The Gathering, the massive Tourism Ireland initiative attempting to stimulate travel to Ireland in 2013 from the Irish Diaspora around the world, you can’t get too early a start reaping the hoped-for harvest.

So the Temple Bar Trad Festival (TBTF) drew the important role of being the first big festival enticing visitors to the Dublin’s capital city and also marking the first traditional Irish music festival to get out of the blocks as well.

Happy Birthday to Bill McEvoy - the founding father of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann North America (IrishCentral)

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:31:33 PST

Happy Birthday, Bill McEvoy!

I want to wish a very happy 90th birthday to Bill McEvoy from Co. Laois who reached that milestone on January 19 this year.

McEvoy is known as the founding father of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann North America because of his efforts since 1972 to foster and grow the cultural movement in both the U.S. and Canada to become one of sixth provinces of CCE, including the four in Ireland and Britain.

He and his Kerry-born wife Lilly have reared nine children since immigrating to New York in 1954, but not before becoming involved in the nascent days of Comhaltas around Dublin in the early 1950s.

Dubliners Barney McKenna gone but not forgotten - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:31:32 PST

Barney McKenna

DUBLIN -- It was only a year ago when the Temple Bar Trad Festival helped launch the 50th anniversary year of the Dubliners, the iconic music group that not only helped define Ireland’s capital city but also gave it a distinctive voice.

No one could imagine then how important those two celebratory concerts in the venerable Christchurch Cathedral at the edge of Dublin’s Temple Bar were, given what happened later in the year.

The death occurred on April 5 of Barney McKenna, the last of the original group of Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly and Ciaran Bourke who formed the Dubliners out of days and nights in O’Donoghue’s Pub on Merrion Row, adding fiddler John Sheahan two years later.

New York pride swells in Dublin at the Temple Bar Trad Festival (IrishCentral)

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:31:31 PST

Pride of New York Band in Dublin. (Photo by Martin Donohoe)

DUBLIN -- As one of the first big Irish music festivals of the year, the Temple Bar Trad Festival (TBTF) was one of the designated events of The Gathering, an Irish government tourism initiative which hopes to entice many overseas visitors to come to Ireland in 2013.

While it is too soon to tally how successful the festival was in luring visitors last week, it certainly reached across the waves in recruiting talent in its eighth year. Artists came from Europe, Britain, Cape Breton and America mainly to perform in the beautiful Georgian City Hall from the 18th century alongside Dublin Castle.

With its tall and stately rotunda, it served as one of the premier venues for the TBTF for the second year in a row thanks to the support of the Dublin City Council.

Belfast-born Peter Maguire set for the Blarney Star Concert Series 2013 (IrishCentral)

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 04:46:12 PST

The Belfast-born Peter Maguire, who is based in Boston these days, is a powerful flute player who has made America his home since 1995.

He is the son of accordion player Tommy Maguire from whom he learned his music early before taking tuition from the legendary Seamus Tansey on the wooden flute.

New Yorkers will have several opportunities to sample his music this weekend, with the first being Friday the 25th at the opening Blarney Star Concert Series for 2013 at NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House in Greenwich Village.

Irish musician Alan Morrisroe starts New Jersey’s year right (IrishCentral)

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:01:22 PST

Alan Morrisroe

Now that the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference is over (APAP) and its focus on how to make Irish music commercially viable, it is nice to return to paying attention to the everyday stalwarts who play a large part in keeping traditional music alive in so many quarters.

Over in New Jersey, the doyenne of traditional Irish music concerts and sessions at the Irish American Association of North Jersey (www.iaanj.org), Iris Nevins, has another fascinating guest this Saturday, January 26, at 8 p.m. with box player Alan Morrisroe from Co. Mayo returning to familiar stomping grounds in Rockaway, New Jersey.

Morrisroe is one of those indefatigable musicians who not only seeks out chunes they want to play, but surround them with research and a genuine gra for the music that elevates them beyond just pleasurable listening. They become a powerful reflection on the Irish experience and how our heritage is handed down from generation to generation.

Magical and harmonious Solas head to “Shamrock City” - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:30:56 PST

Solas

For those of us who toil in the vineyards of traditional Irish music, it looks like another year of brilliant creativity and collaboration that keeps that genre very much a living tradition.

This past weekend the number of options and great music on offer was a logistical challenge met head on because there were opportunities to see and hear new music and make acquaintances with new musicians and old friends.

It all began with the drive out west in New Jersey to a wonderful theatre in Blairstown that will be marking its 100th anniversary this year and has become a welcome performance space for a wide assortment of well-known and new talent.

