Legacy Celtic Music

Band member Connor Carroll returned late last night from the five-day Fall 2025 Ukraine Action Summit in Washington, D.C.(https://americancoalitionforukraine.org/ukraine-action-summit-fall-2025/), where he and 700 other volunteers from around the country attended panel discussions, participated in advocacy training, and initiated direct engagement with elected officials and their staff. This was the fourth such semi-annual conference that Connor has attended, on his own time and at his own expense, to help keep Minnesota's congressional delegation focused on the continuing need to help Ukraine secure its own territorial integrity and achieve a lasting peace.

You make your bandmates very proud, lad.

Incidentally, Ireland is one of Ukraine's strongest allies in Europe. Although Ireland maintains a policy of "military neutrality," it has (to date) provided more than 380 million euros ($420 million) in humanitarian, economic and non-lethal defense support to Ukraine. https://kyivindependent.com/ireland-delivers-34-vehicles-and-demining-robots-to-ukraine/

If you're even a LITTLE bit Irish-American, we encourage you to devote today and tomorrow to insistently reminding your friends, neighbors and co-workers (and anyone else who will listen) that the Irish are primarily responsible for MOST of the Halloween traditions that the uninformed consider to be purely American in origin.

It is only by understanding this fundamental historical Truth that we can truly Make Halloween Great Again. 👻

https://www.ireland.com/en-us/magazine/culture/halloween-traditions/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4d40rwwyjo

Today we'd like to belatedly congratulate one of our favorite performance venues --- The Dubliner Pub in St. Paul --- on completing its 29th year of operation. We recently learned, from a well-informed "inside source," that the former Ace Bar opened for business as the Dubliner Pub on October 17, 1996. An interesting 2014 article about its early years, and about its founder (Tom Scanlon), can be found at https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/dubliner-pub-do-you-think-i-have-crystal-ball-or-something/. Although it's chock-full of fascinating tidbits, it incorrectly identifies Tom's hometown as "Tarbort" in County Kerry; it's actually "Tarbert," which is at the southern end of a 20-minute ferry route that will save you a 2-hour drive around the Shannon Estuary if you're trying to get from Kerry to Clare (i.e., "Di**le to Doolin"), or vice-versa. We know this because a Legacy member and his family took that ferry from Tarbert to Killimer during a 2018 trip to Ireland. https://youtu.be/TI3IK6Dw0oo?si=xCo--oFgBwmQN-5D

You now have 355 shopping days until the Dubliner's 30th anniversary. So, get crackin'. Or is that "craic-in'."

Dubliner Pub: “Do you think I have a crystal ball or something?” Tom Scanlon will tell you that he doesn’t have a crystal ball. He’ll also tell you he has a thing for shoes. The owner of the Dubliner Pub—and, until recently, the Turf Club—grew up in the village of Tarbort in County Kerry, Ireland. He arrived in the United States in 1965, landing in Saint ...

[Kevin reports:] Last night, my Legacy bandmate and favorite son (yeah, that would be Connor) played alto sax in the horn section of the band that accompanied the Four Tops and the Temptations at a sold-out performance at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake...AND he somehow managed to score a free "All Access" backstage pass for his (very appreciative) old man. Maybe that was possible because he has played with The Temptations twice before --- once at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in 2022, and on one prior occasion at Mystic Lake.

The lineups have evolved over the years --- not surprising, given the fact that these bands were started in 1953 (Four Tops) and 1961 (Temptations) --- but last night I had the honor and privilege of seeing the sole remaining original member of The Temptations (Otis Wilson, age 83, who had NO trouble keeping up with his group's very energetic choreography).

Shockingly, they sang no Irish songs, but they DID deliver two hours of everyone's favorite Motown classics (I have attached a couple of my short cell phone videos). 'Twas MUCH fun, and well worth the admission price that I didn't have to pay. 😉🤩

"Apropos of nothing," as they say, here's a poster that we were using to promote our band gigs around 2002 or so. The box player in the center is Legacy alumnus Tom Juenemann, who's now with the Twin Cities Céilí Band; his sister (Patti Drew, also shown below) is currently celebrating her 25th year with Legacy, along with fellow Legacy co-founders David McKoskey (guitar) and Kevin Carroll (bodhrán).

Riversides (the venue referred to on the poster) was, at that time, a bar/restaurant in Hudson WI, on the east bank of the St. Croix River and just north of the I-94 bridge. It ain't there no more, but we're moderately sure that we weren't responsible for its demise.

