MOHAWK VALLEY IRISH CULTURAL

Volume 14, Issue 1 EVENTS NEWSLETTER Jan 2017 Halfway to GAIF Hooley Set for January 29th

The annual Halfway to the Great American Irish Festival Hooley will be held on Sunday, January 29th, 2017 from 2 to 6 PM at Hart’s Hill Inn in Whitesboro. Since its inception in 2006, the very popular party has provided a much-needed respite from the winter doldrums, with great music, food and drink, and a chance to see what hundreds of GAIF volunteers look like in their winter clothes. The Hooley is the festival’s way of saying “thank you” to the hundreds of tireless volunteers who helped make the Great American Irish Festival the fastest growing Irish festival in the land, and has become the forum for presenting the performance lineup for the upcoming festival, as well as the announcement of the board’s selection for the Utica St. Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshal.

The event includes a buffet, beer, wine, soda and coffee, and a cash bar is also available. Entertainment will once again be provided by Kilrush. Tickets are just $20 each and can be purchased at the door. For more information, email Colleen Kain Martin at [email protected].

Burns Suppers

No, that’s not a summary of my cooking. Well, okay, maybe just a little. But the real “Burns Suppers” remember the life and genius of “Scotland greatest treasure,” poet Robert Burns. Burns was born on 25 January 1759, and since not long after his death on 21 July 1796, Burns enthusiasts around the world have been holding celebratory dinners each year on or around his birth date. Burns suppers may be formal or informal. Both typically include haggis (a traditional Scottish dish celebrated by Burns in Address to a Haggis), Scotch whisky, and the recitation of Burns’ poetry.

Two such events are being held in the (fairly) local area. Cazenovia’s Brae Loch Inn holds their annual Robert Burns Weekend from January 20-22, with the Weekend Kickoff on Friday from 7 PM to 2 AM, featuring complimentary hors d’oeuvres, scotch tasting and music by Tumble the Haggis. Saturday will feature a formal seven-course meal to include Haggis, Steak and Kidney Pie, Prime Rib and Finnan Haddie (smoked haddock), beginning at 7 PM (cocktail hour begins at 6 PM). Music will be provided by Bells & Motely, Nancy Skye with Highland Dancers and Grey Barr Men Pipe Band. The cost is $65. Finally, on Sunday, $19 will get you into their Celtic Hangover Brunch (11 AM to 2 PM), with Scotch Eggs, Finnan Haddie, Shepard’s Pie, and Scottish music by 10 Strings. For more info, click here.

Meanwhile, Albany’s Capital District Celtic Cultural Association will be holding its annual Burns Dinner on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017. Doors open at 5:30 PM, with drinks, pipers and a set of Celtic/Scottish music. From there, the obligatory reading of “Address to the Haggis,” followed by dinner, performances by pipers, Highland Dancers, dessert and coffee, and another set of music. Tickets – which, last year, sold out in early January -- are $40 per person and $350 for a table of 10 (click here for tickets). For more information, call (518) 250-5719. Celtic Hall is located at 430 New Karner Rd, Albany.

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2017 St. Patrick’s Day Parade Accepting Nominations for Grand Marshal

The Great American Irish Festival is seeking nominations for the Grand Marshal of the 2017 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The nominee, male or female, need not be of Irish descent, but should be someone recognized by the community for his/her commitment and contributions to the Irish in the Central New York area. The letter of nomination should include the individual’s background and a list of qualifications as to why he or she would be the proper choice to receive the shillelagh from the 2016 Grand Marshal, Chris McGrath. In addition to leading the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the Parade Grand Marshal also serves as honorary chairperson of the 2017 Great American Irish Festival, slated for July 28-30, 2017, at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Frankfort, NY.

Nominations can be submitted online at http://greatamericanirishfest.com/nominations/, by mail to St. Patrick’s Day Parade, PO Box 18, Newport, NY 13416, or via email to [email protected]. Nominations are due by January 15, 2017.

