Out & About

That is not to say everyone is doing this, as I visited some of the popular establishments around Cork City to visit some friends for a pint and a chat.

I stayed at the Clarion Hotel, managed by Charlie Sheil from Dublin who completed his training here in New York at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue for a number of years. The Clarion is a great place to stay, very central with a professional level of service and friendliness; it comes highly recommended.

My trip started with a helicopter ride from 34th Street on the east side to Newark Liberty International Airport aboard US Helicopter. The trip takes only eight minutes with a direct connection to Continental Airlines - no fuss whatsoever. You should check out their ad in this weeks' paper on page two for all the information on US Helicopter as it beats the traffic chaos. The company is headed up by Jerry Murphy, CEO and President and Donal McSullivan who is Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer. The address is US Helicopter, 1212 Avenue of Americas, New York, NY 10036. Tel: 212-922-1366.

Look out for Celtic Thunder coming to the U.S. on tour. This is a group to be taken very serious with a brand of music masterminded by legendary songwriter/composer Phil Coulter, a cultural hero in Ireland and all over the World for his music and song writing. The group consist of five male leads with very different ranges of singing that form a superb harmony that has wowed American audiences on their first trip around last year.

Another group that will be on a tour of North America are the wonderful High Kings who come from the same producers as the fabulous Celtic Women. The High Kings' tour begins on September 9th in Baltimore. The High Kings are four musicians and singers who have very famous fathers who have been in show business for a long time. The members of the group are Finbarr Clancy, Martin Furey, Brian Dunphy and Darren Holden - I am sure you recognize those surnames.

I have just received news that the aforementioned Finbarr Fury of the Fury Brothers is coming on tour in the early Fall, We will keep you posted on where he will perform.

The Olympics, all the way from China, are well underway and another great Irish-American, swimmer Natalie Coughlin has done it again with two gold medals as we go to press. Natalie is of Cork, Donegal and Limerick descent and wears a Claddagh ring when she competes. How about that! We Irish get everywhere. Bar 43 in Sunnyside, Queens will be having a mid-summer Mardi Gras party. All are welcome from August 14th to the 17th for giveaway holiday vouchers and some New Orleans music.

Munster Rugby will be playing the USA Eagles on Saturday August 23rd in East Hartford, CT so get on the bus and book your tickets at O'Brien's Irish Pub on 46th street just off Times Square. Call (212) 391-1514 or email Cormac at obriensnyc@yahoo.com this will be a great day out and reservations are closing soon so call today.

For all you football (soccer) followers the season officially starts on this Saturday so let the fun begin.

Now for something very different, a little bit of information from the Catskills. Catskill Community Radio is pleased to announce "Meet the Irish", a half hour web radio show dedicated to keeping Irish traditional music alive. Meet the Irish, hosted by Jack Mansburg, is broadcast daily. Some of Jack's favorite artists are the Dubliners, Dublin City Ramblers, and the Clancy Brothers. For a current broadcast schedule and to listen please visit www.catskillradio.org. Catskill Community Radio is a project of the Pine Hill Community Center in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of New York. More information on the Community Center can be seen at www.pinehillcommunitycenter.org.

As I have said in the past please let us know what is happening and we will be only too glad to let the public know. See you all next week.