Tomorrow is the last Sunday in July, and the day that pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick in County Mayo.  Has anyone in our group done the climb?  Has anyone done it barefoot?

What was the experience like? Did you consider it a real pilgrimage or simply a mountain to climb?…

In 1970, I met with several other friends and teachers in Dublin. One of them had political connections, so we got an audience with the President of Ireland, then Eamon de Valera, at the presidental mansion in Phoenix Park. Some of the visit I remember as comic: we arrived at the gate, all six of us, in a car not much bigger than a VW Beetle.I'm sure the guards were used to limos and grand cars coming up to the gate and thought "who are these jokers sitting…

Next Saturday, July 20, at the Andy McGann Festival during the Catskills Irish Arts Week, there will be a tribute to the renowned piano and keyboard player Felix Dolan who died this April. Dolan was one of the seminal performers of traditional Irish music in the New York City area, going back to the 1950s, and played for more than 50 years. He was also a really good guy.

Here's the info (only on part of a day-long festival).:

Friends of Felix Dolan: 3:15-4:15…