Gaelic Storm Returns to the Egg

On January 21st, the genre-bending makes a triumphant return to Albany’s premiere ovoid-themed entertainment venue, The Egg. With a career that began as a pub band, through their appearance as a Third Class party band (“third class” is a location, not a rating!) and now to the present, they’ve topped the Billboard World Chart five times and regularly headline the largest Irish Festivals across the country. Oh, and there’s Kiana Weber.

This show supports their latest CD, Matching Sweaters, which features Patrick Murphy and at their song-writing best, gluing all the tracks together with the spark and spirit of a band that’s spent close to 20 years on the road. And then there’s Kiana Weber.

Tickets for the 8 PM show are $34, and are available in person at the box office or on-line. The Egg is located in the Empire State Plaza in Albany. And of course, there’s Kiana Weber.

From Cells to the Stars: Mary Ward’s Story – Women’s Voices by Sue Romero

From the tiniest creatures to the far reaches of the universe, Mary King Ward’s scientific curiosity led her to explore and document what she discovered through both the microscope and the telescope. Despite a short lifespan and limited opportunities due to her gender, she accomplished a great deal.

Born in County Offaly in 1827 to an Anglo-Irish family, Mary soon caught her relatives’ zeal for science. At the tender age of three she was already collecting and examining insects and butterflies. Since girls were not sent to school in those days, Mary and her sisters were educated at home by a governess and encouraged by their parents to explore scientific subjects.

By the time she was 18, Mary was adept at illustrating with her drawing and painting skills the tiniest details of the creatures she studied. When the eminent British astronomer James South visited her parents, he saw her staring through a magnifying glass to perfect her sketches, so he suggested to her father that she should be given a microscope. He did that, and Mary continued to expand her collection of illustrations. She contributed several

Mohawk Valley Irish Cultural Events - 2 drawings to books published by Sir David Brewster, the Scottish academic who, among many other accomplishments, invented the kaleidoscope.

In 1854, when Mary was 27, she married Henry Ward of Castle Ward in County Down. Over the next 13 years she bore eight children and continued to study, write and draw.

In 1857 no publishers would consider a scientific book written by a woman, so Mary self-published her first book on microscopy at a local print shop. All 250 copies of Sketches with the Microscope sold in a few weeks. The next year a London publisher accepted the book and published it under the title The World of Wonders as Revealed by the Microscope. It sold so well that it was reprinted eight times between 1858 and 1880.

Mary’s cousin William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, had been working on building what would become the largest telescope in the world from 1845 until 1917. With a six-foot mirror, it was called the Leviathan of Birr Castle. From the world of the very small, Mary expanded her studies to the vast universe, making illustrations of the telescope itself and of what she saw in it. Inspired by this new subject, she wrote and published Telescope Teachings in 1859.

When plans to restore the historic telescope began in the 1990s, Mary’s drawings were instrumental since the original plans had been lost. You can still see the restored telescope at Birr Castle today.

Tragically, Mary was to gain another distinction on August 31, 1869. While riding on a steam-powered car designed and built by her cousins from Birr Castle, she was thrown under its wheels when the car turned a corner. She was the first person in the world killed by an automobile. She was only 42 and left behind her eight young children.

From the Irish Kitchen (recipes suitable for clipping)

This month’s recipe – “Irish Barm Brack (fruit loaf)” - “This is often called Tea Brack because of the soaking of the raisins and currents in tea. The original Brack had only Barm (a mixture of hops, malt), milk and flour and was made for New Year’s festivities where pieces of baked loaf would be thrown at the back of the house door to ward off poverty in the coming year. It is between a loaf and a bread in texture. The preparation time does not include the soaking overnight of the raisins & currents.”

INGREDIENTS:

3⁄4 cup golden raisin 2 cups self-rising flour 3⁄4 cup currants 1 cup cold strong tea 1⁄3 cup crystallized cherries (undyed preferred) 1 egg 1⁄3 cup candied peel 1 teaspoon mixed spice (Cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove) 1 cup light brown sugar

METHOD

Soak the raisins and currents in the cold tea overnight (go do that and come back tomorrow. I’ll be waiting). Hi, welcome back! Heat oven to 350F and line a one pound loaf pan with greased parchment paper. Add all the remaining ingredients to the raisins, currants and cold tea. Stir well and pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for approx 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through. Keeps well in a covered tin. Serve buttered. Yield 1 loaf.

