2005 2nd Annual Irish-American Crossroads Festival
March 5 – 12, 2005
The Crossroads Irish American Festival explored and celebrated the culture, experience and identity of the Irish in America. Crossroads 2005 showcased the San Francisco Bay Area as a cultural crossroads of Ireland and America, both past and present. Audiences joined us to uncover the strands of the Irish American story, through poetry, song, theatre and film.
From Blue Grass/Green Grass to the music of Eugene O’Neill, from the underworld to the bench and bar of Justice, from the Mission Irish to the Irish in the Bronx, Crossroads, 2005 showcased the Irish American journey.
The Irish-American Crossroads Festival is an annual event that continues the tradition of providing substantive programming in the San Francisco Bay Area during the month of March and beyond.
MARCH 5th, 2005
Children’s Stories, Music & Dance
Fisher Children’s Center
Melanie O’Reilly
Vocal Performance from her song-cycle on Irish women immigrants
Koret Auditorium
Dramatic Readings by Wilde Irish Productions
Koret Auditorium
Irish/America Now
Panel Discussion Moderated by Hillary Flynn
- Susanna Bogue – Irish Immigration Attorney
- Catherine Brady – Author, Curled in the Bed of Love
- Margaret McPeake – Co-Director, New College Irish Studies Program
- Trina Robbins – Author of Wild Irish Roses: Tales of Bridgets, Kathleens and Warrior Queens
Koret Auditorium
MARCH 5th, 2005
Blue Grass/Green Grass
An Acoustic Evening with the Rowan Brothers – Chris & Lorin & Irish Musical Guests
MARCH 6th, 2005
An Evening of Poetry
Panel Discussion Moderated by John Norton
- Sara Berkeley -Author, Penn, Swimmer In The Deep Blue Sea, Facts About Water.
- Adelle and Jack Foley – Author, O Powerful Western Star and Foley’s Books
- Liz Burke – Adjunct Professor at JFK University, Poet and Translator
- John Norton – Author, Light At The End of the Bog, Re: Marriage
MARCH 8th, 2005
Beautiful Kid
West Coast Film Premiere
Audiences enjoyed this new film featuring a young Irish-American auto mechanic in the Bronx who finds himself at a crossroads, torn between allegiances to family, friends, addictions and love.
Conversation follow the film with Writer/Director Michael Carty and Producer Patrick McCullough.
“The story is great. It’s very tough and unyielding. A very different view of Irish America…no sentimentalism, shamrocks or shillelaghs.” –Frank McCourt
MARCH 10th, 2005
The Mission Irish: Reflections on the history of the Mission
District’s Irish Community in San Francisco
Panel Discussion Moderated by Margaret McPeake
- Juan Pedro Gaffney – Director, Coro Hispano de San Francisco
- M. Edith Hurley – Sisters of Mercy
- Nancy Keane – Poet & Proprietor of the 3300 Club
- Larry Lynch – Author, Set Dances of Ireland: Tradition and Innovation
MARCH 11th, 2005
A Reading by and Reception for T.J. English, Author, Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
With an introduction Michael Walsh, author of And All The Saints
MARCH 12th, 2005
Cops & Robbers: Irish-American Gangster & Gangbusters
Panel Discussion Moderated by Daniel Cassidy with
- J. English, Author, Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
- Terence Hallinan – former SF District Attorney
- Michael Hennessey – San Francisco’s Sheriff
- Kevin McCarthy – San Francisco Superior Court Judge
- Michael Walsh – Author, And All The Saints
Irish Storytelling Now
- Elgy Gillespie, Author, Changing the Times: Irish Women 1969 – 1981, In conversation with Frank Delaney, Author, Ireland
San Francisco Main Public Library – Koret Auditorium
MARCH 12th, 2005
O’Neill: The Rhythms Of His Soul
Audiences enjoyed a lively musical revue, featuring songs from the plays of America’s most renowned playwright, Eugene O’Neill, who wrote many of his greatest plays in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Performed by Derek Lux, Bobbie Duncan & Michael O’Dell (piano) and Dan Cawthon in the role of Eugene O’Neill Center.