One of Greater Boston's most enduringly popular Irish music and cultural events will pass a significant milestone this month when the Irish Cultural Centre of New England (ICCNE) hosts the 20th annual Irish Festival at the ICCNE campus in Canton Sept. 17-19.

Irish traditional music will be the focus of the fall 2010 Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance, Workshop and Lecture Series at Boston College.

The series, sponsored by BC's Center for Irish Programs, has often featured music from Scotland, Cape Breton and Appalachia as well as Ireland. But there will be a distinctly Hibernian flavor to this fall's events, which take place at Connolly House (300 Hammond Street near BC's Chestnut Hill Campus) beginning at 6:30 p.m. All are free and open to the public.

Just imagine if the band that inspired and influenced your youthful musical development invited you, years later, to join them. This fantasy - common to musician and non-musician alike - came true for Boston area native Eddie Dillon during the late 1990s, when he played with The Clancy Brothers, which at the time comprised original members Paddy and Bobby Clancy and Bobby's son Finbarr (Paddy died shortly thereafter, but the group kept performing until Bobby's death in 2002).