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Savin Hill’s Tayler stars in Lyric’s Irish-themed comedy

By , special to the BIR, March 1, 2013

By Chris Harding
Special to the BIR

Running through March 16, halfway through St. Patrick’s month (as it is known by our neighbors in Southie), the Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents the popular two-man Irish comedy, “Stones in His Pocket.” Savin Hill’s Phil Tayler shares the task of portraying 15 different characters with Daniel Berger-Jones in this piquant, but hardly light-hearted satire about two lads hired as extras when a Hollywood crew takes over a small village in County Kerry. Read more

World Irish Dancing Championships underway in Boston

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, March 1, 2013

Dancing feet like these will be a familiar sight when the World Irish Dancing Championships come to Boston later this month. Some 7,000 competitors are expected to take part in the event. Sean Smith photoDancing feet like these will be a familiar sight when the World Irish Dancing Championships come to Boston later this month. Some 7,000 competitors are expected to take part in the event. Sean Smith photo

Already known as a hub for education, culture, medical science, and sports, among other things, Boston will claim an additional distinction later this month: For a week, it will be the world’s capital of Irish dancing.

From March 24-31, Boston will serve as host for the 2013 World Irish Dancing Championships — only the second time in the event’s 40-plus years that it has taken place in the US (Philadelphia was the first, in 2009). Some 7,000 dancers, along with family members, friends and spectators, from Ireland, the UK, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere in the US, are expected to hit town for the competition, which will be centered in The Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel.

Hosting the “Worlds,” as they are popularly known, marks another chapter in a rich history of civic achievement for Boston, which was awarded the event over 20 other cities around the world, and will bring some late-winter/early-spring excitement to the area — along with, of course, a hoped-for economic windfall. Read more

Concerts galore for St. Pat’s month

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, March 1, 2013

Not that Greater Boston doesn’t have plenty of Irish/Celtic music events during other months of the year, but March is unique in its offerings of concerts and special performances and celebrations evoking the name of St. Patrick or other things Celtic. Here’s a look at just some of the personalities who will be in the spotlight in and around town during the next few weeks. Read more

JOYCE’S DUBLIN: GONE WITH THE WIND?

By Thomas O'Grady, special to the BIR, February 7, 2013

BY THOMAS O’GRADY
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
Punctuated with headlines to mark its being set in conjoined newspaper offices, the seventh episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses, “Aeolus,” itself punctuates the novel, announcing by way of its sudden typographical shift—and indeed by its first headline—that both the characters and the reader are now located IN THE HEART OF THE HIBERNIAN METROPOLIS.
Specifically, most of the activity in the episode takes place in the vicinity of Sackville Street (renamed O’Connell Street in 1924), the main thoroughfare of Dublin both in 1904, when Ulysses is set, and now. Read more

As days get longer, the music heats up

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, February 7, 2013

BY SEAN SMITH
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
While it may have only 28, or sometimes 29, days, February (along with the early part of March) can seem like the longest month: closer to spring than January, but often with cold, wintry weather and days that gradually but oh-so-slowly get longer. Fortunately, the Greater Boston area has plenty of Irish and Celtic music events this period to brighten spirits. Here’s a sampling: Read more

What are you going to do with your life? ‘I’m going to play music,’ said Colm Gannon

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, February 7, 2013

BY SEAN SMITH
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
There was never any doubt, really, that Colm Gannon would play music – nor any doubt as to what kind of music, nor which instrument he would use to play it. Not with a father who is an accomplished Irish accordion player, and an older brother following suit.
But then, Gannon hardly needed any nudging to take up the box. Quite the opposite. Read more

Hollywood disrupts a rural Kerry village in Lyric Stage’s ‘Stones In His Pockets’

By R.J.Donovan, special to the BIR, February 7, 2013

BY R. J. DONOVAN
SPECIAL TO THE BIR
This month, Lyric Stage Company of Boston is presenting “Stones In His Pockets,” the poignant but very funny tale of what happens when a movie crew descends upon a village in County Kerry.
As the story unfolds, two local guys, Charlie and Jake, secure jobs as extras in the movie but soon find the film business is far from the glittering world they expected. Ultimately, they decide to write a film of their own to tell what actually happens to a small town and its people when Hollywood takes over. Read more

At last, tin whistler Conneely comes through: it’s an album

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, January 7, 2013

For years, Kathleen Conneely’s friends asked her the same question over and over: “So when are you going to make an album?”
Conneely has finally satisfied them, although the result may only create demand for a sequel. Read more

Katie McNally answers big challenge with élan Whirlwind tour with Carlos Nunez

By Sean Smith, special to the BIR, January 7, 2013

Boston-area fiddler Katie McNally already knew it was going to be a busy fall, what with recording her first album, getting ready for her annual stint with the Childsplay ensemble and, basically, living life as a college grad trying to make it as a Celtic musician.
Then, suddenly, opportunity came knocking. Read more

SALUTING THE IRISH EXPERIENCE

By Bob Donovan, Special to the BIR, special to the BIR, January 7, 2013

Frank McCourt’s ‘The Irish And How They Got That Way’ Opens Jan. 24 at Davis Square
by R J Donovan
Special to the BIR
Frank McCourt, born in Brooklyn and raised in Limerick, will forever be known as the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Angela’s Ashes.” What may not be as well known is that he also wrote the musical revue “The Irish And  How They Got That Way,”  which premiered at the Irish Repertory Theatre in 1997.  Recounting the tumultuous history of the Irish experience, both on the Emerald Isle and here in America, the evening is a colorful tapestry of music and dance with a healthy dose of irreverent humor added.  The musical numbers include:  “Galway Bay,” “The Rose of Tralee,” “Finnegan’s Wake,” “Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?,” “Harrigan,” “No Irish Need Apply,” “Skibbereen,” and others. Read more

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