Dublin - Ohio, that is!

by

J.C. & Cairenn Sullivan



"If I have the honor conferred upon me to name your village, with the brightness of the morn, and the beaming of the sun on the hills and dales surrounding this beautiful valley, it would give me great pleasure to name your new town after my birthplace, Dublin, Ireland."

Never would John Shields, surveyor of the land nestled on the banks of Ohio's Scioto River, have imagined his words being quoted 189 years after he spoke them. And, never in his imagination would he have pictured folks coming from near and far to honor the culture of his native land.

The popularity of the Dublin Irish Festival is a continuing indicator of the popularity of Irish culture and it's phenomenal growth. Hosted by the City of Dublin, Ohio, you know you're in for a special experience when drive in and are immediately greeted with references to Ireland - from the shamrocks painted on city-owned property to the street names sporting monikers such as Tullamore, Gullway and Emerald Parkway.

Held in conjunction with the Columbus Feis, parking is adjacent to the festival grounds or close by at Coffman High School, where the Feis is staged. Stops for the free shuttle are well marked. Upon entering the festival grounds, clearly marked signs direct you to the six stages and/or areas you might wish to begin in. The reasons one attends an Irish Festival are varied but if the strings linking all of us can be summed into four categories - music, food, shop and camaraderie. The latter includes refreshments, of course.

SHOPS

Shopping at the vendor tents at Irish Festivals for a few years now, we've found one thing missing - tanktops. We have sweaters, sweatshirts and tee shirts coming out the yazoo - but no tank tops. Well, thanks be to God for Philadelphia's Dennery's. Now, there may be others, but Mike's is the first we've seen. Brilliant.

"We came in here yesterday and the City Manager, Tim Hansley, was out in the parking lot. He actually took time to tell us exactly where to go, led us to our spot, even though that wasn't what he was doing at the moment," said exhibitor Pat Foley. "So, everybody has been really helpful." Foley makes wood furniture with an Irish motif - "all the way from shallows to tables, display cases to music boxes with Irish tunes." Because of the special niche they occupy, meaning no one else is doing exactly what the Foleys do. Pat and Sheila will exhibitors at the Milwaukee Irish Festival - the first year they applied.

Other noteworthy exhibitors were Keltic Outfitters, Columbus, Ohio, a source for County Tartans in necktie and shawl and scarves; Cahill Crafted Garden Houses and Gazebos with the Enchanting Thatch Roof Collection, William Cahill, Cincinnati, Ohio.

MUSIC/ENTERTAINMENT

There is musical variety at the Dublin Festival to suit every eclectic taste. Being Clevelanders we are, quite naturally, drawn to the rock stage. The most energetic groups booked were Tempest and the Prodigals. Of the two, Cairenn liked Tempest best because of their authentic fashion. They've been recording since 1988 and have played more than 1000 performances and have released 7 CD's. Although they've been described as folk-rock, their style is based around traditional folk music and they definitely rock.

"If you're going to rock, make something original with your rock," Cairenn said. "However, I can see that when a good song is a good song, it can be done in many different ways. That's what keeps it young and alive for generations to come. I preferred Tempest for the original work that they did. They actually are rockers."

J.C., on the other hand, preferred the Prodigals. At one time the group was voted #1 in an Irish Echo newspaper Readers Poll. The Prodigals hail from Cavan, Clare, Dublin and New York; they feature a driving, high-energy take on Irish music, fusing strong traditional elements with a rock energy.

Being one who likes that old time rock and roll, J.C., too, enjoyed Tempest very much. "But I also liked the Prodigals interpretations of songs that I knew. I like their musical approach to some of these 'old' tunes. It's just as original when you set your own style and interpretation to it.

The lads, Greg Grene, lead vocals/button accordion, Andrew Harkin, bass, Ray Kelly, lead vocals/guitar and Brian Tracey, drums/percussion/background vocals, formed two years ago and are already playing some of the highest-prestige venues around, evidenced by their appearance in Dublin. When they are not on the road they are the resident band at Paddy Reilly's Music Bar in Manhattan, a position they took over from Black '47.

