Everyone loves Irish music on St. Patrick’s Day. What could go better with a pint of Guinness or a green-colored lager than Flogging Molly or the Dropkick Murphys on America’s favorite carousing holiday?
Over at the Blarney Irish Pub, located at 601 Monroe St., Toledo, general manager Bill Kline is busy preparing for St. Patrick’s Day, ordering enough beer and food to satisfy the thousands who are expected to visit on Friday. Another part of the planning involves booking the musical acts, which will begin at 9 a.m. with Toraigh. (It’s pronounced “tory.”)
“Irish music gives people the chance to mellow out. It’s very harmonious and just a lot of fun,” Kline said.
But to many Toledoans, Irish music is not just something you enjoy once a year.
What: Toraigh, Katie’s Randy Cat, and Extra Stout are all on the lineup for Shamrockin’ the Blarney at the Blarney Irish Pub on Friday. Toraigh plays the Blarney Stage at 9 a.m., and Katie’s Randy Cat and Extra Stout both start at noon at the Tent Stage and Event Center Stage, respectively.
Where: The Blarney Irish Pub, 601 Monroe St., Toledo
When: 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday
Admission: $5
For more information: theblarneyirishpub.com
Just ask John Connolly, the founding president of the Toledo Irish American Club who organized the city's first Irish festival in 1993. The festival ran for several years into the 2000s, and Connolly booked hundreds of Irish bands direct from the old country. He also hosted a weekly radio show on WCWA-AM 1230 called Echoes of Ireland for 33 years.
Connolly was born in a village in County Limerick, Ireland, and emigrated to Toledo in 1967. He worked in the auto industry for several years, and eventually opened two separate bars, Biddy Mulligan’s and the later incarnation John Connolly’s Irish Pub and Gossips.
Connolly said the thing that makes Irish music special is its historical do-it-yourself aesthetic.
“In Ireland, the people used to make music with their mouths if they couldn’t afford instruments,” Connolly said. “There was no such thing as sheet music, and that’s how it still is to this day.”
Kelly Zawierucha is the current president of the Toledo Irish American Club. She revived the club after years of dormancy in 2017, and today the organization boasts nearly 90 members and serves to celebrate the culture and music of Ireland right here in Toledo.
Zawierucha said Irish music has a diverse history in America.
“Most people think of Irish pub songs, but there’s the other side of Irish music which is all instrumental traditional music,” Zawierucha said. “A lot of Irish immigrants came over and settled in the Appalachian areas, playing their instruments. It was an oral tradition; they just picked up an instrument and learned by ear. A lot of times with traditional Irish music, one tune might have three different variations and four different names because they’ve been passed along.
“Irish traditional music had a strong influence on music in the South, particularly bluegrass. Irish music has really strong roots here in America.
“I read once that Ireland is basically the size of Indiana, but I'd challenge anybody to go to any part of the world and not find an Irish pub. The outreach and influence that the Irish have had on humanity, I think it’s pretty fantastical.”
Toledo features a few bands that perform Irish music on days besides St. Patrick’s Day. Since 2000, Extra Stout has performed traditional Irish pub songs all over the Toledo region. On St. Patrick’s Day, its members will be performing at the Blarney and Maumee Bay Brewing Company, but they can be found playing regularly all year round.
“We usually play once or twice a month,” said Extra Stout member Mike McCarty. “We used to play at the Claddagh, the Blarney, and Shawn’s, but they like their bands to start later in the evening and we’re getting too old to do that. So we do festivals, play in the parks, stuff like that.”
McCarty said that Irish music can be found in the Toledo region all year, but you have to look for it.
“There are different styles of Irish music locally,” McCarty said. “You have a band like Toraigh, which does traditional instrumental Irish music, then you have our band, which does pub songs, and then there’s Steve Steel’s band Katie’s Randy Cat, which is more Irish punk. So if you look for Irish music, it’s there.”
Bowling Green-based Toraigh has been led by core members Bob Midden and Mary Dennis since 1995.
Midden is half-Irish, although he doesn’t know much about his heritage. He and ex-wife Dennis formed Toraigh due to their strong interest in the traditional music of Ireland.
“We had both acquired a strong interest for traditional Irish music; by that, I mean the historical dance music of Ireland,” Midden said. “It goes back to the 17th or 18th century. This was music that was practiced by the people who were sometimes called peasants. The poor people of Ireland for many years had entertainment for themselves and it’s evolved into a type of music that people enjoy around the world. We fell in love with it.”
Though Irish music is traditionally recognized for its use of such instruments as the fiddle and the banjo, Midden emphasized that music is an “international language.”
“Music can be enjoyed by anybody. I almost regret that the word ‘Irish’ is associated with this music because I don’t want it to be limited to people who have some sort of connection to Ireland. It’s enjoyed and played all over the world and we promote it to every kind of person there is. We hope that everybody who finds it enjoyable can participate as well. We try and get more and more people in enjoying the music and playing the music.”
When not performing with Toraigh, Dennis teaches the fiddle and other instruments associated with Irish music. Dennis has played the fiddle for 30 years.
“When most people think of Irish music they think of green beer and whiskey, but to me Irish music is the traditional music of Ireland that’s been passed down through oral tradition,” Dennis said. “When we play music with other people, we build friendships. We’ve been trying for years to get people to learn the music of Ireland.”
Katie’s Randy Cat, led by former Toledo City Council president and local attorney Steve Steel, is on the more raucous end of the local Irish music spectrum. Katie’s Randy Cat formed in 2013 after Steel was asked by former Ottawa Tavern booker Adam Sattler to put together an Irish punk band for a one-off performance. The band, initially called the Frogkick Murphys, went over so well that the band turned into a full-fledged musical entity and the band adopted Katie’s Randy Cat as its permanent moniker.
“We’ve played all over the country and some of our music releases are popular all over the world,” Steel said. “People tend to pigeonhole Irish music to St. Patrick's Day, but if you want to be a band that plays year round, it can be hard. To me, Irish music is good the other 364 days out of the year, but a lot of venue owners only think of it one day of the year. So you have to seek out other venues and promoters and that’s why we’ve been all over the country.
“While we do play some traditional Irish pub music, we also write a lot of our own songs and that’s another thing that’s hard to sell to venues and audiences — original music they haven't heard before, as compared to being a straight cover band. But we’re fortunate that venue owners and bookers respect what we do.”
For Midden, playing Irish music in the Toledo region comes from an desire to connect with people.
“I like the fact that the roots of this music are with the people who are using it to entertain themselves,” Midden said. “It comes from people who didn’t have radio, TV, smartphones, or anything to help entertain themselves. Music is a way to have fun, connect people, and strengthen their sense of community, and we appreciate that aspect of it. Our goal is to get people out away from their televisions, celebrating together, regardless of their background or beliefs, and connecting around this international language of music and having fun together.”
First Published March 11, 2023, 4:00 p.m.
