by Brendan Claybrendanjamesclay@gmail.com In 2013, eight teams of Irish dancers competed at the first Villanova Intercollegiate Irish Dance Festival, founded by then students Rory Beglane and Mattisan Rowan and team faculty advisor George Pinchock. On Saturday, November 10, Villanova hosted… Continue Reading
By Thom Nickels When you meet Christine Flowers the first thing you notice about her is her hair. She has a lot of hair. Her hair sometimes covers her eyes; it cascades across her shoulders. When she walks across a… Continue Reading
By Brendan Clay “There’s a huge Irish population in Havertown and Delaware County,” said Tom Kelly, the chairman and executive director of Kelly Music for Life. “Havertown is often referred to as the 33rd county of Ireland.” That’s one big… Continue Reading
By Peter Makem In my lifetime, Ireland has never experienced such a hot blast of summer. Not so long ago in February last, we had the Beast from the East, an arrival of frozen wind direct from Siberia which lowered… Continue Reading
Photo (above): William L. Elkins built Elstowe Mansion in 1898. His neighbors along the Old York Road included Gilded Age millionaires: John B. Stetson, John Wanamaker, Jay Cooke and Peter A. B. Widener. In 1932, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine… Continue Reading
By Frank Dougherty America’s first used bookstore was a Philadelphia family venture founded in 1836 as a sidewalk stall in Center City. For bookworms around the world, it was known as Leary’s Books, one of the largest such enterprises in… Continue Reading
(Above) Anthony Waskie, Ph.D. president of General Meade Society of Philadelphia and vice president of the GAR Civil War Museum & Library was the master of ceremonies at St. Anne Parish Gravesite Dedication Ceremony By Brendan Clay On a rainy… Continue Reading
By Thom Nickels Shrines are wonderful places. In a world of increasing secularity they remind us of what is important and what is eternal. One such shrine is Germantown’s Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Founded by Fr.… Continue Reading
By Peter Makem There is a new map of Ireland. The old four provinces have now been largely replaced in the South by a new tourism dynamic as an ever-conscious Fáilte Ireland (Ireland of the Welcomes) works to cater for… Continue Reading
By Msgr. Francis A. Carbine “Our ship, Brittanica, arrived in New York from Cobh, County Cork, on Saturday evening, April 14, 1957. We anchored in the harbor. “I saw the illuminated Statue of Liberty. I could see the lights of… Continue Reading