Pittsburgh Irish Happenings

Happenings Around My Town - Pittsburgh

Andy M. Stewart returned to Pittsburgh for an absolutely brilliant performance at Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle on December 6th. Opening for him was John McCann, Guaranteed Irish and Ballad Singer, Mike Gallagher. Accompanying Andy on music was Bruce Foley on flute and whistles and Mike Gallagher on guitar and harmony vocals.

Andy M. Stewart continues to excel in his songs and humor; his introductions provided a picture to the nature of the songs and the audience sang along on many of them as we are all so familiar with them.

Back in the spring, Pittsburgh had a benefit for Andy due to his inability to work at that time due to major surgery. He looks and sounds very healthy and never missed a beat!! For more than 20 years Andy has included Pittsburgh on his American tours and has totally endeared us to him. He is one of the finest human beings to grace our stages and entertain us thoroughly.

The St. Andrews Society of Pittsburgh, the Scottish Society, presented Andy M. Stewart with an Honorary Membership in the society; printed and plaqued, it was a wonderful tribute to The Man. It was presented by Jim Beattie, just newly Past President, and Lynn Arber, Secretary. Great idea!

After the concert a bit of a Sessiun broke out with many musicians in the audience; it finished up with Bruce Foley playing his Uilleann Pipes which have the sweetest sound of all instruments. A perfectly brilliant night of music!

A great big surprise today was a ‘sing song’ that took place at Hambone’s in Lawrenceville. The surprise was Andy M. Stewart is still in town. Although he did not sing, it was most delightful having the opportunity to sit and chat with him for a bit. He feels like Pittsburgh is his ‘home away from home’; a good sentiment for all his friends and fans here.

On December 12, The Boys of The Lough will appear at the Manchester Craftsman's Guild. The producers and sound engineers at this hall have received several Grammy Awards for their skill and talent in making so many artists sound great.

It has been quite a while since The Boys have performed in Pittsburgh; they will be promoting their new release, "Midwinter's Night's Dream", which is an awesome recording. The concert will be recorded on DVD for sale around the world.

Two talented local Irish musicians – Bruce Foley and Mike Gallagher will be performing as “The Guinness Brothers’ on Saturday, December 16th at Hambone’s in Lawrenceville. Bruce and Mike have a very unique sound in blending their voices in song. This will be a treat; usually they have their own separate gigs and seldom have an opportunity to perform together. They should begin around 9:00 pm.

The Irish Centre of Pittsburgh is now the proud owner of the mural created by the students of Gaelscoil an Lonnáin, a Nursery and Primary Irish medium school in Belfast.

Gaelscoil an Lonnáin has been conducting a fundraising campaign over the past few years and tickets have been available in Pittsburgh through Sarah McAullife-Bellin, President of The Irish American Unity Conference, Pittsburgh Branch.

I happened to win the grand prize this year, the mural; which I donated back to the school, who in turn donated it to The Irish Centre. The mural was painted by the students, ages 5 to 8 years old. It focuses on the mythological and historical characters in Irish history, such as Cuchulainn, Tir na Nog, Deidre, Finn MacCool. It is now on display. It looks beautiful; when you see it, remember it was the children from Gaelscoil an Lonnáin who painted it; it is quite a piece of work!

Nollaig Shona Dhuit,
Diane