MOHAWK VALLEY IRISH CULTURAL

Volume 14, Issue 5 EVENTS NEWSLETTER May 2017

Irish Festival Season Kicks Off in East Durham

On May 27-28, the 2017 Celtic festival season unofficially gets under way, as the quaint little town of East Durham hosts its 40th annual “East Durham Irish Festival.” Billed as the “…longest running Irish festival in the U.S…,” the East Durham Irish Festival carries on its outstanding tradition of bringing in the finest music, food, children’s entertainment and family fun, at the Michael J. Quill Cultural and Sports Centre Headquarters, on 2119 Route 145 (off Thruway exit 21). This year’s festival features the Andy Cooney Band, Shilelagh Law, Derek Warfield and the Young WolfeTones, Bible Code Sundays, Get Up Jack, Celtic Cross, Narrowbacks, bagpipers, dancers and more. Admission per day is $20 at the gate, and two-day passes are available for $30. Children under 16 are free, as is parking. For further information, call 1-800-434-FEST, or check out their web site.

Enter the Haggis Returns to the Egg

Toronto’s Enter the Haggis makes its triumphant return to the Egg on May 6, for a very special 8 PM concert. Since their beginnings as a Canadian bar band over 20 years ago, ETH has led the charge among Celtic folk/roots/rock bands, delighting fans with their memorable performances, inspired songwriting, musical proficiency and high quality recordings, including 4 EPs, 8 studio albums, five live and one compilation CDs, as well as two solo side projects.

Marking their first trip back to the Egg since their 20th anniversary “Cheers and Echoes” tour, the boys will be performing songs from their most recent EP, “Broken Arms.” Tickets are $29.50, and are available on-line.

Celtic Sister Duo to Perform at Old Songs

On May 5th, Old Songs welcomes Cassie and Maggie MacDonald for a special 7:30 PM show. Born in Halifax, with strong roots in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Cassie and Maggie have been wowing audiences across Canada with their unique blend of original and traditional Celtic music. Cassie’s fiddle playing has been described as “sweet and elegant with just the right amount of raw power,” while Maggie’s piano playing has an “irresistible drive that will leave your foot incapable of staying still” and complements Cassie’s playing perfectly. Cassie is an award- winning highland and step dancer and also sings harmony for Maggie. In addition to her piano playing, Maggie sings lead, plays guitar, banjo, accordion and is also an accomplished step dancer. Their vocal harmonies are sweet yet powerful and their step dancing exact and exciting, showing off their youthful charm and energy. The buzz is clear: “Fun, Exciting, Charming and Talented Cassie and Maggie MacDonald are a dynamic Celtic sister duo who have emerged onto the music scene as the ones to watch.”

Tickets for the 7:30 show are $23 (children age 12 and under will be $5) and are available on-line or by calling Old Songs ((518) 765-2815). Old Songs is located at 37 South Main St. in Voorheesville, NY.

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The Battle of Fort O’Halloran - By Sue Romero

It was about 10:30 on the morning of June 15, 1887, when they came.

Honoria O’Halloran peered nervously but defiantly through the second story window of the house her family had built generations ago, watching the crowd come over the distant hill. For weeks, her sisters Sarah and Annie and brothers Frank and Patrick had toiled day and night to barricade the first floor. They filled the doorways and windows with logs, piles of mud and stones, anything that would keep the “Crowbar Brigade” out.

For the past few days they had been using a plank to go in and out through a second story window. But today they were poised for battle at their posts upstairs, while their widowed mother boiled water mixed with hot meal over the fire below. The steaming liquid would become one of their weapons along with the pikes and pitchforks they gripped in their determined hands.

This landlord vs tenant fight had been brewing for a long time. It went way back to the 1870s when Michael Davitt had founded the Land League organizing Irish tenant farmers to press wealthy landholders for lower rents and better treatment. They had succeeded in getting the landlords to lower rents by 15-20%, but the farmers still struggled in an ailing economy at the time and reached a point where they decided to protest by refusing to pay their rents.