Prideful start to the New Year - an exciting start with great Irish music (IrishCentral)

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 06:30:48 PST

Pride of New York

That Christmas to New Year’s hiatus always seems to do the trick to recharge the batteries and launch into another exciting year of great Irish music.

And for the last seven years one of the kick starting events has been the junket up to East Haven, Connecticut for the annual appearance of the Pride of New York quartet hosted by the Irish American Community Center on Venice Place just north of New Haven.

The cozy center seems just the right size to gather a couple of hundred knowledgeable fans of Irish music who look forward to this special gig “reuniting” a foursome who make up a solid band of musicians not only steeped in the well of tradition, but are genuine tradition-bearers themselves replenishing the wellspring.

The banner mourns accordion player and a true gentleman Joe Cunningham (IrishCentral)

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 05:00:19 PST

Joseph K. Cunningham of Crusheen, Co. Clare reached the century mark earlier this year, born around the time the Titanic set sail, only he was more successful in reaching America in 1929 at the age of 17.  An accordion player, he started the Joe Cunningham Orchestra in 1931, entertaining Irish American audiences for 60 years and turning over the legacy to his sons Joe and Jimmy who as the Cunningham Brothers have maintained a reputation as one of the top Irish bands in the greater New York area.

Joe’s span in the New York Irish traditional music scene was highlighted by his own playing and his work with the historically more well-known Michael Coleman and James Morrison from Sligo, whose recordings helped stoke the revival of the genre back in Ireland and also establish it here for the many Irish immigrants.

His longevity and sharp memory right up to the end made him a go-to source for researchers like Harry Bradley and Martin Enright for information. He made significant contributions to the Sligo/New York history as witnessed by visits to the Morrison Teach Cheoil in Riverstown, Co. Sligo in recent years as a contemporary of Coleman, Morrison, Paddy Killoran, Lad O’Beirne and Martin Wynne.

GIRSA’s uplifting performance was perfect for the Christmas holidays (IrishCentral)

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 06:15:27 PST

The whole evening was a credit to GIRSA and their families and friends, and it is remarkable to witness the road they have traveled thus far not alone but in the company of so many who share the same passion for Irish music.

Joanie Madden wins USA Fellowship grant - first Irish traditional musical artist to ever win (IrishCentral)

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 04:47:01 PST

Joanie Madden

Anyone who has spent any amount of time around Joanie Madden knows she is a force of nature, and a very creative one at that. Her creativity in the Irish music business and artistic success has long been recognized in the Irish American community over her more than three decades as a professional performing artist.

Accolades like inductions in both the American Irish Musicians and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann halls of fame as one of their younger honorees, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and even a street named after her in her native Bronx near Yankee Stadium were all deserving awards to come her way.

As the second oldest child of Irish immigrants (father Joe was from Portumna, Co. Galway and mother Helen hails from Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare), she followed the traditional music path her accordion-playing father led her on with early lessons on the tin whistle and silver flute, instruments on which she has become world famous.

The Murphy Beds, featuring Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer launch new album (IrishCentral)

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 04:47:00 PST

Jefferson Hamer and Eamon O'Leary

Since arriving from his native Dublin over 20 years ago, Eamon O’Leary has quietly but assuredly immersed himself in the middle of the Irish trad scene in the Big Apple.

Like his fellow Dubs Susan McKeown and John Doyle, he made the gritty Lower East Side and East Village his musical and residential habitat, arriving in time to catch the waning days of the East Village coffee house Sin é.

O’Leary’s easygoing manner and deft plectrum work on guitar, banjo, mandolin and bouzouki made him a popular choice for accompaniment and steady anchor at many a session around town, most notably at Mona’s Pub on Ave B below 14th Street where a legendary LATE LATE night session held forth on Mondays into Tuesdays for years.

An Irish Christmas Show shines at Fordham University (IrishCentral)

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 04:46:58 PST

It is always a bit of a risk to move from comfortable surroundings and a smaller venue where there are not a multiplicity of factors at play for your performance.

But there are times when you have worked hard to make a production the best it can be and you seek validation of a wider audience, even if you have had success at your home base.

If you can pull it off there is so much more to gain, so that is what infused the brain trust that produces the annual show An Irish Christmas: A Musical Solstice Celebration at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan to move uptown to the Bronx and the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University for a one-time show this past Sunday afternoon.

The Irish Arts Center celebrates a New York City Christmas with Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis and special guests (IrishCentral)

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 09:31:40 PST

Dr. Mick Moloney and Kathleen Biggins

Down at the Museum of the City of New York on Sunday there was a major seminar and awards ceremony revolving around the contributions of six multicultural radio deejays to the rich and varied life of New York City radio history.

