Our March meeting (Thursday, March 6th) will have a brief program. Our Sergeant-at-Arms, Jim Hagerty, will have all 32 Irish County flags on display, including the county flags for Mayo, Sligo, and Tipperary that we were waiting on! Have a connection to one of these three counties? We'll take your photo with your county flag to complete the set of pictures we started last year with the other 29 county flags.We will also be running a silent auction at the March meeting for a VERY special pair of size 8 ladies shoes (see photo also on this page) that are PERFECT for the festive St. Patrick’s Day season! They are black patent and sparkly emerald green T-strap retro pumps that look like a million bucks. I have literally only worn them once – to Finnegan’s Wake 2012. I love them, but I developed plantar fasciitis later in 2012 and can no longer wear heels. My loss can be your gain – if you or a special lady in your life wear size 7.5 – 8.0, put in a bid! All proceeds go to the IAS parade fund.During the rest of our March meeting we will finalize plans for our various March activities.Mike Bromley has done his usual fabulous job organizing our annual Finnegan’s Wake celebration/fundraiser, and it is already officially SOLD OUT! It will take place on Saturday, March 8th this year, in the Church of the Ascension Community Center where we have our meetings. As always, there will be a delicious Irish meal, live Irish music by Glasgow Kiss, Irish step dancing from An Cor Rud/The Reel Thing AND Ceili Mor, the presentation of this year’s IAS Irish Princesses, a cash bar, ceili dancing, a hurling demo, and more! For the young children ONLY there will be a dinner of mac’n’cheese and either hot dogs or chicken nuggets. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Volunteers who can help set up for Finnegan’s Wake would be most welcome that morning at 9 am. The decorations will be there on premises – we just have to show up to put them on the tables. It is quick and fun work, especially with many hands, so come on out if you are in the area. Mike will also need some volunteers with helping to serve the dinner at Finnegan’s Wake. We serve it family style, so it is actually a quick shift. You roll the cart out to the table, drop off several bowls, and then go on to the next one. If you are the

friendly type and would be willing to help with this, we would appreciate it, especially since some of our usual helpers won’t be able to make it this year.

One week exactly after Finnegan’s Wake is the 47th Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade (Saturday, March 15th) in Ocean View, Norfolk. (see page 8 for details).

We also hope to march on Saturday, March 22nd at the parade that starts off the Church Hill Irish Festival in Richmond. This is a VERY fun festival that many of us have gone to

in the past. Glasgow Kiss is playing there on the main stage this year, plus lots of other great Irish music and dancing will be performed. Check our IAS Facebook page and/or website (www.IRLUSA.org) for more details on that in a week or so.

Erin go bragh! Slán go fóill!(Ireland forever! ‘Bye for now!)

The Irish American Society of Tidewater News March 2014

The Irish Connection

The Irish American Society of

Tidewater, Virginia, was established in 1980 to promoteand preserve Irish

culture, and all things distinctly Irish.

Membership is opento persons of Irish

birth or ancestry, aswell as those

persons who havean interest in Irish history and culture.

Meetings are heldthe first Thursday

of every month at theChurch of the

Ascension Community Center

4853 PrincessAnne Rd

Virginia Beach, VA.Doors open at

6:30 p.m.,the meeting usually gets underway at

7:00 p.m.,ending at 9:00 p.m.

President's Corner

Our next meeting:March 6, 2014

April 2014 Meeting Date Moved!Due to a rental taking place at Ascension the first week of April, our April IAS meeting will take place the SECOND Thursday of April, April 10th. The March meeting will be the usual FIRST Thursday of the month, March 6th. There will be reminders here in the newsletter, at the March meeting, on the IAS Facebook page, and on the IAS website. Please notify your IAS friends who are not online. Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience!