We'll be back at The Dubliner Pub this Saturday from 8 pm to 11:45 pm...the predicted high temp for Saturday is 86 degrees (in OCTOBER, fer chrissakes), so you really oughta consider joining us at that time to hear some HOT Irish music(ians).

The very COOL Dubliner Pub image below is courtesy of nationally-acclaimed local artist Michael Birawer...it's available as a canvas print, a poster and/or a fridge magnet...check it out at https://michaelbirawerstore.com/.

Thank you to Irish Arts MN (IAM) for including an article in its October newsletter regarding our recent excursion to Bozeman, Montana to help celebrate the 100th birthday of the band's most "seasoned" fan, Kathleen (Carroll) Norine. If you're not currently an IAM member, you should consider joining! For only $20/year, an interesting and fun-filled IAM newsletter will arrive on your digital doorstep every month...and you will be helping to support IAM's ongoing efforts to preserve and promote Irish culture (including IAM's educational grant program and its annual two-day St. Patrick's Day celebration at the Landmark Center in St. Paul). To become an IAM member, go to https://irishartsmn.org/membership-application/ --- you'll be glad you did!

Console yourself (after the Twins' loss to the Yankees last night) by having a Guinness and listening to Legacy at The Dubliner Pub tomorrow (Friday) night...we'll be there from 9 pm to 12:45 am. Bring yer spouse (if any).

Hey, it's time for a reminder that we'll be playing at Fulton Taproom in downtown Minneapolis tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept 17) from 4 pm to 7 pm...we provided some info about the innovative Fulton/Finnegan's brewing partnership in a prior post (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16Ah7TfFi6/), so read that in its entirety...there will be a quiz later. Ladies and gents, join us in celebrating the fact that on Wednesday we'll be exactly halfway to the next St. Patrick's Day...AND make us your pre-game show for the 6:40 pm sportsball contest at Target Field (two blocks away). This is part of the last homestand for the 2025 Minnesota Twins season...they hammered the Yankees 7-0 yesterday, so perhaps some Irish music will help them do something similar on Wednesday. If so, we're fully prepared to humbly take full credit for it.

Finnegans to Close Taproom and Move in with Fulton

As a follow-up to our last post, we're going to include a couple of photos (below) that were taken after Legacy's performance at Kathleen (Carroll) Norine's 100th birthday party in Bozeman, Montana yesterday. A couple of videos will likely follow in a few days. History was made yesterday, folks --- band member Kevin (Kathleen's nephew), who is a member of the Irish Genealogical Society International, has studied the last seven generations in the Carroll family line (including multiple generations in Ireland prior to the emigration of Kathleen's father in 1909) and he has confirmed that Kathleen is the first of those many relatives and ancestors to successfully complete an entire century. We learned yesterday that the staff members at Kathleen's senior living facility (Brookdale Springmeadows in Bozeman) lovingly refer to her as "the Irish Queen." Time has not dulled the edge of her wit or her feistiness. She's an inspiration to everyone she meets, and we are proud that we had an opportunity to help honor her yesterday on the eve of Century #2 (currently in progress).

[Pictured below: Kathleen with the band; the "Irish Queen" in her commemorative t-shirt; Kevin Carroll and son Connor with Kathleen; the birthday girl.]

Band members Kevin and Connor Carroll (along with bandmate/guitarist David McKoskey) are very pleased to report that they will be flying to Bozeman, Montana this weekend to play some Irish music to help Kathleen Bridget (Carroll) Norine celebrate her 100th birthday. Kathleen is Kevin's aunt, and Connor's great-aunt. She was born on September 14, 1925 in Kandiyohi, Minnesota. She moved to Montana a few years ago to be closer to her son, Jon Norine, and his children and grandchildren. Kathleen is extremely proud to be 100% Irish; her father (John "Jack" Carroll) was an Irish immigrant and her mother (Agnes Kavanaugh) was a first generation Irish-American. Happy Birthday, Kathleen!

Below: Kathleen's graduation photo (Willmar High School, Class of 1943), and Connor and Kevin with Kathleen in Bozeman on November 10, 2024.

We had a great time playing for a nice big audience at the Como Park Pavilion last night...kudos to Hank from Dock & Paddle for his set-up assistance and positive comments! Next up for us: Fulton Taproom in the North Loop on September 17! That's exactly halfway to March 17, 2026...so they're calling it (September 17, that is) "St. Practice Day." Clever! We'll be playing from 4 pm to 7 pm...make it a double-header by seeing us and then walking two blocks to the Twins/Yankees game at Target Field (first pitch @ 6:40 pm).