In the little village of Bodyke in County Clare, Colonel John O’Callaghan, who owned nearly 5,000 Irish acres there, decided he’d lowered the rent enough and started a campaign of evictions in 1881. In Ireland at that time, an eviction was not the same proceeding as an eviction of a deadbeat tenant in the US today. Irish tenant farmers in those days had farmed the same land for generations, built their houses on that land with their own hands, and worked hard to improve the soil. Their homes meant enough to them to defend them with their lives.

By June of 1887, the evictions and the fight to stop them had reached a fever pitch.

Earlier in the month, the 80-year-old widow Margaret McNamara and her grown children had fought the evictors. The band of bailiffs, policemen and other henchmen Col. O’Callaghan had employed charged at the McNamara’s house with rifles fixed with bayonets and wailed away at the building with crowbars until they broke holes large enough to burst inside and take the inhabitants bodily out of their home. They took all the tenants’ possessions and livestock too. But not without a fight. Margaret and her children used whatever they had in their arsenal - cow dung and dirty water mostly.

By the time the Brigade arrived at the O’Halloran’s, 28 of the 57 tenants on the O’Callaghan estate had been evicted. But oddly by nightfall after each eviction, the neighboring tenants had replaced all the furniture and possessions, lit the fire, rebuilt the walls and the family members who were not in jail were able to sleep in their homes.

Honoria had heard the stories. And she was ready to play her part.

She heard the land agent demand surrender under her window. She grinned and took the pail of boiling gruel handed up through the hole in the floor she and her brother had made by taking out a few boards.

Seeing that the fight was on, the Brigade made their charge while thousands of onlookers jeered and cheered. Some bailiffs took to the corners of the house hacking away at the walls, while policemen climbed ladders up to the windows where Honoria and her sisters and brothers were waiting.

Splash! Crash! Policeman hollered and cursed as they were scalded by steaming water and pushed off the ladders with pikes.

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When Patrick went down to see why the next pot of boiling water was delayed, a policeman got through an upstairs window. Honoria grabbed his bayonet and rifle and started to struggle for it when Frank ran over and punched him in the chin so hard he went sprawling in the corner.

Honoria reeled around and waved the rifle through the window scattering the policemen and delighting the cheering crowd. As Frank tells it in his account written for the Irish Times, “sure she did use it,” which is a little vague as to whether she fired it or just threatened to. Either way it scattered their adversaries for the moment. The O’Halloran sisters (are you gonna mess with them?) The O’Hallorans fought on, pushing policemen off the ladder as they climbed up one after another, but not without the siblings sustaining several bayonet wounds themselves in the fray, which went on fiercely for over an hour.

They tried to throw the punched policeman out the window, but Father Hannon -- the village priest -- appeared at the top of the ladder and ordered them to stop fighting, which probably saved their lives as the police were getting ready to start firing their rifles. Once Father Hannon stopped the fight, the police poured through the windows and took the house. They rounded up the family members to take them to jail.

Fr. Hannon held Frank in a vice-like grip, but when Frank saw a police officer strike and choke his mother, he asked the priest whether he expected him just stand there and watch. The priest let him go and Frank gave that officer a blow with his fist that relieved his mother’s distress.

The O’Hallorans, who would be admired in the village ever after as those who put up the most vigorous fight, spent a short time in jail and had a settlement to regain their home by February the next year. Of the 26 people charged with assault and obstructing the law in Bodyke that summer, 22 were female. Some were freed, while others did three months’ hard labor, which probably was not much different from their usual lives.

The Bodyke evictions were said to be the most dramatic point of the 30-year Land War. Thanks to Henry Norman, a reporter for the Pall Mall Gazette, the story was spread widely in the international press and played a large part in changing the landholding system in Ireland.

Finally, in 1909 the Land Commission took possession of the Bodyke section of the O’Callaghan estate and the tenants were later able to purchase their farms… a hard-fought victory.