Lynnette Fitch Brash m

Page -2 March 2014

The Irish American Society of Tidewater

P.O. Box 9614Virginia Beach, VA

23450

OFFICERS

President Lynnette Fitch Brash

Sr. Vice President Joseph Brady

Jr. Vice President John 'JJ' Johnson

Treasurer Mike Bromley

Recording Secretary MaryAnn Bromley

Financial SecretaryEdward BrashMembershipBetsy Kennedy

SUNSHINE COMMITTEEMaureen Honore

757-721-2863Mary Ann Bromley

757-471-2007

HOSPITALITYGeorge & Eileen Collins

NEWSLETTERLori Shea, editor

lorishea@aol.com

INTERNET NEWSVera Dotson

WEBMASTERMichael Lawler

WEB SITEIRLUSA.org

look for us on Facebook!

Saturday, March 8th Finnegan’s Wake - Church of the Ascension, Virginia Beach

Thursday, March 13th The Talbot on Granby, Norfolk (private)

Friday, March 14th The Shamrockin’  of Ghent, Norfolk (5:30pm)

Friday, March 14th Schooner’s Pub in Newport News (9:30pm)

Saturday, March 15th Shamrockin’ the ‘Burg - Williamsburg Community Building (6:00pm)

Sunday, March 16th Shamrock Marathon After Party, Virginia Beach (private)

Monday, March 17th Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub, Virginia Beach (noon-3:30pm)

Monday, March 17th Dry Duck Club - Portsmouth Naval Base (private)

Saturday, March 22nd Church Hill Irish Festival, Richmond - (time TBD)

IRISH MONTH – GLASGOW KISS GIGS!Get out to see the lads at one of their upcoming “Irish Month” gigs!

Check the Glasgow Kiss Facebook page or websitefor any additional gigs that may be added.

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a streamAnd caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor

I went to blow the fire a-flame,

But something rustled on the floor,And someone called me by my name:

It had become a glimmering girlWith apple blossom in her hair

Who called me by my name and ran

And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering

Through hollow lands and hilly lands,I will find out where she has gone,

And kiss her lips and take her hands;

And walk among long dappled grass,And pluck till time and times are done,

The silver apples of the moon,The golden apples of the sun.

William Butler Yeats 1865–1939Source: The Wind Among the Reeds

(1899)submitted by Joe Brady

POETRY

CORNER

The Irish Connection Page -3

♣ 6:30 – Special “Valentine’s fun” for the wee ones. Special thanks to Kate O’Neill & Caroline Morse for helping with projects.

♣ 7pm...Meeting called to order by Lynnette Brash♣Program tonight by Patti & Debbie...”Coastal tour of Ireland”♣Next meeting, raffling off green shoes, with sequins, size 8.♣ 2/14, 2/15, 2/16 – Mid-winter Celtic festival in Valley Forge,

Pa. ♣ 2/21.....”Happy Hour” at O’Connor’s Brewery 4-7, Glasgow

Kiss playing, Pub Crawl after, with Hurling Club.♣Hurling Club working on monthly games, with lunch at a

Pub after. Working on South Side team & Peninsula team.♣ 2014 dues ARE DUE NOW.♣Floor open for birthdays, anniversaries, new members.♣Theresa Buckley Diaz has volunteered to be IAS phone tree

coordinator.♣MARCH Activities:

•Mike Bromley said......3/8....Finnegan’s Wake, Ascension Hall, doors open 6:30. $15.00 per adult, $10.00 per child. Irish stew, corned beef/cabbage, potatoes, Irish soda bread, Glasgow Kiss & Irish Dancers performing.•3/8.....Scott MacGregor participating in St. Baldrick’s fund raiser for children’s cancer research. IAS will match donations up to $125.00.•3/15.....St. Patrick’s parade.....Ocean View....Norfolk, Va.•3/25......Lynette Crouch has tickets for Irish Tenors, performing at Sandler Center.•Jim Hagerty has all 32 county flags from Ireland for parade!

♣Mike Bromley gave Treasurer’s report: Savings.....$245.92 Checking.....$1,027.70♣Ancestry.com is available....$10.00 per month.♣Mary Ann Bromley gave Sunshine Club report:

•Pat Marion (wife of Ray) doing well after 2 weeks in hospital for blocked intestines & hernia surgery.•Kathleen Sweeney (wife of Bill) recuperating from infection and hip surgery.•Paul Brannigan (husband of Elaine)......quadruple by-pass surgery 2/11. Some complications with collapsed lung, but doing well now.•Lucia Graff.....recuperating from back surgery.•Marian Thomas.......getting Chemo. treatments for lung cancer.