Among them was Kathleen Biggins, the host of Fordham University’s WFUV’s A Thousand Welcomes for 25 years and before that a student host of Ceol na nGael for three years, both Irish music staples that have made the Big Apple a beacon for Irish music recordings for decades in America.

The Internet, which along with the iPod didn’t kill off radio -- as those of us who grew up with radio and feared it might be an innocent victim -- has only enhanced WFUV’s worldwide presence and influence. Now the New York Irish community could not only boast with pride about the amount of Irish music available to us, but we could share it with friends and music fans online anywhere and at any time at www.wfuv.org.

Holidays spirit abounds with new Irish music shows from Massachusetts to Washington DC (IrishCentral)

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:31:24 PST

Cherish the Ladies

The time for the season of hope and renewal couldn’t come fast enough around the Northeast after the ravages of Hurricane Sandy. So it is time to survey the regional music and dance scene for seasonal performances that will put you in the Christmas spirit.
It’s a good time to get out of the house and share with family and friends some joyous noel music, especially if you like trad music at any time of the year.

It has become such a classic Yuletide tradition in New England that it is hard to believe that the Christmas Celtic Sojourn is only celebrating its 10th year this December. Cleverly produced each year by music director Seamus Egan, theatrical producer Paula Plum and originator Brian O’Donovan who hosts a weekly Celtic music program on WGBH in Boston called Celtic Sojourn (www.wgbh.org), it is worth the road trip to catch one of the shows at six different venues up there.

The cast fluctuates from year to year but it is always sterling and drawn from the “Celtic roots and branches” as the affable Corkman O’Donovan likes to refer to his weekly mix of Celtic folk music.

This Thanksgiving let's give thanks for being so fortunate and help those affected by Hurricane Sandy (IrishCentral)

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:31:36 PST

Christel Rice Astin among the Rockaway ruins.

The wonderful Thanksgiving holiday is upon us now, and while it is still very important to take stock of all we have been given in the past year and realize that we have so much to be grateful for, we know that isn’t the case for so many in our area of the Northeast whose lives have been turned upside down.

And perhaps the media crush of attention on Hurricane Sandy storm-ravaged areas is abating somewhat due to another blowup in the Middle East, the looming fiscal cliff and that dreaded seasonal chestnut Black Friday and the obsessive focus on holiday sales and retail shopping.

But I can’t think of a more inappropriate focus at this time of great suffering and dislocation for so many of our friends and neighbors -- and many we don’t know at all -- than dashing out before the Thanksgiving leftovers are put away or before the cock crows on Friday to forage for things we may not really need.

The Weekend’s events - what’s going on in trad music in and around New York (IrishCentral)

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:01:04 PST

It's shaping up as another stimulating weekend on the music and dance front in Manhattan with plenty of events on tap.

Christy McNamara, the Clare musician and photographer from Crusheen outside of Ennis, is opening an exhibit of photographs taken over a two-decade span mostly of traditional musicians revealing much more than spare black and white images thanks to his insights into the times and places where they were captured.

Entitled “From Clare to Here -- A Journey in Photographs,” the exhibition will hang at the Irish Consulate (345 Park Avenue, 17th Floor) from November 16-December 21. Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaelthacht, Jimmy Deenihan from Kerry, will do the honors of opening the exhibit this Friday at a special reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Last minute attendees need to send an affirmative RSVP via email to nycginvites@dfa.ie.

The Rockaways of the youth - reflections on the shattered neighborhood post Hurricane Sandy (IrishCentral)

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 05:01:22 PST

And the boardwalk will be rebuilt so once again we can enjoys the sea breeze and calming walks and look out over the Atlantic towards the Emerald Isle.

Artists lend their helping hands for Sandy victims at the Irish Rep Theater (IrishCentral)

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 05:01:20 PST

for more information.

Chicago shows support fine Irish fiddler for Maurice Lennon (IrishCentral)

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:01:02 PST

For those of us who cannot be there in person, we can help support the cause from long distance through the purchase of a special CD compilation, When Hope Dawns at Sunrise ($15 plus shipping at $2.50) or via regular donations made payable to the Maurice Lennon Fundraiser, c/o Ella Riordan-Pacheco, Signature Bank, 6400 N. Northwest Highway, Chicago, Illinois 60631. For more information on the event or to make a CD purchase or donation via Paypal visit www.mauricelennonfundraiser.com.

It Takes a Village - 600 enjoy festive celebration at the Rockland County redoubt for traditional Irish music (IrishCentral)

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:01:00 PST

With two CDs to their credit and appearances at many major Irish festivals, the multi-talented septet of Maeve and Bernadette Flanagan, Deirdre Brennan, Pamela Geraghty, Emily McShane, Blaithin Loughran and Margaret Dudasik always give a spirited performance in the place where it all began for them. For more info check out girsamusic.com.