Craobh Dugan Attends Annual Comhaltas Northeast Convention – by Tom Malley

Six members of Craobh Dugan, the Utica area branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann (Irish Musicians Association), attended the annual convention of the North American Province of CCE. The purpose of this organization is to preserve and promote the learning and use of traditional music, dance, language and storytelling. The event, which was held in Chicago, included Regional and Provincial meetings; workshops in different musical instruments, dancing and language; set dances each evening, and numerous sessions at various locations around the building. Attending were Chris Hoke, Chair of Craobh Dugan, Colleen Martin, Secretary, Mike Hoke, Treasurer, Tom Malley, Irish Language Officer, Gracie Schell and Karl Wuerslin.

The Regional and Provincial meetings cover the previous year and upcoming events. as well as reports from the various officers. Something new coming to the Northeast Region Next year is one of the two annual Fleadh Ceoils. This is an event where people compete in various aspects of the Irish culture to qualify to go to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. This week-long event – “the most important event in the traditional music calendar” -- determines the “All Ireland Champions.”

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“Wee Daniel” Comes to the USA

One of Ireland’s best loved artists, Daniel O’Donnell has announced that he will be returning to tour in the USA this month and next, and as it turns out, the only two dates in New York State are within our general area.

On May 17th, the Palace Theater in Albany will be hosting Ireland’s cultural icon – affectionately dubbed “Wee Daniel” – for a 7:30 PM performance (tickets, available here, range from $40.50-$78), and a week later on May 24th, the PBS fan favorite will be coming to the Landmark Theater in Syracuse. Tickets for that show, also at 7:30, run from $35 to $75 (click here).

Commenting on the “Back Home Again” tour announcement, Daniel said “I’m really looking forward to returning to touring the USA, and getting back out there to meet the fans, who I’m so very thankful for, as they are the ones who make these shows happen.”

‘Soldier’s Joy’ at OPL breathes new life into Civil War music

In a new partnership created to perform the music of the Civil War era, Amanda Straney on fiddle and vocals and Bill Fahy on guitar and banjo will play a free concert, “Soldier’s Joy: The Civil War in Songs and Letters,” at Oneida Public Library, 220 Broad St. in Oneida, on Wednesday, May 17, at 7:00 p.m.

Straney and Fahy will mingle their performance of popular songs heard at the campfires and in the parlors of America during the U.S. Civil War (1861-65) with readings of letters written by New York State soldiers and the stories behind the songs’ composition.

Straney, who works days as the manager of the Occupational and Physical Therapy Department at St. Luke’s Hospital of the Mohawk Valley Health System, was trained early on in performing classical violin music back home in Connecticut, but she soon combined the classics with a love of bluegrass fiddling. In Upstate New York, helping to organize the Great American Irish Festival in Frankfort, she became immersed in the Irish and Celtic music scene.

Straney has performed with the Blarney Rebel Band and is currently a member of Craobh Dugan, the Utica branch of the international Irish music organization called Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eirean. Last March, she performed at Oneida Library with the Rattlin’ Bog band in a St. Patrick’s Day concert.

Bill Fahy has been performing with guitar, banjo and mandolin around Central New York for the past 20 years. His repertoire includes traditional Celtic music, Old Time Country, bluegrass and early jazz.

Fahy has played with the Flophouse String band, the Sail Cats, the Tired Hands String band, Springhouse and other regional groups. Currently, he is a member of Craobh Dugan and regularly plays in the Rattlin’ Bog band. He has also written several original songs and tunes.

Soldier’s Joy is a free concert open to the public. For more information, stop by the Oneida Library, 220 Broad St., or call (315) 363-3050.

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“Our Revenge Will Be The Laughter Of Our Children” – by Mark Sisti

Friday, May 5, is the 36th anniversary of the date Bobby Sands died following his hunger strike. While we here at the Mohawk Valley Irish Cultural Events Newsletter try to avoid the pitfalls of political issues, occasionally there are events so significant and so universal in their application that they should not be forgotten. We believe this is one of them.

