Out & About

Hi, hi, hi; I know I was not able to do the Out & About last week as I got so bog down with the 4th of July festivities. You can imagine it was a pretty long party so please forgive me as we got a lot of nasty complaints about where it was... well. at least you missed me  I see.

OK! lets get down to business because what a week we had at The Irish Examiner newspaper. We held one of the best  events ever last Thursday night at the Consul General of Ireland's residence courtesy of Noel Kilkenny and his lovely wife Hanora.

It was The Irish Examiner newspaper's annual Woman of the Year Awards and the 2011 Honouree was none other than New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

A wonderful evening was had by all who attended and we could not ask for anything more. We must take this opportunity to thank the Consul General and his wife for their generosity and for hosting the event.

Now to let you know who attended: you had Adrian Flannelly, Aine Sheridan, Sheila Lynnett, Eamonn Maher, Pat Burke and his wife Lillian, Pat Donavan, Soubhan and Dan Dennehy,  David O'Sullivan, Dermot F. Kelly and his mom Kaye Kelly, Garrett Doyle, Martin Dunne, George Heslin, Shioban Foley, Joe and Mickey King - the owners of Autun's, Maurice Landers, Joe McManus, Tommy and Treasa Smyth and family from Ireland (also Tommy was the M.C. for the evening and what a superb job he did - again, thanks Tommy), Attracta Lyndon, Jeffrey and Michelle Cleary, Chris Callaghan, Ronald Harnisch, Gerry Murphy (Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland), Chief Michael Collins (NYPD), Therese Crowe, Gregory Harrington, Sean Downes, Ciaran O'Reilly (The Irish Repertory Theatre), Bruce and Katy Caulfield, Michael O'Brien (of Michael O'Brien & Sons), Mae O'Driscoll, Deirdre O'Hea, Noelle Clancy, Sean Murphy (of MurphGuide.com), Paul O'Hara, Alfie Tucker (from Mutual of America), Jim McGuire, Jim Clerkin (Chief Operating Officer and EVP, Moet Hennessy USA), RTE's Vincent Murphy, Martin Dunne, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Martha Hourican (Self Help Africa), The United Restaurant  & Tavern Owners Board of Directors, Maureen McLoughlin, Kathleen Reilly, Larry King and the boss himself Thomas Slattery who is looking great after losing some weight; good on yea Tom.

All I can say is there were a lot more too and I am sure they will forgive me as I have forgotten some of the names, but you were all welcome and thanks again for coming to our event.

Now for another few events that are happening in the near future

One of Ireland's great folk singers Paul Brady is coming to New York to play the City Winery on Saturday September 24th.

Paul is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is one of Ireland's most highly-regarded and successful artists, and the pre-eminent Irish singer-songwriter of his generation.

His versions of great ballads like Arthur McBride and The Lakes Of Pontchartrain were definitive and are still being asked for by audiences today.

Brady has spent his career crossing borders of style while holding fast to substance, developing a wide array of tunes that smartly traverse folk and rock over a span of more than 40 years.

A songwriter's songwriter if ever there was one, Paul has amassed a body of work that stands comparison with that of either Van Morrison or Jackson Browne and has seen his work covered by artists as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, Lucy Kaplansky, Tina Turner, Cher and Carlos Santana.

You can get tickets from The City Winery at 155 Varick Street. between Spring and Vandam).

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Ireland America: The Ties that Bind, novelists Michael Collins and Belinda McKeon with singer Louise Sullivan will be at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Plaza Level Lobby on Wednesday, July 13th at 6:30pm.

In a collaboration between the National Library of Ireland and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, writers and musicians come together over three evenings in July to present fiction, music, and song inspired by the libraries' collections in Dublin and New York.

You can RSVP to (212) 870-1617 or amyrussell@nypl.org.   Admission is free, however seating is limited and reservations are advisable.

Also next week at Lincoln Center you can catch Charlie Harris, Maeve Donnelly, Geraldine Cotter, and Eamonn Cotter.

Long before discos and clubs were swinging hips and moving feet, the Irish social world revolved around the ceili, a lively gathering featuring fiddles, flutes, and accordions producing Irish folk music for dancing in country houses.

As part of the citywide Irish celebration, some of Ireland's finest traditional musicians -Charlie Harris (button accordion), Eamonn Cotter (flute), and sister Geraldine Cotter (piano), all veterans of the Shaskeen Ceili Band and three-time All-Ireland fiddler Maeve Donnelly - are coming together with guests to recreate this tradition in an irresistible night of Irish dancing.

You can get tickets for this Traditional Irish Ceili Tickets by calling (212) 721-6500 or from MidsummerNightSwing.org.

For more information on both these events please call Glucksman Ireland House New York University (1 Washington Mews) at (212) 998-3950 or e-mail ireland.house@nyu.edu.

The Saw Doctors are coming to the NYCB Theatre in Westbury on Sunday August 24th and you can buy tickets at livenation.com or charge by phone on (800) 745-3000.

See you all next week...