Community Corner
A Day of Irish Pride in Sea Girt
Attendees got their Irish fix with Irish food, music, heritage and more in Sea Girt on Saturday
Irish pride swept the Sea Girt Armory on Saturday for the 13th Annual Irish Festival of the Jersey Shore. About 10,000 people throughout the day got their fix of Irish music, culture, food and more.
“It’s a good family day for Irish,” said Jack Sullivan, one of the organizers of the event and president of organization that hosted it -- the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Middletown Chapter). “We celebrate every aspect of Irish.”
And Sullivan wasn't kidding.
For starters, 11 musical groups performed, including Round the House Band, Patty Furlong Ceili Band, Pearl River Ceili Children’s Band and several others.
Near the main stage, Bob and Kathleen O’Neil of Sea Girt were enjoying some Irish music as they savored Irish stew.
“It’s good,” Kathleen O’Neil said. “They should have mashed potatoes on top— that’s the tradition.”
Bob O’Neil agreed that the stew was good but also needed more potatoes.
“There are a lot of veggies and beef but it needs more potatoes,” Bob O’Neil said.
Other Irish things to eat and drink included: shepherd's pie, Irish fish and chips, corn beef and cabbage, and plenty of beer.
There were a ton of Irish items for sale — clothes, pillows, toys, jewelry, picture frames, Irish soda bread, but perhaps the most original of all were the Irish pottery pieces by Charles and Larissa O’Donnell of Howell.
The duo's pottery consisted of several bowls crafted from many four leaf clovers that overlapped each other in addition to ‘beware of the dog,’ and ‘beware of the cat’ signs plus more.
Dana Donatelli (going by her Irish name today that she got from the festival -- Danu) of Freehold was really intrigued with the O’Donnell’s pottery.
“It’s the most unique thing here,” said Donatelli. “It’s pretty cool and unique to the Irish.”
Her mother Joan Donatelli (Siobhan for the day) of Marlboro agreed.
“I like the bowls. They are very different than anything here,” Joan Donatelli said. “You wouldn't find this kind of stuff anywhere else.”
The O’Donnells got their start with pottery 10 years ago when they gave each other the gift of pottery classes for their anniversary and have been enjoying it ever since, said Charles O’Donnell.
“It’s a great media to work with. We enjoy it and find it relaxing,” said Charles O’Donnell who in his day job uses the other side of his brain for logistics working with information security and compliance for IBM.
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“We got the idea for the ‘beware of the cat’ sign because they have the ‘beware of dog’ signs. Please like to hang them up. It’s fun."
Linda Hassler of Middletown and mother Joan Clark Hassler of Matawan started the Irish Festival off with the Irish mass then proceeded onto shopping.
“They had a beautiful singer who sang music in Gaelic,” Joan Clark Hassler said about the mass.
“The harpist did a beautiful rendition of music. She played a lot of different songs,” Linda Hassler added.
The ladies picked up an Irish flag and shirt and had plans to stay the full day.
Other activities a part of the festival included children’s games and rides (a moon bounce, gigantic slide and gold fish fishing) and Irish hertiage stations.
The festival was hosted by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Middletown Chapter. According to its website, The Ancient Order of Hibernians is America’s oldest Irish Catholic Fraternal Organization founded concurrently in the coal-mining region of Pennsylvania and New York City in May 1836.
“Leave it to the luck of the Irish— it’s a nice day,” Linda Hassler said.