BOBBY SANDS was born in 1954 in Rathcoole, a predominantly loyalist district of north Belfast. His family moved several times due to constant intimidation of Catholics by loyalists. On leaving school, he became an apprentice coach- builder, until he was forced out at gunpoint, again by loyalist intimidators. His early experiences led him inexorably to the Irish republican movement and he joined the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1972.

Although often smeared as a “convicted IRA terrorist,” his only conviction was in fact for possession of a revolver, a crime for which he received fourteen years. In 1976 he was arrested with four others who were in a car containing a handgun. Charged in connection with an earlier bombing, he was held on remand for eleven months until his trial in September 1977. There was no evidence to link Bobby, or the others with him, to the bombing and those and other serious charges against him were dismissed, but he was convicted of possession of firearms and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment.

Like much of the Bobby Sands story, the goals of the hunger strike are often misunderstood today. There were no outrageous requests made, no insistence on total British withdrawal from Ireland, no demands that prisoners be freed. In retrospect, the actual demands made by the hunger strikers were remarkably innocuous and reasonable, and it is mind-boggling today to realize that the authorities refused to even consider them.

In March of 1976, an announcement had been made that republican prisoners would be stripped of their “special category” status and would from that point on be treated like ordinary prisoners. This set off a series of protests by republicans seeking to regain their previous status of political prisoners and not be subject to ordinary prison regulations. This was not an effort to lessen their hardship (although there is little dispute that the Irish Republican prisoners were treated abysmally) but was rather an answer to the British plan to paint those involved in the Irish fight for freedom as criminals in the eyes of the world. The hunger strike was the final desperate stage of these efforts against “criminalization.” The five specific demands over which the republicans were striking included:

1. The Right not to wear a prison uniform; 2. The Right not to do prison work; (they were willing to maintain their own portion of the prison grounds) 3. The Right of free association with other prisoners; 4. The Right to organize their own educational and recreational facilities; 5. The Right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week

Bobby Sands began refusing food on March 1, 1981 and was followed by other prisoners at staggered intervals for maximum effect. The hunger strike received little publicity at first. Then came the turning point. Following the death of Frank Maguire, an independent nationalist MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Bobby Sands was put up for election. Other nationalist candidates withdrew giving Sands a clear run against the Unionist candidate, Harry West. Bobby Sands was duly elected by 30,492 votes to 29,046, on a massive turnout of 86.8%. Sands was by now forty days into his hunger strike. Many feel this election was highly significant in that it prompted the republican movement to move towards politics, and indirectly paved the way for the Good Friday Agreement and the success of Sinn Féin many years later.

Attempts to end the hunger strike, including a personal intervention from the Pope, proved fruitless. The British government, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, refused to accede to or even consider the demands. Spending his last few days on a water bed to protect his fragile bones, Bobby Sands died in the early hours of the morning, on May 5 1981, after 66 days on hunger strike, soon to be followed by nine other prisoners who died as a result of the hunger strike. Bobby Sands was 27 years old. The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. Over 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral.

While the hunger strike did not accomplish its immediate goals, it was a seminal event in modern Irish history, galvanizing nationalist politics and thrusting Sinn Féin to the forefront as a serious political force.

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“Arise & Go” Plans CD Release Party

On May 18th, Ithaca trio “Arise and Go” will be performing at a release party for their eponymous debut EP, at the Casita del Polaris (1202 N. Tioga St. in Ithaca). “Arise and Go” – their name comes from the opening lines from W. B. Yeats’ “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” – is an exciting young trio of talented and dedicated musicians who combine their varied musical backgrounds to produce a sound which is both rooted in tradition and uniquely fresh and driving.

The band -- Mike Roddy on uilleann pipes, border pipes, smallpipes and whistles; Tim Ball on guitar, and Ellie Goud on fiddle -- recently recorded their first EP. Of the four tracks chosen, Roddy explained “We selected material that we thought would give a good overview of the band’s sound and style. The tracks feature each of the instruments and styles that Arise & Go draws from – Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, French-Canadian.”

