Arts and Entertainment
The O’Brien family has plenty to show for its involvement with Irish dancing. Their Newton home’s basement, renovated some years ago to accommodate a small practice studio, is full of photos and trophies that chronicle the success of Conor, 21, Claire, 23... Read more
Greater Boston’s early fall Irish/Celtic concert slate includes a rare duet appearance by Beoga members Niamh Dunne and Sean Og Graham and a concert by new “super group” The Alt, both at The Burren, and a performance by one of Scotland’s most enduring and... Read more
It’s a sad but true fact of life, says Arlington resident Kevin Ferguson: Sometimes it takes a tragic event to spur you to start that project you’ve always been meaning to do.
For generations, Ferguson’s family was a fixture in the “Irish Catskills,” an... Read more
Sue McLaughlin, with three of the many puppets and masks she tends to backstage at Disney’s “The Lion King,” playing the Boston Opera House September 9 - October 12. Photo by Selena Moshell
Somewhere in the depths beneath Boston’s Opera House lies a home... Read more
Broadway actress and Nashua native Kerry O’Malley.
The Broadway actress Kerry O’Malley is currently spending her evenings on Boston Common appearing as Olivia in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of “Twelfth Night.”
Directed by Steven Maler... Read more
Sharon Shannon
Sharon Shannon has played with the likes of The Waterboys, Christy Moore, Jackson Browne, Frankie Gavin, Michael McGoldrick, Sinead O’Connor, and the RTE Concert Orchestra, among others, while taking her masterful Irish accordion playing (... Read more
The South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset will hold its first-ever Irish music festival on Aug. 21, featuring renowned fiddler Eileen Ivers and her world-music band Immigrant Soul, along with The Fighting Jamesons and Celtica: Pipes Rock. Doors open at 6... Read more
“Calvary” is a darkly brilliant film that tackles emotional, cultural, and religious, and regional issues on a cinematic canvas both broad and insular. That may read oxymoronic, but writer-director John Michael McDonagh and a splendid cast pull off... Read more
Kathleen Parks and Ricky Mier of the band Cat and the Moon share a duet during the Boston Irish Festival music weekend. Sean Smith photo
Dancers small, tall, and in between swarmed the Irish Cultural Centre of New England campus June 14 for the second... Read more
Michael McGrath (pronounced McGraw) is a lucky guy. And he knows it. The Worcester native first came to the attention of Boston audiences in Gerard Alessandrini’s musical spoof “Forbidden Broadway” back in the 80s. He costarred with Toni DuBuono, the... Read more
For almost exactly a quarter-century, Black 47 has made raucous, often provocative, sometimes outrageous, and always full-hearted music, a distinctive brand of Irish/Celtic rock mixed with hip-hop, jazz, and reggae and imbued with a zeal for social... Read more
Black 47 will play at this year’s Boston Irish Festival as part of its Last Hurrah performance tour.
There’ll be a last hurrah from Black 47, plus return engagements for Irish-world music fusion act Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul and indie folk-pop... Read more
The late winter/early spring of 2014 held some sadness for Boston’s Irish music community, which mourned the passing of two of its stalwarts: Paddy Cronin, 88, a talented and influential fiddle player; and Henry Varian, 72, a singer, musician, raconteur,... Read more
Like many musicians throughout Greater Boston – and beyond – Flynn Cohen feels he owes a lot to the late guitarist-mandolinist John McGann, a much-beloved figure in the area’s Irish music community. Along with considerable amounts of advice, inspiration,... Read more
The honors keep rolling in for master fiddler Seamus Connolly, director of Irish music programs at Boston College and one of the area’s most celebrated traditional Irish musicians. Last month, Connolly – who is the Sullivan Artist-in-Residence at BC – was... Read more
One of the newer celebrations of traditional Irish music in Boston returns for its second go-round this month, when Féile Cheoil Boston takes place on May 17 in Melrose. The day-long (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) event, established by Boston’s Comhaltas Ceoltóirí... Read more
Local launch of ‘Tell You in Earnest,’ at The Burren May 14
When you’ve been a musical duo, and a couple, for as long as Matt and Shannon Heaton – and we’re talking well into the second decade – you tend to know when you’re onto something good.
So a... Read more
Aimee Doherty journeys “Into The Woods”
Fairy tales are filled with princes and witches and monsters and magic. Whatever trials the characters face, the stories usually build to a happily-ever-after ending. But did you ever wonder what happened after... Read more
By R. J. Donovan
Special To The BIR
As a writer, director and arts administrator, Dawn M. Simmons wears a lot of hats. For the past nine years she has been director of programs at StageSource, the respected non-profit that provides leadership and services... Read more
By Sean Smith
The recordings that Bridget Fitzgerald kept from her unreleased album with Carol Barney were deeply loved treasures – reminders of a partnership, and friendship, that ended far too soon when Barney died 14 years ago this month.
But... Read more
