Out & About

Let me tell you: Noelle Clancy and Deirdre O'Hea must be the best window artists that I have ever seen in New York.

They deserve a lot of recognition for the hard work that they both do, especially on all the major holidays, when they earn their living painting the windows of Irish bars and restaurants all across the tri-State area.

I have to admire them as they make it look so easy and, guess what, they're always happy at what they are doing... maybe the it's the aroma of alcohol  aroma in the establishments, I wonder?

Keep up the good work girls!

Now last week I did mention a very nice lady - another artist of a different kind - whose name is Roisin Fitzpatrick; no, no relation to the famous hotelier John Fitzpatrick, though her art is hanging in the foyer of Fitzpatrick's Hotel on Lexington Avenue (at 57th Street) and that's a picture of her on this as I could not include it in last week's column.

She has an exhibition at the Irish Consulate on Park Avenue for the next few weeks and take my advice and make an appointment to see it as it will blow your mind as to how good she is.

My friend Dermot Kelly has sent me this to all his Irish American Friends especially "The Delegation" - please come out and support our good friend Tom Dwyer on October 23rd!

Bring your friends and family to what promises to be a great afternoon of fine food, fun and great entertainment!

Please let me know if you will be able to join us in honoring our good friend and fellow Irishman Tom Dwyer at (516) 312-1839 or bdpkelly@optonline.net.

Join us for an evening of Gourmet Food, Top Shelf Wine and Cosmos in honor of Thomas K. Dwyer at Mitch and Tonis (875 Willis Avenue, Albertson) on Sunday October 23 from 4pm to 7pm.

Tickets are $75.00 per person, $150.00 for a couple,   $250.00 for a Flower Sponsor, $500.00 for a Wine Sponsor and $500.00 to be a Cosmo Sponsor.

Well I have to tell that Tom is also a good friend and he running for the council in Long Island, good on yea Tom.

I am giving this a good plug even though we were not invited... maybe Pauline lost my number... Anyhow this is what happened, Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne presented the Spirit of Ireland award to Bill Whelan at 12th Annual Irish Arts Center Gala in New York last Friday.

Grammy award-winner and Riverdance composer Bill Whelan and philanthropist Dolores McCall were the night's guests of honor at the the New York Athletic Club. 

Patrons and Irish Arts Center Honorary Board Chairs Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne presented the awards.

The evening raised $500,000 to support ogramming in performance, exhibition and education at the Center.

The Irish Arts Center is New York's premiere venue for Irish arts and culture, and every year celebrates the contributions made to the Irish and Irish American cultural community by leaders from the artistic and business worlds.

The emerald-studded evening was attended by over 350 supporters of Irish arts, including New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin Carmel Chaplin, actress Famke Janssen and actor Tom Cavanagh.

Last year, the Center honored Ralph Fiennes with special guest Jimmy Fallon, and in 2009, honored philanthropist Maureen White and Congressman Joseph Crowley, with a special tribute to Muhammad Ali.

It was held at the New York Athletic Club (180 Central Park South).

Later in October, Bill Whelan returns to the Irish Arts Center as the composer at the piano for An Evening With Bill Whelan along with world-renowned fiddler Athena Tergis, an orchestra and special guests including singer Morgan Crowley and Irish dancer Mick Donegan, for four performances only, Saturday, October 29 through Tuesday, November 1, nightly  7:30pm. 

The Irish Arts Center is located at 553 West 51 Street.

Tickets are on sale now via irishartscenter.org or by calling (866) 811-4111.

The concerts are presented as part of Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland's year of Irish arts in America.

The Irish Arts Center, founded in 1972, is a New York-based arts and cultural center dedicated to projecting a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America for the 21st century, building community with artists and audiences of all backgrounds, and preserving the evolving stories and traditions of Irish culture for generations to come. 

Their multi-disciplinary programming is centered around three core areas: Performance - including live music, dance, theatre, film, literature, and the humanities; Exhibition - including visual arts presentations and cultural exhibitions that tell the evolving Irish story; and Education  - with dozens of classes per week in Irish language, history, music, and dance.   

Located in New York City, a world capital of arts and culture, Irish Arts Center serves as a dynamic platform for top emerging and established artists and cultural creators to reach a New York, national, and global audience, and as a gateway for other institutions to access first-rate Irish and Irish American culture. 

Larry Kirwan, yes the same Larry Kirwan of Black 47 is having a reading of the new play, Rebel in the Soul, at the Irish Rep on Friday October 21 at 3pm.

I have to hand it to Larry he never stops... not bad for a Wexford man, huh?

Check their website at irishrep.org for more details or call (212) 727-2737 to RSVP.

The October IBO Business Networking Breakfast will be held on Tuesday, October 18at 8am in the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel (687 Lexington Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets).

You can RSVP for this event to The Irish Business Organization of New York, Inc.  FDR Station, P.O. Box 6425, New York, NY 10150-1901, telegrone (212) 750-8118 or e-mail irishbusinessorganization@gmail.com.

See you all next week...