The performance runs from 8 to 10 PM, and there is a $5 cover. For more information, visit http://www.casitapolaris.com/ or contact the band at [email protected].

From the Irish Kitchen (recipes suitable for clipping)

This month’s recipe – “Blackberry and Cinnamon Ice Cream” - By Elizabeth McNally Blackberry season is nearly upon us, so take advantage of it with this tasty recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

Ice Cream base 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 2 cups milk 3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese, softened 5 teaspoons corn starch 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups heavy cream Berry mixture 2/3 cup sugar 1 cup blackberries 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1/2 cup sugar

METHOD

Ice Cream base In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of the milk and the corn starch until blended. Set aside. In a medium sized saucepan, mix together the remaining milk and the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for four minutes. Stir in the milk and corn starch mixture, return to a boil and cook for an additional three to four minutes until thickened. In a medium sized bowl, place the mascarpone cheese and 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture. Whisk until the cheese has melted. Then, whisk in the remaining milk mixture. Place the milk mixture into a zip top bag, seal, and submerge the bag in a bowl of ice water. Leave to chill.

Berry mixture Place the berries and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Over medium-high heat, stir the berries and sugar frequently until boiling. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for six to eight minutes, until thickened. Strain the berry mixture to remove the seeds. Leave the strained berry mixture to cool.

Making the Ice Cream

Place the chilled ice cream base mixture into to the fitted bowl of an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s directions for processing. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the mix as it begins to stir. About 15 minutes into the processing, add half of the berry mixture and continue to process. Once finished processing, place half the ice cream mixture into a container. Drizzle the remaining berry mixture on top and, if desired, use a knife to swirl the mixture in to create a ripple effect. Cover with the remaining ice cream mixture and freeze.

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

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“I Am Home” – A poem by A. J. Pedone

You may recall from our December 2016 issue, we introduced you to Andrew “A.J.” Pedone, a local man recently back from an extended stay in Ireland. In that issue, he presented a poem; a beautiful and lyrical recounting of that place that had so clearly stolen his heart during the time he was pursuing a degree in Irish Studies at National University of Ireland Galway.

This month, he sends his latest poem; a piece he calls “I Am Home.” No less lyrical and equally as heartfelt (if cynical), this poem reflects A.J.’s observations, and the feelings of others, regarding the “civil tug” that some feel characterizes and even stresses the new Ireland; that being the pull between the philosophies/lifestyles of rural versus urban, old versus new, and technological versus geographical. Is either side totally correct? Are both wrong to condemn and ridicule the other at all?

I mo abhaile anois (I am home)

O weary traveler, come back, your home is calling for you. Not the city you were reared in, but the place you first opened your eyes Come back! Leave your plebian fantasies to your technological slave master Their yuppie brands would get dirty in our clay For you your county is calling, will you come to me? I mo abhaile anois, buail isteach (I am home, come inside)

The civil war between the alarm clock and the rock walls has plagued you Come rest, sit near the hearth, escape from your technological trance Let your blood soak up the warmth of the turf, the aroma will run wild through your veins Your digital worries are sure to be stolen away by my Yeatsian fairies For you the Curragh awaits, will you come with me? I mo abhaile anois, failte isteach (I am home, welcome inside)

Take my hand, let’s walk along the wild Atlantic way We will take the Shannon up to the city of the tribes Keep up! Yer bae Twitter will not follow us down on Shop Street Duck your head! Yer sidechick Snapchat won’t capture us here in the snug Yer man Facebook surely won’t post up in Neachtains I mo abhaile anois, buail isteach (I am home, come inside)

O weary passenger, your royal devices will never capture us! I don’t allow you to see me, but you will feel me inside of you I am the rhythm of the ceile, only Gaelige in my voice My ancestors have left me intact, in the pillars of the GPO My heart beats wildly, as you take a step on my Famine roads I mo abhaile anois (I am home)

