Rainbows Over the Irish Festival

By Katie McFadden

Rain and rainbows dotted the 12th Annual Rockaway Beach/ Breezy Point Irish Festival over the weekend, but the crowds came out to enjoy a fantastic lineup of music at what could be the last iteration of the resurrected tradition.

Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 21 made the Irish Festival on June 7 and June 8 one for the books with an epic music lineup. The festival began with Sláinte on Saturday. The Breezy Point Pipes & Drums band played in the rain, while the O’Malley Irish Dance Academy Dancers performed under the covered tent. But the sun came out for a while as Joe Hurley’s All-Star Irish Rock Revue graced the stage before a few showers led to a beautiful double rainbow over the stage. Lastly, Shilelagh Law took the stage to perform half a song before a downpour, but they picked right up mid-song as the skies cleared for a beautiful end to the evening with a packed crowd.

On Sunday, the day started out sunny as The Irish Mutts took to the stage, followed by off and on showers as the Screaming Orphans from Ireland played in some Irish weather. The Devil’s Brigade rocked the stage despite their drummer having a medical episode, as their bass player took over the drum set. Finally, The Gobshites closed out the show. The festival also included plenty of food vendors, vendors selling local and Irish goods, drinks, bouncy houses and face painting for the kids and more.

On Sunday, the AOH pulled the lucky winners of their 50/50, including the jackpot winner, Patricia Meade-Kelley, who won a whopping $23K and ten $1,000 prize winners. The AOH will donate the rest to other local charities, churches and organizations. As they pulled the winners, AOH Div. 21 President Mark Edwards said, “Thank you for coming out and supporting us for the 12th annual Irish Festival and we’re not sure there’s going to be a 13th, so let’s enjoy the rest of the night.” Edwards was referring to the impending closure of St. Camillus Church, which has hosted the resurrected festival since its inception in 2013. It is not known what Diocese of Brooklyn will do with the property, or what the AOH will do if they can no longer use St. Camillus for the festival, so the future of the community tradition remains in question.