♣Program began 8pm. ♣Patti & Debbie shared their trip to Ireland with a wonderful

slide presentation.Started in Dublin......Ashling Hotel.....Brazehead, Ireland’s oldest Pub (1198)......New Grange.....St. Eugene’s Cathedral (where Gene was baptized).......Belfast.....stayed in a beach house in Shrove, County Donegal (similar to our Sandbridge)........toured walled city of Derry.....Greencastle (rode ferry to Ma Gilligan Island)......Giants Causeway.......Malin Head (Ireland’s most Northern Point)......Belleck tour......Cliffs of Mohr....Limerick.....Bunratty......Dingle Peninsula.

♣Program ended 9pm♣Thank you to all who brought desserts. They are much

appreciated! Submitted by: Mary Ann Bromley

Meeting Minutes - February 2014

GREAT NEWS regarding IAS Teen Princess 2008 Nina Coletti Galvez’s mom Mariellen Dowd! Nina posted

the following on Facebook in February: “Update on Mom: she is officially halfway through the clinical trial at Mass. General. We were told today that she falls into the sliver of a percentage (something like less than 5%) of people who react positively to the treatment. They found that the remaining tumor on her adrenal gland has decreased by 28% in size; a result they have not seen in the trial so far. Someone told me today that prayers for miracles do work-THEY DO! Back in September they said she might not see March 2014 and here she is being cured of cancer!!!”

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to IAS Adult Princess 2004 Lynette Gilmour Crouch from her recent injury. Lynette somehow got one of her thumbs infected to the point where it required an emergency room visit to remove necrotic skin and clean the wound out. Yikes! A tetanus shot might be a good idea, if they didn’t give you one already.

Happy February Birthday to IAS Teen Princess 2012 Caitlyn Taylor!

Congratulations to IAS Junior Princess 2012 Aubree Musicant who won an All Around Medal at the Virginia Beach Classics Gymnastics Meet in February! Yay, Aubree!

Congratulations to Lynette “Rusty” Aasheim & hubby Lars, parents of IAS MAVA Princess 2000 Amanda Aasheim Knapp and IAS Teen Princess 2000 Carlyn Aasheim, on the purchase of Wolfsnare Plantation! Wolfsnare is a historic home in the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach. It was built circa 1715!

Take a breather! IAS Adult Princess 2000 Lynnette Fitch Brash was pretty busy with extracurricular presentations in February. First she delivered a program on “The Irish in the North American Colonies” to the Daughters of the American Colonists, Norfolk Mace chapter. Then she traveled to Valley Forge to teach dance workshops at the 22nd annual Philly Midwinter Celtic Music Festival for at least the tenth year in a row. See elsewhere in this issue for pictures from the Philly Midwinter! IAS Adult Princess 2007 Erin Morrissey was also part of the local contingent that went up to Valley Forge for the Philly Midwinter this year!

The Princess Diaries, continued . . . March 2014

Page -4 March 2014

The Philly Midwinter Celtic Music FestivalValley Forge Casino & Resort, PA – February 14-16, 2014

Article by Edward Brash

Photographs by Erin Morrissey

For the 22nd consecutive year, Bill and Karen Reid of East of the Hebrides Entertainments staged the Philly Midwinter Celtic Music Festival in Valley Forge, PA over the President’s Day/Valentine’s Day weekend. And, once again, it was a fantastic event! This year, as in many years past, the TIAS was well represented; President Lynnette Fitch Brash was once again invited to give workshops on Scottish Step Dance. Yours truly was lucky enough to be able to accompany her and serve as her roadie and sound guy for the weekend! In addition, we were joined by TIAS members Erin Morrissey; Cheryl Brown; Connie Austin Smith; and Kelly, John, and Austin of Clan Lenahan. It was tremendous fun to have such a strong local contingent there.

