Traditional Irish evening of entertainment will include Barry’s this year

Every year, in commemoration the City of Rochester and County of Monroe’s proclamation of Irish American Heritage Month, several Rochester-area Irish cultural organizations come together to celebrate a traditional siamsa (shee-am-sah), or evening of Irish entertainment. In normal years, the event — which features a traditional Irish soda bread cooking demonstration, cultural music, dancing and historical stories — takes place at one location over a few hours.

This year, however, the annual event will be hosted in three different locations on Tuesday March 30, one of which will be the Village of Webster’s very own Barry’s Irish Pub.

Here’s the schedule:

• 6 to 6:15 p.m., at Barry’s Old School Irish, 2 W. Main St., Webster: Soda Bread Making Demonstration. Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians member Sandy Foley will demonstrate how to make traditional Irish soda bread. Yes, there will be samples.

• 6:15 to 6:45 p.m., at Johnny’s Irish Pub, 1382 Culver Rd., Rochester: Traditional Irish Music Session featuring Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (Irish Musician Association). Several members of the music organization will play some traditional Irish music.

• 6:45 to 7:15 p.m., at McGinnity’s Irish Pub, 534 W. Ridge Rd., Rochester: Historical Presentation by Irish American Cultural Institute member and author Deirdre McKiernan-Hetzler. Her talk will highlight significant women in Irish and American history and their influence in the world.

• 7:15 to 7:30 p.m. at McGinnity’s: Irish Step Dance Demonstration by Rince Na Saor’s Kathleen Whitfield.

In-person attendance at each event will be available in accordance with current guidelines. But each will also be streamed live on Zoom. Up to 500 guests will be allowed to register for the Zoom meeting. This is the Zoom link.

The program is sponsored this year by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Irish American Cultural Institute, Rince Na Saor Irish dance, Barry’s Old School Irish Pub, Johnny’s Irish Pub, McGinnity’s Irish Pub, and the Monroe County Libraries.

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Tags: AOH, Barry's Old School Irish, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Johnny's Irish Pub, LAOH, McGinnity's Irish Pub