Pearl River celebrate under-12 champion ceili band (IrishCentral)

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:00:54 PDT

Girsa will be on hand Friday in Pearl River

In Pearl River, New York this Friday at 7:30 p.m., there will be a very special concert of champions at the Pearl River High School (275 East Central Avenue). Not only will it recognize the outstanding achievement of the under-12 ceili band that won the All-Ireland ceili band title for that age group last August in Cavan Town, many others from the Pearl River School of Music and other musicians from the area who distinguished themselves at earlier fleadhs will be celebrated too. Sara Buteux, who won the All-Ireland fiddle championship in the 15-18 age category will also be on hand.

The evening will be hosted by the one and only Joanie Madden (an All-Ireland champion herself) and also feature music from GIRSA and Ceol Milish, who have brought attention to the Pearl River area and teachers for their past accomplishments.

To add a nostalgic touch, a number of former students of the legendary Irish music master and teacher Martin Mulvihill from Glin, Co. Limerick (for whom the CCE branch in Pearl River is named) are turning up on the night. They may even have the chance to take the stage for a few tunes as well.

Milwaukee Irish Fest, with over 100,000 visitors, is a must for Irish trad music fans (IrishCentral)

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:00:53 PDT

for inspiration.

Upcoming Irish traditional music events in and around New York (IrishCentral)

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:00:44 PDT

The Irish Arts Center currently has a humanities lecture series underway at its Hell’s Kitchen home called “Two Roads Diverged: A Dialogue on Irish and Black Contributions to American Culture.” Developed by Lenwood O. Sloan and Dr. Mick Moloney, it deals with a variety of aspects that characterized their interactions here in America over the centuries.

The second lecture is on Wednesday, October 24 at 7 p.m. entitled “Jimmy Crack Corn: Irish and Black Diaspora in Appalachia,” The third occurs two weeks later on November 7 at 7 p.m. dealing with the period 1830-1876 with the subject title being “Banjo and Fiddle, Tambo and Bones.” Visit www.irishartscenter.org.

For those of you who may be looking to avoid listening to election night returns, there is a special treat in New York City on November 6 at 8 p.m. Mary Black and her daughter Roisin O’Reilly are performing at the Soho supper club City Winery (155 Varick Street; www.citywinery.com). Music very definitely runs in the family as many of us were introduced to the Black family from early recordings from the Dublin family. Mary’s sons are in the indie rock band the Coronas.

East Coast Pipers gather for the Northeast Piping Tionol in East Durham (IrishCentral)

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 05:15:30 PDT

Part of the special allure of the weekend is the friendly gathering enhanced by the one campus atmosphere and meals at the venerable family resort and meals can be purchased. The bar is also the site for the amazing Saturday night concert featuring the teaching staff which is open to the public on general admission and worth the trip alone.

A fitting tribute to Irish musician Larry Reynolds - thousand pay tribute to the beloved fiddler (IrishCentral)

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 05:30:30 PDT

Larry Reynolds

Waltham, Massachusetts -- Last Thursday was a sun-filled, crisp New England Day with a touch of coolness after the heavy downpour on the day before as people first starting lining up for the Wednesday wake for Larry Reynolds, the chieftain of Boston’s Irish music community.

Thousands would turn out for hours to offer their condolences to widow Phyllis Reynolds and her six children and many grandchildren at the Joyce Funeral Home in Waltham, the leafy suburb on the outskirts of Beantown. Many of them returned Thursday morning to celebrate a Mass at St. Jude’s Church, their “spiritual home” parish.

Seven priests and a deacon (one of Larry’s many set-dancer friends) concelebrated the music-filled ceremony in the simple wooden church that somehow held the multitudes who attended in memory of the beloved fiddler from Ahascragh in East Galway near Ballinasloe who died on October 3 at the age of 80.

ICBlog: From The Hob

Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Congress celebrates growth - with 415 branches in 15 countries (IrishCentral)

Recalling the great Irish musician Felix Dolan - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

New York Irish Center hosts great night - Oliver O’Connell, Mickey Dunne live in Queens (IrishCentral)

The Yanks are coming - debut album of New York City favorite building a buzz (IrishCentral)

Teetotallers, Kevin Crawford, Martin Hayes and John Doyle ready to mix it up on US tour (IrishCentral)

Declan O’Rourke soothes the soul at the Irish Arts Center in New York City - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Force to be reckoned with Declan O’Rourke returns to New York (IrishCentral)

Irish musician Felix Dolan remembered by family and friends (IrishCentral)