This festival is held each year at the Valley Forge Casino & Resort Center – it is a great venue for a winter festival, for sure! The main events are held in a huge hall that features two music stages, a large area for vendors, and of course there are the requisite stands for good Celtic beers (and whiskey!) and tasty food, as well. I will admit, though, that the unexplained absence this year of the meat pie vendor had us all in a bit of a tizzy! Hopefully they will be back next year. The fish and chips we ate instead were absolutely outstanding, however. One of the best things about this location is that the festival hall is directly connected to not

one but two large hotels, and so one can literally park the car on Friday evening, and not exit until after the concerts end on Sunday evening, or on Monday morning if one chooses to stay an extra night. It is absolutely the most convenient festival setup that I have ever been to in this regard.

Bill and Karen Reid have been an integral part of the east coast Celtic music scene for decades, and their commitment to securing the absolutely best acts in the business shines through, year after year. As I was saying to Lynnette on the drive up to Philly, in my opinion this festival has the best music lineup of any festival that I have been to, ever. From traditional Irish AND Scottish acts, to groups on the cutting edge of Celtic rock, the Philly Midwinter has it all. Moreover, the musical talent exhibited by the groups is second to none. The wealth of absolutely brilliant musicians is staggering each and every year. The 2014 version of Philly Midwinter was no exception in this regard. Many of you, I am sure, are familiar with such groups as Rathkeltair, Albannach, and Brother, and these fine bands were present and in good form. I will focus in the rest of this article, however, on some of the other bands that you might not be quite as familiar with.

The Friday night concert at the festival culminated with a high-energy performance from local Philly favorites, Jamison. In 2013, Jamison won a national award for ‘Best

Live Irish Band’, and I can tell you that this award was incredibly well-deserved. They are absolutely awesome! In the Friday night set, as well as in their Sunday afternoon performance, the dance floor was filled to capacity, and the entire crowd was on its feet. They finished their sets with a raucous rendition of ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’, which was as good as I have heard anywhere.

I was thrilled this year to see the return of The Brigadoons to the festival. This group is a traditional Celtic band from the Glengarry region of Eastern Ontario, near my hometown

FRESH EIREKeeping up with

Irish Events!

The Irish Connection Page -5

of Kingston. Front man Dennis Carr leads a stellar group of musicians, all of whom have beautiful voices; indeed, their harmonies are wonderful. Fiddler Ashley MacLeod displays some of the best fiddle tone that you will hear anywhere, certainly.

From the same area of Canada hails the more upbeat Celtic group Hadrian’s Wall, led by guitarist and vocalist Neil Emberg. I had the pleasure several years ago of sitting in on a session led by Neil, and you will not find an nicer man, nor better musician. Their repertoire is wide and varied, and as Connie Smith pointed out, ‘they never play two songs with the same rhythm, yet are perfectly in sync with one another on every tune.’ These tight arrangements and varied rhythms keep their sets extremely interesting to listen to.

The best new band of the festival this year, from my point of view, was MacLean Avenue, led by guitarist and vocalist and native Irishman Padraig Allen. As it turns out, we had seen this band before at a hurling tournament that took place in Charlotte last summer; they played the after party for that event. Lynnette and I both noted that they have obviously been working very hard on their music in the interim, as their arrangements were incredibly tight and focused. In particular, they offered several intriguing adaptations of

traditional tunes, my favorite being an upbeat version of ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’; I suspect you might see this arrangement featured at an upcoming Glasgow Kiss event! I was so impressed with MacLean Avenue that I bought one of their CD’s, Easy&Free, which we listened to in the car on

the trip back home; their eclectic mix of modern interpretations of traditional Celtic tunes, bluegrass standards, and songs with a country flavor was fascinating, to say the least.

I think that I speak for all of the local contingent, as well as a majority of the festival-goers that I spoke with, when I say that the musical highlight of the weekend was the performances of the Screaming Orphans, a band of four sisters from County Donegal. Joan, Graìnne, Ashley, and Mary-Therese Diver are a tour de force! Their sisterly harmonies are other-wordly in their haunting beauty; their

rendition of the traditional rebel tune ‘The West’s Asleep/The West’s Awake” literally brought me to tears. At the same time, their musical versatility is stunning. They finished one of their sets with their rendition of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”, much to the thrill of the younger set in the crowd! Moreover, their stage presence is infectious; they certainly have ‘the gift of the gab’, as they say, and keep the crowd in stitches throughout their performances. I must also add that I am incredibly impressed with their commitment to their fans; after each performance, they stayed afterwards for hours, talking with folks, and even coming out on the dance floor themselves to interact with the crowd. They are simply a fine group of ladies, and they are a pleasure to listen to and to talk with.

