Irish Massachusetts

Irish rockabilly star Imelda May is performing in Boston on Saturday, July 30, 2011 at the Brighton Music Hall in the city's Allston neighborhood. The over-18 show starts at 9:00 p.m.  Tickets are  $17.50 and can be ordered online at Ticketmaster . The Dublin-born singer has been performing a unique style of American rockability fused with Irish sensibility for years, and performed at the College Green concert for President Barack and Michele Obama in May. For a full schedule of concerts at Brighton Music Hall this summer, click here . For concerts throughout greater Boston and Massachusetts, visit IrishBoston.org For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com or BostonUSA.com .

Popular radio host Brian O'Donovan of the Celtic Sojourn program on WGBH 89.7 FM is broadcasting live from the Lowell Folk Festival on Saturday, July 30, 2011, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m..  Among the artists WGBH is broadcasting live is Irish traditional stars Dervish from County Sligo, who perform at 3:00 p.m. at Boarding House Park at the festival.  For a full schedule of the Lowell Folk Festival, click here . For other Irish cultural activities happening around Massachusetts and New England year round, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information visit MassVacation.com

The Boston Irish Tourism Association is giving away a pair of tickets to see the Saw Doctors at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis on Thursday, August 11 and Friday, August 12, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. To enter the contest, click here and fill out the information.  You can also order tickets directly to the Thursday, August 11 show online, or the Friday, August 12 show . The band originated in Tuam, County Galway and has been entertaining audiences ever since with its high energy performances.  For a full schedule of concerts at the Cape Cod Melody Tent, click here . For year round Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com . 

Ray Flynn , former US Ambassador to the Vatican and Mayor of Boston, spoke at the International Longshoreman's Association convention in Hollywood, Florida on Tuesday, July 26, 2011. The son of a longshoreman from South Boston, Flynn's speech was entitled, "America's Policies Must be Rooted in the Dignity of Every Person." On Thursday, July 28, Flynn is being honored with a Lifetime Service Award by the St. Joseph's Society in Boston's North End, as part of this year's annual Italian festival and Unity Week in Boston.  The award ceremony takes place between 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Paul Revere Mall on Hanover Street, across from the Old North Church.  Irish music featuring singer Pauline Wells and other Irish bands will also take place. For more information on Irish cultural activities in the Boston area year round, visit IrishBoston.org  

Dervish , one of Ireland's great traditional music ensembles, is performing at the Lowell Folk Festival in Lowell Massachusetts, July 29-31, 2011. The band is performing four times throughout the festival: Friday, July 29, at 8:15 p.m at Boarding House Park Saturday, July 30 at 3:00 p.m. at Boarding House Park Saturday, July 30 at 5:00 p.m. at Market Street Sunday, July 31 at 4:15 at JFK Plaza. In addition, members of the group will participate in instrument and vocal workshops throughout the weekend. For more details, visit the Lowell Folk Festival Schedule .  For other musical performances in Lowell this summer, visit the Lowell Summer Music Series .  For other Irish cultural events in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com .

The popular Cape Cod Irish Summer-Fest is taking place at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 starting at 3:00 p.m. Tickets to the event are $20.00 for adults, $10.00 for children ages 6-16, and free for children five and under.  Tickets can be purchased online , but there is an additional fee. This year's festival features Irish singer Aoife Clancy, the Glengarry Bhoy s from Canada, the Screaming Orphans from Donegal, as well as top Irish performers from Cape Cod and the New England region. The festival benefits two great local organizations: the Cape Cod St. Patrick's Day Committee , and the Sons of Erin Cape Cod in West Yarmouth. For more details on the Festival or for directions to the Melody Tent, click here . For year round details on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts and the New England region, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information visit MassVacation.com .

Broadway star Kelli O'Hara and actor/singer Jason Danieley are performing with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 2:30 p.m. at Tanglewood. Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate. For a full schedule of concerts at Tanglewood, click here . For year round cultural activities in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com .

The Courtyard Hounds , featuring Martie Maguire and Emily Robison from the Dixie Chicks, is performing at the Lowell Summer Music Series on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. The two sisters, who formed the Dixie Chicks with Natalie Maines in 1989, are touring this summer with The Courtyard Hounds , performing their own songs and playing a mix of bluegrass, rock and folk. Tickets are $26 in advance or $30 the day of the concert and can be purchased online . For a full schedule of concerts at the Lowell Summer Music Series this summer, click here . For concerts and cultural activities throughout Massachusetts year round, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information visit MassVacation.com .

The Bell Family The 18th annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival is taking place next Saturday, July 16, 2011 at Look Park in Florence, Massachusetts, just outside of Northampton. The all-day festival includes a variety of great Scottish, Irish and Celtic performances, including The Bell Family, Enter the Haggis, and Boston Blackthorne among others.  For a full list of performers click here . In addition, there are bagpipe bands, Highland dancing, Scottish athletic competitions, and plenty of Scottish vendors, family entertainment and food and beverage courts. For a year round look at Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts and the New England region, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Banjo master Bela Fleck and The Flecktones , are performing at the Lowell Summer Music Series at Boarding House Park in Lowell on Friday, July 8, 2011. Considered the premier banjo player in the world, Bela Fleck melds together Celtic, bluegrass, blues, classical, world and jazz genres into a exciting sound that is utterly unique. For a full schedule of concerts at the Lowell Summer Music Series, click here . For year round cultural activities in Massachusetts and the New England region, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore , an Irish immigrant from Ballygar, County Galway, started Boston's annual tradition of a musical tribute to Independence Day on July 4, 1855, with a concert on Boston Common. Michael Cummings , founder and president of the Patrick S. Gilmore Society, says that Gilmore emigrated to Boston in 1849.  He was a talented cornet player and soon got work leading the Salem Band before eventually returning to Boston to form his own Gilmore Band. By 1855, when he held the concert, Boston was filled with Irish immigrants who had been coming there over the past decade to flee Ireland's famine and economic woes.  According to Irish Boston: A Lively Look at Boston's Colorful Irish History , over 100,000 Irish had arrived between 1845 and 1849, transforming the city. The New York Times in 1853, wrote a sarcastic column that most of the people enjoying the Common on Independence Day, complaining "the whole costermongery was so preponderently Hibernian...

Billy McComiskey Irish Echo music critic Earle Hitchner has written a great story - Mad for Trad in the Mountains - about the Catskills Irish Arts Week, taking place on July 10-16, 2011 in East Durham, NY. Putting the 17th annual Irish music gathering in a larger context, Hitchner writes: " During a time when the miasmic U.S. economy has convinced many summer music schools and festivals to cut costs by cutting staff, Paul Keating, the artistic director of CIAW since November 2003, has taken a counterintuitive approach. “Our budget has no frills, and some have suggested that I also trim personnel to save money,” he said by phone from his home in Hillsdale, N.J. “But I feel if I do, what’s going to attract people? The drawing card of the Catskills Irish Arts Week has always been the caliber of staff and performers we bring in each year.” To read the entire story, click here .  Go to Catskills Irish Arts Week for more information. For more details on Irish music ...