Will you come with me? Will you get in the Curragh? Our future will remain pure, Dunquin is calling for you! However, before you come, heed my advice Wake up, get out of your nostalgic memories, You fool. Slan, Mise Eire (Goodbye, Mother Ireland)

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“Holy Orders” -- Book Review by Mark Sisti

I have a slight confession to make. I have not been a huge fan of Benjamin Black’s series featuring single-named pathologist Quirke, set in 1950s Dublin. I call it a confession because, since Black is the pseudonym of one of Ireland’s greatest writers, John Banville, I feel like I should be compelled to like these books. But I haven’t, and, after reading the first few, haven’t sought them out. That changed when I read his take on Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, “The Black-Eyed Blonde.” That book made it apparent that there was something going on in the mind of this alter-ego of Banville that went beyond mere genre fiction. With that in mind, I picked up the sixth Quirke novel, “Holy Orders,” and I’m glad I did. I discovered that the secret to enjoying the Quirke books lies in not expecting them to be standard mysteries. Quirke is no detective. In fact, he rarely solves anything. Things are more likely to happen to him or around him than because of him. As a pathologist who seems more comfortable with the dead than with the living, Quirke muses that he entered the profession “in hope of penetrating nearer to the heart of the mystery,” but has come to realize that “[e]very day he dealt with death and yet knew nothing about it, nothing.” Quirke works with the Dublin police, in particular, one of his few friends, Inspector Hackett, with whom he teams up again when the nude body of a young man is found dead in the canal. Quirk recognizes him as an ambitious young reporter, Jimmy Minor, who was a friend of Quirke's daughter, Phoebe. His face had been beaten to a pulp before he died. The immediate suspicion is that he had been working on a story that turned bad, but that’s only part of the answer. During a search of the reporter's apartment, a letter turns up that reveals that Minor had requested an interview with a respected priest, but no one, including the priest, seems to know what the interview was about. Quirke’s investigation begins with the Fathers of the Holy Trinity, where he is forced to confront his troubled past, and eventually leads him to a colony of gypsy travelers, the Tinkers. At the center is – as is typical in 20th century Ireland – the Catholic Church and the smothering control it exerts over the Irish people in the 1950s. Quirke is also becoming increasingly plagued by hallucinations, which add an almost dream-like atmosphere to many scenes. (This appears to be something that will be examined further in a future series entry, along with Phoebe’s awkward attraction to another woman.) The common Irish theme of the impact of the past on the present is also explored insightfully: “The past, the past –everyone tried to hold on to it, this thing that had gone, festooning its immateriality with beads and baubles, with bits of themselves.” Some will find the ending to this novel unsatisfying, as Black leaves us with many more questions that he gives us answers for. The mystery is solved but deeper mysteries remain, as the crimes take a back seat to how they impact those left in their wake. This book is probably not the place to start for those new to the series. While the story stands on its own, the plot relies heavily on characters and storylines from previous books, developments that, for instance, help to explain Quirke’s strained relationship with his daughter and with his girlfriend. Quirke is an interesting character, and aptly named. He makes every effort, consciously or unconsciously, to isolate himself from virtually everyone in his life, even his daughter. The victim of a vaguely hinted at difficult childhood, Quirke doesn’t believe he deserves to be happy. And if he has his way, he won’t be. Things that other people find pleasing annoy Quirke: his reaction to a warm coal fire – “The air in the room was so warmly heavy that Quirke at once felt a headache starting up;” his feelings about daffodils – “Quirke had never been able to see the attraction of these vehement, gaudy flowers.” Yet by the book’s close, Quirke, who has been forced to confront his mortality, seems to be changing, as he observes: “It was indeed a fine spring morning, bright and clear, the air all flashes of gold and fragile blue.” Whatever failings these books may have as mysteries, that type of writing makes it all worthwhile. If you’re looking for a tight plot, non-stop action and a book with a beginning, a middle and an end, you may want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, Banville/Black’s incisive but deceptively simple prose, haunting settings, and his depiction of bleak, desolate 1950s Dublin are the perfect reflection of Quirke’s despondent personality.