If you try this recipe, feel free to share your experience with all of us. As always, if you have a recipe you’d like to share, please contact Beth Loftis at [email protected].

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Forget Snowballs… Let’s Throw a Winter Party!

Ask anyone in Central New York what the snowiest city in New York State is, and he/she will answer in a heartbeat: Syracuse (sorry, Buffalo; but Syracuse has won 12 out of the last 13 coveted “Golden Snowball Awards”). So naturally, Syracusans sit at home all winter, waiting for some rodent to pop up and tell them when it’s safe to come out, right? Wrong! They buck up, they bundle up… and they party. And Irish Syracusans? Why, they’ll start a party just to spite old man winter! (I smell a segue…).

Syracuse’s Commodore John Barry Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) is throwing a Winter Party at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown (formerly Hotel Syracuse), on Friday, January 13th. The party, which starts at 6:30 PM, is being held in the Main Ballroom on the 10th floor, and will feature a three-course meal, drinks (cash bar), speeches, camaraderie, music by the Blarney Rebel Band, and in general, much craic.

The dinner is a steal at $30 apiece (includes tax and service charge), featuring: Baby Green Salad, Grape Tomatoes, Radish and Red Wine Vinaigrette, Duet Plating of Beef Sirloin and Roasted Chicken Breast with Roasted Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes (Eggplant Parmesan is the vegetarian option). Anyone wishing to go should get a reservation check off to the Syracuse AOH treasurer, Tim Lillis (8424 Angler Club Circle, Cicero, NY, 3039; phone 751-4181), no later than Jan 8, 2017. But be warned! Reservations are going quickly, and tickets will not be available at the door.

The Marriott Syracuse Downtown is located at 100 East Onondaga Street, and parking for the event is in the nearby Harrison Street Parking Garage, at 110 Harrison Place ($5 to self-park). For more information, contact Geordy Austin at [email protected] or (315) 446-1153, or Ron Clare, (315) 436-6431; email [email protected]. Let’s show winter who’s boss.

Butler-Sheehan Hooley Promises a Good Time For a Good Cause

When the students from the Butler-Sheehan Academy of Irish Dance get together for their annual Hooley or Pub Night, it’s always a fun night, featuring hugely talented dancers performing soft- and hard-shoe dances to reels, jigs and even songs outside of the Irish milieu. Butler-Sheehan -- North America’s oldest continually run Traditional Irish dance school – has been directed in both Syracuse and Rome since 2006 by Pattie Sheehan- Malinowski (herself a world champion dancer). Pattie has always been there for her students, traveling regularly between Rome and Syracuse for lessons and rehearsals, and of course, for several competitions and performances each year throughout the state and beyond. The annual Hooley is a special event: less stressful than a competition, and more than merely a performance. It is the culmination of the year’s hard work, part recital, part graduation day. It is a much-anticipated event: by the dancers, their families, the public, and of course a proud teacher as well. And frankly, it is the year’s most important fund-raiser for the school, raising money to defray costs of dresses, parties, Christmas gifts for the children, travel and other expenses commensurate with maintaining a successful program.

But this year’s event, a collaborative effort featuring dancers from both locations, also takes on a more serious flavor. In November, Pattie’s husband underwent brain surgery due to an aneurysm. The good news is that he is on the mend… the bad news is that the family obviously incurred medical expenses for which no-one could be fully prepared. In a wonderful statement of grassroots support and love, Pattie’s students came up with the idea for this event: a night of music and friends, all to support the family of the wonderful teacher they so admire.

The Hooley will take place on January 21st at Johnston’s BallyBay (550 Richmond Ave in Syracuse) from 3-9, with all kinds of traditional Irish dances, door prizes, 50/50 raffles, baskets, finger foods, beer, wine, and soda, and entertainment by their adoptive dads, the Blarney Rebel Band. While the exact cost of entry is TBD at press time (it’s traditionally around $18-20, with a break for families), whatever it is, just know you’ll be doing something very worthwhile for a most deserving family. And hey, if you happen to have fun? That’s okay too.