I have been very fortunate to be able to attend nearly a dozen iterations of the Philly Midwinter, and I can tell you that I have never been disappointed. I encourage you to seriously consider attending this event in February of 2015; we will be there for sure!

Page -6 March 2014

The “Ireland” Art Exhibition

Opening Friday March 7th 2014 6-8PM

Kennedy Gallery @ One Eleven Art111 Pennsylvania Avenue in Norfolk

Right off Granby St. across Riverview Theater& next to Verdi Eye Clinic 757-625-1110

Exhibition Runs through Friday April 18th, 2014Everyone is invited to see the works painted or started at the

Art On The Ring of Kerry (Ireland) Plein Air Artist's Retreat, Valentia Island - County Kerry Ireland

Artists include: Barbara Lively Mastaglio, Betsy Rivers Kennedy, Ann Moore, Scott London,

Norma Wilson and Roxanne  Steed

Hear all the latest about our Hibernian hounds!Feel free to submit news and/or pictures relating to

Irish breed or Irish-owned dogs!

Love Your Dogs? Safety Warning about Toxic

Foods to Keep away from Your Fur Babies!

Many thanks to IAS Paddy Pack beagle mama Erin Morrissey who sent along some great links with warnings about foods that

are TOXIC for dogs to ingest.http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/foods-are-hazardous-dogs

http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/foods_poisonous_to_pets.html#.UrN8j6NOnFo

And in a more light-hearted vein, check out this hilarious picture of IAS Paddy Pack wolfhound Einstein that his mom Rebecca Conti took! Who knew there was an Irish whiskey especially for Irish wolfhounds?!

(Note: Cu is Gaelic for dog!)

CU CORNER

The Irish Connection Page -7

HAMPTON ROADS HURLING CLUB – RETROSPECTIVE ON 2013

We said it was going to be a big year, and we weren't disappointed! We've nearly tripled our members from the beginning of the year. We've sent members to several tournaments throughout the Southeast—including a near-full squad to Charleston. Some of our members have earned the questionable honour of a nickname for their exploits on or off the pitch. Here's what we were up to:• Reached 100 Facebook Fans in January.• Held our First Annual Pub Crawl in February.• Marched in the Ocean View Annual St. Patrick's Day

Parade in March. • Became the Hampton Roads Croquet and Polo Club for a

brief moment in April.• Dominated the "Third Half" of the Holy City Cup in

Charleston in May. • Sent players to the Connolly Cup in Charlotte in June.• Thought about holding a second "annual" pub crawl in

August in July.• Held our second "annual" pub crawl in August.• Had two of our players compete in the North American

Hurling Championships in Cleveland over Labor Day weekend.

• Sent a delegation to the Virginia Beach 50th Anniversary & International Sister Cities Gala to present a hurley signed by all members to Andrew Muir, Mayor of North Down, County Down, in September.

• Hosted some of the great guys from Raleigh GAA and our friends in Richmond Hurling Society at the Central Virginia Celtic Festival & Highland Games in October.

• Saw our Club President named Games Development Officer for the Southeast Division in November.

• Sent our bruiser and two of our newest, youngest players to represent the club at the Azalea Cup, where they managed a handful of well placed points, in Georgia in December.

We're gathering a lot of momentum, and 2014 will see us starting out with our largest club yet. Lets keep up the good work and camaraderie that made 2013 great.

HAMPTON ROADS HURLING CLUB -SPRING 2014 PUB LEAGUE

The HRHC is currently recruiting players for a spring pub league. Games will take place on Sunday mornings, followed by “refreshments” at a local pub. Supporters are welcome to come out to watch the hurling as well as to join us at the pub afterward.No previous hurling experience is necessary to participate in the league; the lads will teach you the ropes! If you have experience with stick sports (baseball, lacrosse, hockey, etc.), those skills easily transfer to hurling.We also need people willing to be line judges and goal judges. This is a fun and easy job for anyone willing to volunteer to help us out, and requires no athletic activity or prior knowledge. We’ll show you exactly what to do.