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RANDOM RAMBLINGS

“Nuacht as Craobh Dugan” ---news from the Dugan Branch Chris Hoke writes: “Condolences go out to Amanda Straney and her family who lost her mother last weekend. About a month ago, Amanda's mother-in-law also passed away, so please keep all the Straneys in your thoughts and prayers… July 4, 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the digging of the Erie Canal, right here is Rome, NY!! There will be many commemorations throughout the year in various locations in the Mohawk Valley. Our own Mike Hoke has written an hour-long program of the Irish participation in digging the Canal. We have sent out info on the program, offering it to libraries and historical societies, and have generated some interest. If you know any facility or group that may like to have this program presented, please get their contact info to Mike Hoke or Bill Fahy.…This month’s performances include: May 2 - Nail Creek Pub Session, 7:30 PM; May 5 - Ceili Dance Class, Seton Center, 7 PM; May 12 - Ceili Dance Class, Seton Center, 7 PM; May 16 – Stockdale’s Pub Session, 7:30 PM; May 18 – “Irish on the Erie” Performance at Little Falls Library, 6:30 PM; May 19 - Ceili Dance Class, Seton Center, 7 PM; May 26 - Ceili Dance Class, Seton Center, 7 PM.”

Notes from The Utica NY Area Irish Coalition Plans for the Bloomsday Pub Crawl are firming up as we head towards June. Mark your calendars for June 17, noon to 5:00pm and plan to be in the Varick Street vicinity of Utica, NY, that day. We’ll have more info on our website and Facebook page as we arrange the details. Visit www.uticanyareairishcoalition.weebly.com if you'd like to get involved.

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

May 2 Nail Creek Sessions Nail Creek Pub Utica 7:30 PM Free May 5 Cassie and Maggie MacDonald Old Songs series Voorheesville 7:30 PM $23 May 6 Enter the Haggis The Egg Albany 8 PM $29.50 May 7 Syracuse Irish Session J. Ryan’s Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free May 7 Blarney Rebel Band Celtic Harp Utica 1-5 PM Free May 7 Donal O’Shaughnessy Coleman’s Irish Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free May 13 Traditional Irish Session Kitty Hoynes Pub Syracuse 2-5 PM Free May 16 Traditional Irish Session Stockdale’s Oriskany 7:30 PM Free May 17 Daniel O’Donnell Palace Theater Albany 7:30 PM $40.50-$78 May 17 “Soldier’s Joy” Oneida Public Library Oneida 7 PM Free May 17 Donal O’Shaughnessy Killabrew Saloon New Hartford 7 PM Free May 18 “Arise & Go” EP Release Party Casita Del Polaris Ithaca 8-10 PM $5 May 19 Blarney Rebel Band Piggy Pat’s Washington Mills 6-9 PM Free May 20 Get Up Jack The Parting Glass Saratoga Springs 8 PM $12 May 21 Syracuse Irish Session J. Ryan’s Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free May 21 Traditional Irish Session Irish Amer Ass'n Albany 2:30-6 PM Free May 24 Daniel O’Donnell Landmark Theater Syracuse 7:30 PM $35-$75 May 27 Traditional Irish Session Kitty Hoynes Pub Syracuse 2-5 PM Free May 26-27 Kevin McKrell (front room) The Parting Glass Saratoga Springs 8 PM Free Michael J. Quill East Durham 10 AM-10 PM Sat $20/day; $30 May 27-28 East Durham Irish Festival Cultural and Sports 11:30-10 PM Sun weekend Centre (mass at 10 AM) May 28 Flying Column Coleman’s Irish Pub Syracuse 4-7 PM Free

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, so we always proofroofread. It always makes sense to call ahead for some of these further-out events. Happy Mothers’ Day!

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