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“Those We Left Behind” -- Book Review by Mark Sisti:

The difficulty that comes with writing a debut novel like “The Ghosts Of Belfast” – maybe the most impressive debut novel I’ve ever read – is simple: how do you live up to that promise.

It’s neither fair nor accurate to say that Stuart Neville has struggled with that problem. The books that have followed (with the exception of the fairly pedestrian “Ratlines”) have been universally excellent. But for whatever reason, writers of detective series always feel compelled eventually to invent a different protagonist, and often, they think the way to separate that character from their original character, is to change genders. Robert B. Parker did it with a switch from Spenser to Sunny Randall and the result, for me at least, was not successful. Brian McGilloway did the same with a change from Benedict Devlin to Lucy Black, again, with mixed results.

So when Neville began a new series with “Those We Left Behind,” revolving around DCI Serena Flanagan, I was not exactly agog with anticipation. I say that not because I questioned Stuart Neville’s prodigious talent, but merely as an excuse to use the word agog.

Well, the verdict is in: it’s very good. It’s not on the level of “Ghosts of Belfast,” but, as hinted above, most novels are going to fall short in that comparison.

DCI Serena Flanagan is back at work following a bout with breast cancer and is immediately confronted with an old case that she had worked on. Seven years have passed since young brothers Ciaran and Thomas Devine were charged with murdering their foster father. It was Flanagan who connected emotionally with the 12-year-old Ciaran, and it was Flanagan who got him to confess, earning a lesser sentence for his older brother.

Now Ciaran is being released, and Probation Officer Paula Cunningham begins to doubt the original confession and takes her suspicions to Serena, who had never been fully convinced of Ciaran’s guilt. Upon his release, Ciaran reconnects with his controlling but much-adored older brother, and that’s when the fun starts. Thomas Devine is a psychopath who exerts complete control over Ciaran through psychological and physical abuse, and Serena has long suspected that Ciaran confessed to protect his older brother.

Another who has always questioned Ciaran’s confession was the victim’s son, who’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic himself. He begins stalking the brothers, with predictable results. His (spoiler alert) murder, coming so soon after Ciaran’s release, calls unwanted attention on the Devines, and their past, present and future begins to unravel, setting a violent and deadly chain of events in motion.

This book is, as most of Neville’s work, brilliantly written; it is dark and chilling and delves unflinchingly into important but troubling themes, and the character development is solid. Serena Flanagan has depth, facets that will surely be explored more as the series continues. She’s determined, strong, sensitive and borderline obsessive about seeking justice. She can also be rebellious and unorthodox (just an aside: do any officers in police novels ever follow the rules? And are there any who aren’t fraught with personal flaws?) but she gets results. She’s no Gerry Fagan (for those who have read “Ghosts of Belfast” or “Collusion,” what character could be?) but she is interesting, and there’s room for growth in future series entries.

The Devine brothers, on the other hand, are as fascinating as any fictional characters you are likely to encounter. The products of childhood tragedy and a flawed fostering system, they bring to the surface the question of nature vs. nurture: were they damaged from birth or did their tragic childhood experiences render them irredeemable? Neville avoids providing an easy answer. Thomas is completely without any semblance of morals or humanity. His sadistic control of Ciaran is complete, but he also loves his brother and is fiercely protective of him and, in his own way, needs Ciaran as much as Ciaran needs Thomas.

For his part, Ciaran, partly because of his incarceration and partly because of his brother’s dominance, can barely function in society, to the point where going to a store is a horrifying and humiliating experience. He is torn by his conflicting feelings towards his brother: fear, love, resentment and not a little hate. The only time he seems comfortable is when doing mindless physical labor. But very little about Ciaran is as it seems, both to the reader and to DCI Flanagan.

