From the “discovery” of Penns Valley by Irish-born General James Potter in 1764 to the many Scotch-Irish early settlers who soon followed, Centre County’s Irish heritage has had a long, proud history. Even if you, like me, don’t have a drop of Irish blood in your lineage, it’s fun to celebrate that heritage, especially as St. Patrick’s Day approaches on March 17. Who can resist the lively sounds of Celtic fiddles and flutes, the fast footwork of Irish dancers, and a nip of Jameson whiskey or a hearty plate of corned beef and cabbage?
Music
Callanish. This four-woman Celtic band is named after a circle of stone monuments similar to Stonehenge that stands on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. When the band was formed in Lemont in 2001, it played mainly Scottish music. Today, they play a mix of Irish, Scottish, and English music in the traditional style.
“The music we do is stuff that has been common for about 100 years. We play what started out as dance music for pubs, so jigs and reels and hornpipes and polkas, and songs like ‘Whiskey in a Jar’ — songs people would be familiar with,” says Holly Foy, a band member since 2010.
Foy plays guitar, banjo, and bouzouki, which she says is a newer instrument in the tradition. The other members of the band include vocalist Louisa Smith, who plays the bodhrán, which is a traditional Irish frame drum; founding member Patty Lambert, who plays flute, whistle, and concertina; and Betsy Gamble, who plays fiddle, viola, and pipes.
The band has four albums under their belt. They perform at pubs and at events like First Night State College, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, and Celtic festivals across the state. Upcoming March gigs include Pine Grove Hall on March 14 at 7 p.m., Huntingdon County Arts Center on March 16 at 2 p.m., Boal City Brewery March 17 from 4 to 6 p.m., and Foxdale Village March 18 at 7 p.m.
Foy is also part of Celtic Nations Duo, along with Bruce Young.
Irish Sessions. On the second Thursday of every month, musicians gather in the Speakeasy at The Gamble Mill in Bellefonte to play traditional Irish music together.
Foy says these monthly sessions usually draw 10 to 15 musicians, some from outside of the area, who might find out about the gatherings through thesession.org, a website that lists Irish sessions going on around the world.
“We have people who come from quite a ways because we’re good and it’s a fun session,” Foy says. “We fill up the room with listeners. We have a wonderful following, and we get new people all the time.”
While anyone is welcome to join in, Foy says, “We play crazy fast. Most of us have been playing for years and years and years. Because of that, it’s not really a good session for new players to the tradition.”
Instead, she says, there are learning sessions offered regularly where people can practice the tunes at a slower pace.
Full Kilt. Combine traditional Irish music with hard-edged rock and roll and you get Celtic rock, the genre of music played by Full Kilt.
Mandy Passmore-Ott, a faculty member in the English Department at Penn State, has been playing electric fiddle with the band since 2006. She says the band likes to perform “really rocked up” versions of traditional Irish tunes, covers of bands like Dropkick Murphys and Gaelic Storm, and their own original music.
The other band members include Chris Myers, Jake Yarnish, and Mike Zerbee. They will be performing at The Phyrst on Saint Patrick’s Day, but, Passmore-Ott says, “We’re definitely more of a festival band.”
Some of their past appearances include Potatofest in Ebensburg, Thunder in the Valley in Johnstown, Erie Irish Fest, and Ligonier Highland Games. They’ll be playing at Tyrone’s Irish Heritage Days on March 15.
Naturally, the band performs wearing kilts.
Passmore-Ott has some Scottish and Irish in her background and says she has been a fan of Celtic music since she was a young girl. Classically trained, she began playing violin at the age of 8, turning her focus toward playing Celtic music when she was in college.
As an adult, her passion for Celtic culture led her to take up Irish dance at Tir na Nog at the age of 30. She is currently the faculty advisor for Rince na Leon, Penn State’s Irish dance team.
Dance
Tir na Nog. This Irish dance school has been a part of the State College community for 22 years. The name translates to “Land of Eternal Youth,” and its students range in age from 4 to about 70, according to owner and director Sue Garner.
Garner is the school’s only teacher, which means she teaches not only the 30 students in State College, but also all the students at the school’s other locations in Altoona and Lewisburg.
When describing the dance form to people who are unfamiliar with it, she says, “I usually ask, ‘Have you seen Riverdance?’ They have the different steps, the hard shoes, so it’s something that is kind of similar.”
Garner has been performing Irish dance since she was a 5-year-old growing up in New Jersey. She has Irish roots on both sides of the family and says her mother wanted her and her brothers to learn the dance form in order to entertain their grandparents.
“Within the first year, we were competing up and down the eastern seaboard,” she says.
