Celtic camaraderie to be celebrated at annual Irish Music Festival


Irish Music Festival headliners The Town Pants: brothers Dave and Duane Keogh, Aaron Chapman, Brendan Mooney, Gilles Nadon and Ivanka Watkin. Reminder Publications submitted photo

Aug. 2, 2010

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD -- If you can trace your roots to the Hungry Hill section of Springfield, your ancestors hailed from the Emerald Isle or you have a soft spot in your heart for lilting Celtic ballads, the John Boyle O'Reilly club has just the event for you.

On Aug. 14 from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m., the club will host its 12th annual Irish music festival in the upstairs hall, downstairs lounge and grounds of its home on 33 Progress Ave. Tickets, available at the door the day of the festival, are $10 per person, with children under 12 admitted free. The event is open to the public.

Last year's festival drew a crowd of about 1,000.

"It's turned into a real family day, we have people from eight to 98," Brian Mulvagh, a festival organizer since its inception in 1999, said. "And it's almost become a one-day reunion, with people who live outside the area traveling back to see friends and neighbors who grew up with them in Hungry Hill and other local Irish areas."

Slated to appear at this year's festival are the popular Western Massachusetts performer and past O'Reilly club manager Leo Doherty, sharing the stage with Charlie Bongovi; the Ludlow-based group The Rising, who have opened for such groups as the Saw Doctors and Gaelic Storm; and famed Clogerhead Co., Louth accordionist Fintan Stanley, who now resides on Cape Cod.

The Boston-based group The Green Rovers; Connecticut's well-known balladeers The Kerry Boys; Ludlow's brother-and-sister duo The Cabey's; Springfield's own Kiltie Band, one of the oldest bagpipe bands in the nation; and award-winning dancers from the McDermott Academy of Irish Dance will round out the day's entertainment.

The evening's featured performers, slated to take the outdoor stage at 9 p.m., are a group called The Town Pants. Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, where they played at the 2009 Winter Olympics, these six musicians are known, according to the band's Web site, for their West-Coast Celtic -- a musical style that combines traditional Irish melodies with acoustic pop, Americana, Australian and even Mexican influences.

"We play what people call rowdy Irish drinking music," band vocalist, tin whistle and harmonica player Aaron Chapman said. "We'll be playing some stuff from our new album, but the backbone of the band is the traditional pub songs and streets songs."

"People will know some of the songs and those they don't, they will get into because they're in the same genre," he added.

According to Mulvagh, the Irish Music Festival will be the Town Pants "only Western Massachusetts appearance."

In addition to the music, Mulvagh said there will also be a craft area featuring Irish sweaters, football jerseys, children's toys and Irish glassware, stemware and woolen goods. Refreshments, including hot dogs, hamburgers and other fare will also be available.

"People have encouraged us to make this a longer festival, maybe a weekend event," Mulvagh said. "But we feel that it would lose the neighborhood feel. And we like to keep the prices down, make it a family event, something where people come to see their old neighbors, their old schoolmates."

He said a committee of seven plan the annual festival, but that the event would not be possible without the help of an army of club members who volunteer -- a total of 70 people to be exact.

"Our volunteers are definitely the key to our success," he added.

For more information about the Irish Music Festival visit www.jbo-club.com

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