Out&About

By Paddy McCarthy

Did everybody have a nice New Year’s Eve party? As I know it was quieter than normal because most of my friends stayed at home to celebrate the arrival of 2022. I have to tell yea this, when I was a small boy living in James Square, off Tower Street in Cork my mother had us beating the pots and pans with the soup spoons and banging the inside of the front door with a loaf of bread, that most times was stale, but we loved it beating the old year, now how about that huh?

Those were the days and they were so innocent as there were no big parties like there are today. Why? Because nobody had anything in those days and the pawn office was our bank, ha-ha. Ah, but we were so happy. I just wanted to get you all off in a good spirit as we’re starting the New Year with a positive outlook and attitude, marking the hope that 2022 gives us all plenty of reasons to celebrate another year of life, new adventures to enjoy, new memories to cherish and new goals to achieve! Now that’s what I am talking about: be positive and we can beat this pandemic together and we will.

I did miss going out to the pub on New Year’s Eve to celebrate but I got over it as I know it would not be the same, especially with all the restrictions. The good news was that I knew I was not going out to celebrate so guess what? I stocked up with Guinness, Stella, Heineken, wine and some Paddy whiskey plus, plus to welcome in the New Year as I am sure everybody else did as well.

Moving on, here’s some good theatre news from a good friend of mine John Learns who said, “Hope you have a Happy New Year! I’m happy to announce that my play, Boann and the Well of Wisdom, will debut at the 14th Annual 1st Irish Festival on January 16th!” Boann and the Well of Wisdom by John Kearns will have its world premiere at Ryan’s Daughter on Sunday January 16th at 2 pm. In this poetic two-character drama based on the myth of Boann (the Irish goddess of poetic inspiration) we see the young and spirited Boann as she matures and yearns to be creative, and her father’s deep ambivalence. Her father, Nechtan, whom she helps run the White Cow pub atop a forbidden well in pre-Christian County Kildare, would rather leave things as they are, while Boann, who stands to inherit the pub, would like to infuse it with her own ideas. With Annalisa Chamberlin as Boann (who also directs) and Brendan J. Mulhern as NechtaBoann and the Well of Wisdom previously had staged readings in New York and Dublin. 

Here are the dates and times of the performances: Sunday January 16th (2 pm), Monday January 17th (8 pm), Wednesday January 19th (8 pm), Tuesday January 25th (8 pm) and Wednesday January 26th (8 pm). Visit ci.ovationtix.com/34745/production/1095124 for tickets.

A great friend of The Irish Examiner USA, Nicholas Cohen, co-owner of the famous Houndstooth Pub (520th 8th Avenue) and Stitch Bar and Grill (247 West 37th Street) had one of the world’s greatest entertainers in for a visit just before the New Year! Ed Sheeran, one of the biggest stars on the planet was interviewed in the Houndstooth by Willie Geist for the Sunday TODAY NBC show. What a great privilege it was that Ed Sheeran was pouring a couple of pints at te Houndstooth, now I’ll have to queue up to get Nicholas’s autograph… ah well, it would be worth it. I love hanging out with famous people so I’m calling in to see Nicholas this week and maybe have one or two to celebrate the New Year.

The Irish Examiner USA is very proud of the growth in our readership in the last year and we’d like to thank you all as it means a lot to have an audience like you to support us and again we thank you. If you’d like to pass on the link to our website – www.irishexaminerusa.com – that would be much appreciated.

Hope to see you all in 2022 when I am Out&About…