It's always refreshing, of course, to see so many of our youth attracted to our culture. This could not be more evident than in the work of St. Louis Irish Arts, Inc. Founded in 1972, they are a well-established school with a variety of programs in traditional Irish music, song and dance. Instruction is offered in music, singing and step dancing for children and adults. Classes in fiddle, tin whistle, accordion, harp, harmonica, flute and bodhran are held at a learning center and workshops through.

God bless their work - they bring out the best in us.

The lads in the Civil War uniforms were not reenactors but a group headed up by David Kincaid - the Irish Volunteer. Their niche is "the Irish Volunteer - Songs of the Irish Union Soldier 1861-65." Using his background as a musician in the roots-rock band, The Brandoes, David began to do research to find the ballads of the more than 160,000 Irish who fought in the famed Irish Brigade.

Listening to the tunes is a delightful experience. One can imagine themselves around a Union campfire with the Army of the Potomac. Kincaid et al does more than sing, however. His real contribution is the teaching of Irish-American history to our youth and those of us who are life-long students. How many of us knew, for example, that the courageous Michael Corcoran, initial leader of the Federal Irish Brigade in America's War Between The States, refused to march his unit for the purpose of honoring England's Prince of Wales? The simplicity of the guitar, fiddle and mandolin played to Irish tempo and tunes, is time-honored. Hearing the Gaelic songs caused a tingling sensation in the body, as if the genes passed to the current repositor from the ancient ones have said, "Thanks, I haven't heard that one in awhile."

The Irish Volunteer is a collection of twelve songs from the American Civil War, centering on the Union army's famed "Irish Brigade," recruited and commanded by Brigadier General Thomas F. Meagher. The album is the product of years of research, including Civil War reenacting, and seven months of arranging and recording. Great care was taken to give the album an authentic, 19th century feel and sound, from the use of only period style instruments and vocal harmonies, to the enlisting of some of the finest musicians in Irish traditional music.

We saw them at the Milwaukee Irish Festival and we've seen them in Dublin. Donegal's Altan, lead by the forever young and beautiful Mairead ni Mhaonaigh. A renowned fiddler and Gaelic singer, she and the group continue to give the audience Irish ballads, jigs and modern, folk-influenced music with the sounds of flute, fiddle, guitar and other instruments. Their performance in Dublin was as fresh today as it was when Frankie Kennedy was still with us. Undated and therefore popular with many, their music reaches into the strands of time. This is reflected in the success of the nine albums they've produced during a thirteen-year musical career, which has also landed them a contract with Virgin Records.

TOUR

No visit to Dublin is complete without experiencing the beauty of the Church of St. Bridgid of Kildare. We had the good fortune of being guided by Dr. Robert Fathman and his beautiful wife Gina (Rodgers). Originally from Detroit, she from Louisville, he is the unofficial Mayor of Dublin.

"The church was constructed in 1991. When the parish was first established, Christmas Eve Midnight Mass was celebrated in the horse barn," he said. "With horses in the stalls, a dirt floor beneath their feet and faith in their heart, parishioners sat on bales of hay." The renovated original horse barn is still standing.

"The exterior structure is modeled after the Church of Ireland Cathedral in Kildare," Gina added. "Inside one finds contributions from various Catholic churches in Ohio and the world. The hand-carved doors date from the Spanish Colonial period, an original gift to us from Holy Family Church in Columbus. The two bronze angles, Michael the Archangel, and Angel with Jug, are from 17th century Naples."

The altar contains a stone from the 13th century central tower of the St. Brigid of Kildare Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland. A hand-carved statue of St. Bridgid from Italy rests on an elaborately carved 16th century Sicilian wood column. "The Vestment Case is walnut, and was made in the mid 1800s for St. Augustus Church in New Straitsville, Perry County, Ohio," Gina offered.

We wrapped up our visit on Sunday morning, finding many visitors from around the country and State. Cleveland's Ed & Ann O'Donnell were on their first visit to the festival. "I'm duly impressed," he said. "With the resources of the City of Dublin to help, there's no other Irish Festival in Ohio that currently comes close to this."

Indeed, the City of Dublin provides the finest of rest facilities. Everything is either a permanent fixture in Coffman Park or the type that are inside trailers. None of those small portable-types are used, making it a truly world-class Festival. It could not be staged without the, count 'em, six hundred volunteers from among its 29,000 residents.

Were there any complaints? We only heard one - there was no Guinness to be had!