These are the tentative dates for the Spring Pub League (and tournament schedule):

• April 5 - Paul Gleeson Cup - Columbia, SC• April 13 – 1st week of Spring Pub League• April 20 - League Week 2• April 26 - Holy City Cup - Charleston, SC• May 4 - BYE• May 11 - League Week 3• May 17 - Greenville, SC tournament• May 25 - BYE• June 1 - League Week 4• June 15 - League Week 6

HURLEY HAPPENINGS

For your information!Our own Vice President, Joseph Brady  is now a

Notary for the Commonwealth of Virginia.call 757-735-2036 for more info!

Page -8 March 2014

IAS ELECTIONS May 1, 2014 By James Hagerty

At our monthly meeting on Thursday, May 1, 2014, the IAS will be voting on those who will lead us through the next two years. We are inviting nominations for the following:

PresidentSenior Vice President Junior Vice President

TreasurerFinancial Secretary

Recording Secretary The duties of each position can be seen in our official IAS By-

Laws which are posted on our website www.IRLUSA.org  (click on About Us) and in the IAS Facebook page (click on Files).

You must have your 2014 dues paid in order to nominate, run as a candidate, and/or vote. You must be present at the May meeting to vote.

If you want to nominate someone to run for office, please contact the Election Committee Chair, Jim Hagerty, at jimbohagerty@gmail.com. Make sure you have asked your nominee in advance whether he or she is willing to serve.

Any new candidates as well as any incumbents running opposed are encouraged to submit to the Election Committee a paragraph or two (maximum one page) detailing previous experience and training that could benefit the IAS. These biographical write-ups will run in the IAS newsletter immediately prior to the election. The deadline for getting your write-up published is Saturday, April 19.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

Sign up to carry one of

the Irish County Flags!!!

Sign up with Jim Hagerty to carry one of the 32 flags in the Ocean View St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year on Saturday,

March 15th! First Come, First Served!!!email Jim at jimbohagerty@gmail.com

The IAS will be located in Section One, Position 32. We’ve moved up in the world – that’s seven positions closer to the front than last year! This will be in the general vicinity of Northside Middle School on Granby Street. We need to be in position by 9 am; step off is at 10 am. PLEASE sign up with Jim Hagerty to carry one of our 32 Irish country flags in the parade this year. They looked SPECTACULAR last year, and we want that to be the case again this year! It is nearly impossible to get near Northside Middle School by car after 9 am, so if you want to park near the school, plan to get there early. The Knights of Columbus will also be running a shuttle bus from 8 am – 10:00 am between Holy Trinity School (Government & First View) at the end of the parade route back to the parade start area, so you can park at the end of the parade if you wish. THERE IS NO SHUTTLE BACK AFTER THE PARADE, SO PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

Our Irish Cottage and Paddy Wagon floats should arrive in the line up between 8:30 and 8:45 am Saturday morning.PLEASE JOIN US THEN WITH WHATEVER YOU'VE GOT TO HELP DECORATE THEM: Irish banners, bunting, flags, streamers, shamrocks, leprechauns, beads, etc.

Current 2014 IAS members with mobility issues and/or small children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews are welcome to ride on the two IAS floats. We request that people capable of walking the entire parade route do so in order to save room on the floats for people who can't walk themselves or who have little kids who can't walk that far. MAKE SURE YOUR 2014 IAS DUES ARE PAID SO YOU CAN RIDE - we'll even take them the morning of! There ARE benefits to IAS membership, doncha know?!

We will, as always, have our IAS PADDY PACK of Irish-owned and Irish breed dogs marching with us. Members are encouraged to join the Paddy Pack with their dogs as long as the dogs are people-friendly and dog-friendly, are up-to-date on their vaccinations, and are on a non-retractable leash. Don’t forget to deck your doggies out in fine Irish style!