Out & About

Just back from Ireland and what a time I had in Cork - the weather was fabulous and things seem to be picking up as far as I could see anyway.

I drove to Cork from Shannon airport in a Dan Dooley rented car and let me tell you the roads are the best, especially coming in to Limerick with the new tunnel. You can now cut at least a half an hour off your trip as you bypass Limerick altogether; not to say everyone would want to mind you, but it's so handy for the likes of me heading to Cork as time is always a factor.

The only problem I could see is that there was not a lot of traffic actually traveling on the new motorway and I was wondering: is it because of the Toll? Ha! That's it! They don't want to pay for taking the short cut coming and going from Shannon but why not? It's the best way to go and the fee is only €1.80.

Coming back to the fee, what in heavens sake were they thinking with the fee as when you give them a €2 coin you have to then wait for your change! Now woundn't it have been much easer to pay the €2 and be on your way? Only in Ireland... one up and two back.

I got to meet the great Donie Carroll in the duty free at Kennedy Airport as we were both getting ready to board our flight to Shannon. Donie was also at the Cork dinner with all his family.

I have to hand it to the Cork Association (and I am not mentioning all the names as I might leave out one, and you know what happens... all hell will break out and I will be up before the board, just kidding) as the night in Cork was so professionally run and everyone involved should take credit, thanks again.

I was out in Montauk over the weekend and got to meet Dermot Kelly with his wife Patricia and son Brendan who was spending a few days with none other than Marty Glennon and his family who I just missed as he had another engagement, that was a pity.

We had dinner again with my neighbor Tom Connors, his wife AnnMarie and his son Kevin at Mahon's Seafood Shack. The restaurant was superb I might tell you and the place was packed.

The food I can only say was delicious and the service was the best!

I did not get to meet John Mahon but I did meet up with his son Robert who was doing the hosting and managing, doing a very fine job meeting and greeting the guests.

I highly recommend this restaurant if you travel out to Montauk which is at the very end of Long Island, New York.

The Hudson Valley Irish Fest will once again be on at Peekskill Riverfront Green  on Saturday, September 26, running from 11am to 7pm.

Featuring Shilelegh Law, Celtic Cross, Mary Courtney, The Ruffians, hometown favorites Seisiun, and direct from Ireland, Pat Whelan and Just Two, the Fest will boast traditional sessions,  stepdancers and massed pipebands and the finest crafts, goods, food and beverage and a commanding Hudson River-side setting.

You can get more information at hudsonvalleyirishfest.com or by calling Dan Dennehy on (914) 588-2710.

Talking about festivals, the Nassau Feis is on Sunday September 19th at Molley College Campus (1000 Hempstead Avenue, Rockville Center).

This Feis is being presented by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. This is the 38th Annual Feis and Festival and it runs from 9am to 6 pm with lots of attractions, step dancing, pipe bands, Irish music, traditional singing, a U2 cover band, Irish vendors, childrens games and rides and lots more.

For more information go to nassauaohfeis.com. 

Adriann Flannelly paid a tribute to Dorothy Hayden Cudahy, the first female Grand Marshal of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade in his program last week and a great lady she was too.

I would also like to pay tribute to Maureen Crotty the mother of Pat Crotty owner of the Long Room restaurant in Manhattan. Our condolences from The Irish Examiner newspaper to both of them; may they rest in peace.

This year is set to cement The High Kings' reputation as a phenomenal live band, as they have already completed a hugely successful Irish tour.

Their new album, Memory Lane, released by Universal Music in Ireland, debuted at No. 5 in the Irish charts and quickly achieved platinum status.

The album features classics such as Fields of Athenry, Star of the County Down and Leaving of Liverpool. 

The CD will be released in the US early in the new year. If you can't wait for that you can come out and hear The High Kings on Thursday August 19th at 8pm. They'll be playing at Connolly's Pub-Klub 45 Room (121 West 45th Street, on the 3rd floor).

Tickets are $20 and available at the door night of show. Doors open at 7pm. For more information, please call at (212) 597-5126 or visit them online at connollyspubandrestaurant.com.

Brian Dennehy and Gabriel Byrne are to toast the great Eugene O'Neill The two preeminent modern-day interpreters of the work of Eugene O'Neill - actors Brian Dennehy and Gabriel Byrne - will make an unprecedented appearance together to honor the memory of the only American playwright to ever win the Nobel Prize.

The occasion is the presenting of the Eugene O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award to Dennehy by the non-profit group Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc. (IAW&A).

Among his many accomplishments, Dennehy won a Tony Award for his performance in O'Neill's Long Days Journey into Night.

Byrne, who has starred on Broadway in the O'Neill plays A Moon for the Misbegotten and A Touch of the Poet, will be a featured speaker at the event in honor of Dennehy.

He will also pay tribute to the enduring legacy of O'Neill, whose plays are still staged in theaters around the globe and in many languages fifty-seven years after his death.

The Eugene O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually by IAW&A to a writer, actor, musician or other artist whose body of work best exemplifies the standard of accomplishment and integrity set forth by O'Neill.

Last year, the honoree was William Kennedy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed and other novels set mostly in Albany, New York. Kennedy will be on hand this year to present the award to Dennehy.

The event will be held Monday, October 18th at the Manhattan Club, above Rosie O'Grady's Times Square, (800 7th Avenue, corner of 52nd), just two blocks from where O'Neill was born.

For information on tickets for the event visit oneillaward.org, the IAW&A website at i-am-wa.org or call (646) 320-5595.

See you all next week.