Clancy Scholarship Applications Invited

Applications are invited from students in Ireland and North America for the 2001 Paddy Clancy Memorial Scholarships. Several $1,500 awards are available to students interested in pursuing coursework in folk song, sean nos  and traditional ballads, which can be used for study at the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick.  Irish students can use the money to defray costs at an American institution.

Application forms can be secured from John Gleeson, Celtic Studies Center, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Holton 290, Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (call 414-229-2608); or Sandra Joyce, Irish World Music Centre, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. Deadlines for receipt of completed applications is June 30.  Successful applicants will be notified in early August.

The scholarships are named after the famed Paddy Clancy of  the noted Clancy Brothers troupe of Irish folk singers. Clancy had a repertoire of more than 300 ballads when he died in 1998.  After his death, friends and admirers set up the Paddy Clancy Memorial Scholarship fund to commemorate his life and work.
 

Emerald Societies to honor police

The National Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Societies will honor deceased police officers with its seventh annual memorial march at 7 p.m., Monday, May 14,  in Washington, D.C. The ceremony coincides with National Police Memorial Week in the Capitol, which is part of National Law Enforcement Month which runs through May.

The National Pipe Band of Honor and host pipe band for the service are the Pipes and Drums of the Emerald Society of Chicago Police Department.  Emcee of the event is  Patrolman James Sanfilippo, with the license investigation unit of the Milwaukee Police Department. Sanfilippo is the representative for Wisconsin to the National Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Societies.

"This is a very moving ceremony," agreed James Healy,  manager of the Chicago band and a 32-year veteran of the Chicago police department. Healy, a piper, worked out of the Rogers Park neighborhood as a sergeant before retirement.  "The march and programs are all done to honor police who died on duty. Families, partners and friends attend to remember the fallen," he pointed out.

The march staging area is at New Jersey Avenue NW and F Street NW near the Holiday Inn and Hyatt Hotel. The procession zigzags through the Capitol, with several hundred pipers expected to parade, along with other police units according to organizers.

The Chicago band will also perform from 11 a.m. until noon, Tuesday, May 15, on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol where President George Bush is expected to address the crowd. A wreath-laying ceremony is set for 3:30 p.m. that same day at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, in the 400 block of  E St. NW on Judiciary Square.  The memorial lists 15,452 deceased officers.

For the seventh consecutive year, Jimmy O'Connell, a retired officer of the Merionette Park (Ill.) department, is co-ordinator of the Midnight Piper Service at the memorial at 11:59 p.m., Monday, and 11:59 p.m., Tuesday. Other D.C. activities include a "Blue Mass" at noon, May 11, in St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and an 11 a.m., May 13, Law Ride 2001 with police cycles in procession from JFK Stadium to the memorial.

Following the D.C. program, many of the bands, plus several from Canada will attend the Police Memorial Tattoo in Cleveland, with a downtown parade set for 10 a.m., Friday, May 18. The Greater Cleveland Police Officer Memorial Society is sponsor of the program, which also includes a concert at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 19, at the State Theater, 216-621-3830.  For more information, check the organization's Web site at www.policememorialsociety.org. 

For more information on the memorial activities, contact the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund at 202-737-3400 or www.nleomf.com.

IAHC Performers Set for May

The Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox, Chicago, has a full round of entertainment set for May. For details, call 773-282-7035, or use the center's website at www.irishamhc.coy.

Among the performers at the Fifth Province Pub are Napper Tandy,  Friday, May 18; Fast Eddie, Saturday, May 19; Dal Riada, Friday, May 25; and Three Men in Kilts, Saturday, May 26. All shows are at 9 p.m. There is no cover charge.
 

Friel Work at New Haven Art Fest

Brian Friel's Translations, which opened last autumn in Ireland, will be among the plays presented at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, June 14-30, in New Haven, Conn.  The play, directed by Ben Barnes, is set in Co. Donegal in 1833. 
Other productions during the festival are those by Russian, Singaporian and French writers and directors.
Rounding out the theater program is the return of the Royal Shakespeare Company, offering the 18th century farce, Servant to Two Masters.  Among independent theater events during the fest is a series of one-acts from the New England Academy of Theatre and play-reading workshops at the Long Wharf Theatre.
For more information on the festival, call 302-498-1212 or use the festival website at www.artidea.org.

St. Mary's to Celebrate 100 Years

St. Mary of the Lake parish, 4200 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, is celebrating its centennial which includes a concelebrated mass with Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago. The ceremony is set for 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 4. Former members of the parish or school graduates are encouraged to attend. For more information, call 773-427-3712.
 

Yank Band Wins Peace Song Award

The Donegal-X-Press from Baltimore has won the 6th Annual International "Song for Peace" competition, sponsored by the National Reconciliation Fund of Ireland. Donegal-X-Press performed its winning song,Omagh, which relates the Northern Ireland bombing in which 29 people died. It is the first time an American group won the contest. The program was held in Cork, featuring 10 semi-finalist groups.

Area Theater Groups Compete in May

Irish theater groups from around the United States and Canada are competing at the annual Acting Irish Theatre Festival 2001 from Tuesday, May 15, to Sunday, May 20, in Denver, Colo.  Performance site is at the new 300-seat King Center on the downtown Denver University campus. 

Awards at a Sunday brunch will be presented by Niamh Ryan, vice consul of Ireland based in San Francisco. The first festival was hosted at the Irish Cultural Center in Winnipeg in 1994.

U.S. groups participating  and their plays for judging include Denver (IPH by Colin Teevan), St. Paul (The Field by John B. Keane), Boca Raton (Cripple of Inishman, Martin McDonagh), Milwaukee (The Cavalcaders, Billy Roche) and Chicago (The Course, Brendan O'Carroll).

Canadian companies include Winnipeg (Brothers of the Brush, Jimmy Murphy), Ottawa (The Poker Session, Hugh Leonard),  Toronto (Happy Birthday, Alice Dear by Bernard Farrell) and Calgary (Beauty Queen of  Leenane, Martin McDonagh). 

The Disabled Actors Company of Denver will also make a special presentation at the festival on Friday, May 19. For more information on the entire event, contact taramet@hotmail.com.