All in all, “Those We Left Behind” is a good introduction to an intriguing new character. It’s not “Ghosts of Belfast,” but it’s pretty darn good.

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RANDOM RAMBLINGS

“Nuacht as Craobh Dugan”---news from the Dugan Branch Chris Hoke writes: “With the new year, we continue our two monthly sessions; on the first Tuesday of the month at the Nail Creek Pub, and on the 3rd Tuesday at Stockdale’s in Oriskany. Both sessions begin at 7:30. Our Ceili Dance Classes continue on Friday evenings at the Seton Center in Utica. Classes begin at 7 PM. Think about this: the classes are FREE, you do not need a partner or special shoes, and it is great exercise. Why not try it out this year??!!... Our January Calendar follows: Jan 2 - Woods Valley Performance, 1-4 PM; Jan 3 - Nail Creek Pub Session,7:30 PM; Jan 6 - Ceili Dance Class Seton Center, 7 PM; Jan 13 - Ceili Dance Class Seton Center, 7 PM; Jan 17 – Stockdale’s Session, 7:30 PM; Jan 20 - Ceili Dance Class Seton Center, 7 PM; Jan 27 - Ceili Dance Class Seton Center, 7 PM; Jan 29 - Woods Valley Performance, 1-4 PM.”

Enter the Haggis Sightings Area favorites Enter the Haggis will be performing twice this month in the near and not-quite-so-near area. On January 20th, you can hear the boys (if you go, that is) at Syracuse’s Westcott Theater, and again on the 21st at Shannon Pub in Buffalo. Tickets for the Westcott Theater performance are $15 and are $20 for the Shannon Pub show; both shows start at 8 PM.

Celtic Club Calendar Finally, here’s the Irish Musical and Cultural calendar for January:

Jan 1 Syracuse Irish Session J. Ryan’s Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free Jan 3 Nail Creek Sessions Nail Creek Pub Utica 7:30 PM Free Jan 13 Syracuse AOH Winter Party Marriott Downtown Syracuse 6:30 PM $30 Jan 14 Traditional Irish Session Kitty Hoynes Pub Syracuse 2-5 PM Free Jan 14 Get Up Jack The Parting Glass Saratoga Springs 8 PM $12 Jan 15 Traditional Irish Session Irish Amer Ass'n Albany 2:30-6 PM Free Jan 15 Syracuse Irish Session J. Ryan’s Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free Jan 15 Donal O’Shaughnessey Coleman’s Irish Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free Jan 17 Traditional Irish Session Stockdale’s Oriskany 7:30 PM Free Jan 20-22 Burns Weekend Brae Loch Inn Cazenovia Varies Varies Jan 20 Blarney Rebel Band Piggy Pat’s Washington Mills 6-9 PM Free Jan 20 Forthlin Road The Parting Glass Saratoga Springs 8 PM $5 Jan 20 Enter the Haggis Westcott Theater Syracuse 8 PM $15 Jan 21 Gaelic Storm The Egg Albany 8 PM $34 Jan 21 Butler-Sheehan Fundraiser Hooley Johnston’s BallyBay Syracuse 3-9 PM TBD Jan 21 Hair of the Dog The Parting Glass Saratoga Springs 8 PM $13 Jan 21 Enter the Haggis Shannon Pub Buffalo 8 PM $20 Jan 22 Blarney Rebel Band Coleman’s Irish Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free Jan 28 Traditional Irish Session Kitty Hoynes Pub Syracuse 2-5 PM Free Jan 28 Burns Supper Celtic Hall Albany 6 PM $40 Jan 28 Hair of the Dog The Parting Glass Saratoga Springs 8 PM $13 Jan 29 Blarney Rebel Band Celtic Harp Utica 1-5 PM Free Jan 29 Halfway to GAIF Hooley Hart’s Hill Inn Whitesboro 2-6 PM $20

If you have anything you want to share with us, feel free to send it to us ([email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]), and we’ll be happy to include it. As always, we strive to not make mistakes, but wintery weather sometimes makes for dangerous striving conditions. It always makes sense to call ahead for some of these further-out events.

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