A Parting Glass: Dan Milner, Mick Moloney and Irish Music in Greenwich Village

Our memorial concert honors Dan Milner and Mick Moloney--performers, professors, and impresarios who brought great Irish music to settings as varied as the Eagle Tavern on West 14th Street and classrooms at New York University. Performers include Bonnie Milner, Daniel Neely, their friends, and members of the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra.

The Irish have long played a significant part in New York City history and this roof-raising celebration of Irish music will honour the memory of two of its champions who passed away recently: Mick Moloney, instrumentalist and Professor of Music at NYU, and singer and scholar Dan Milner.

Performers include: Bonnie Milner, Daniel Neely, Don Meade, Donie Carroll, Brendan Dolan, Liz Hanley, Niall O'Leary, Tony Horswill, Tom Dunne, David Jones and Deirdre Murtha.

The concert will be followed by a session next door at Wicked Willy’s – among the featured guests will be Brendan Mulvihill, Angelina Carberry, and Dan Brouder. Everyone is invited to bring their instruments or sing.

Dan Milner, [pictured above, left] an internationally acclaimed singer of traditional Irish ballads and folk songs, was also a scholar, album producer and author. Founder of the legendary Eagle Tavern Folk Club and the band The Flying Cloud, he produced recordings for Adelphi, Folk Legacy and Smithsonian Folkways. He wrote two books—The Bonnie Bunch of Roses: Songs of England, Ireland and Scotland, and The Unstoppable Irish: Songs and Integration of the New York Irish, 1783-1883. Dan earned a doctorate in American Studies at the University of Birmingham in England and taught at St John’s University in New York City.

Mick Moloney, [pictured above, right] a beloved musician, teacher, folklorist, storyteller, and organizer of great renown, changed the way people thought about Irish music. In 1977 he founded the Green Fields of America, a seminal performing group that celebrated the musical identity of Irish America through music and dance. For the next 45 years he used it as a platform to introduce innumerable musicians to larger audiences. Moloney lectured widely, contributed to scores of albums as a producer or musician, and in 1998 was named a National Heritage Fellow by National Endowment for the Arts in recognition of his many achievements. In 2013, the Irish Government honored him with a Presidential Distinguished Service Award, and in 2014 the Irish broadcaster TG4 awarded him a Gradam Ceoil award for Outstanding Contribution.

Tickets: $30 tables, $25 bar/standing