These days, Garner’s Tir na Nog students compete across the country. At this year’s mid-Atlantic regional competition, five students qualified for the national competition, which takes place in Washington, D.C., and one student qualified for the World Irish Dance Championship, which will take place in Dublin, Ireland, in April.
“In the small world of Irish dance, that’s a big deal,” Garner says.
When competing as teams, students wear the school costume, which features a harp and shamrock logo designed by Garner’s son. Solo dancers wear elaborate custom costumes in competition. In addition, many of the girls opt to wear wigs.
Between the costumes and the travel, competitions can get expensive, Garner says, which is one reason she does not expect all of her students to be interested in competing. Some just enjoy coming to the classes, which are held on Sundays and Mondays at the Dance Academy at the Nittany Mall. Many also like to prepare for performances, which have included State College Spikes and Altoona Curve baseball games, retirement homes, and many Irish festivals.
Garner says you don’t have to be Irish to learn and enjoy Irish dance.
“It’s truly a global dance,” she says.
Rince na Leon. Translated, “Rince na Leon” means “Dance of the Lion,” a fitting name for Penn State’s Irish dance team.
According to the group’s current president, senior Abby Grejda, this year’s team has about 20 members. They all have some experience with Irish dance, including some who took lessons as children and are coming back to it for fun, and some who have competed at the highest level at the World Irish Dance Championship.
Rince na Leon practices six to eight hours per week and performs at THON and other on-campus events throughout the year, leading up to their spring showcase at Schwab Auditorium in April. The team expects to perform at The Phyrst and other downtown bars on St. Patrick’s Day this year.
One highlight of their year is the intercollegiate competition at Villanova University, where members compete in several different categories. This year, Rince na Leon took second place in the “fun number” category with a Justin Bieber-themed routine.
Grejda says she fell in love with Irish dance at the age of 6 after seeing her cousin perform. She joined Rince na Leon as a freshman after visiting their booth at Penn State’s Involvement Fair and quickly knew she had found a home.
“Irish dance is such a niche thing. If you’re involved in it, you know who all the best dancers are, you know who wins Worlds, you see all of these people on social media. So it was crazy for me to find myself in a room with all these girls that I had never met before and to be able to talk about these things; it was a conversation that I couldn’t have with any of my friends that I had made so far at Penn State,” she says.
Food & Drink
The Phyrst and Local Whiskey. The closest thing State College has to an authentic Irish pub, The Phyrst has been at the heart of local St. Patrick’s Day celebrations since 1966.
Tommy Wareham, one of the owners of The Phyrst, Local Whiskey, and Central Reservation, says the bar’s Irish connection can be traced to the early years, when Ernie Oelbermann partnered with the bar’s original owner, Don Bartoletti.
“Ernie loved the frivolity of the Irish people. He played banjo with his family members in The Phyrst Phamily band, and they started doing Irish music and singalongs, like ‘Green Alligators and Long-necked Geese,’” Wareham says. “And you know, it just reminded you of an Irish pub. It was a basement, it had a stone foundation, a couple of the bartenders were Irish, so everything kind of blended together with that whole premise.”
While the bar offers drinks like Irish Car Bombs and Guinness beer every day, it especially embraces its Irish vibes on St. Patrick’s Day. Patrons clad in green start lining up outside at about 5:30 in the morning, according to managing partner Tim Riefel. A bagpiper kicks off the celebration when the doors open at 7 a.m.
“We’ll have green beer, of course, and we’ll have live music throughout the day from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m.,” Riefel says.
Tommy Wareham and The Intrigues will be one of the bands performing. Wareham says the band “will do a mixture of fun, singalong-type music,” and recalls tossing boxes of Lucky Charms to the audience on St. Patrick’s Days past.
“It’s very immersive and a lot of fun. We really just try to make it all about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and embracing what it’s all about: music, fun, and bringing people together,” Riefel says.
Upstairs from The Phyrst, Local Whiskey will also open at 7 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, but the celebration will be a little more relaxed. They’ll be serving Irish whiskey flights and other themed specialty cocktails, and both bars will feature traditional Irish fare on their menu for the day.
The Shamrock Shake. Admittedly, the beloved green milkshake from McDonald’s is more of a marketing gimmick than a true Irish tradition, but its annual arrival is a source of joy for many enthusiasts.
The Shamrock Shake has been a mainstay of the St. Patrick’s Day season since 1970, and was joined by the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry in 2020. If history holds true, the mint-flavored treats will appear at McDonald’s everywhere in mid-February and be available as long as supplies last, which is generally at least through St. Patrick’s Day. T&G
Karen Walker is a freelance writer in State College.
