Jeff Meade
Bio: 

Jeff in Clare 
Jeff in County Clare 
I pounded the drums in high school but stopped playing not long after I got into college. I had always missed playing and performing. I’d always found the sound of bagpipes stirring, so I joined a new band I had just heard of called Irish Thunder, associated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Swedesburg.

Joining Irish Thunder proved to be my entrée to a culture of which I had been almost completely ignorant. Since that fateful decision, one thing has led to another.

I have played in the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day parade many times, and I have escorted the cardinal down the aisle of St. Patrick's Church off Rittenhouse Square for the annual Mass. I’ve marched in the end-of-summer block party for Philadelphia Celts that is the Wildwood Irish Festival. I have visited countless pubs, including the Mermaid Inn, which was my first exposure to the traditional Irish music session–which, in turn, led to my taking lessons in bodhran (an Irish frame drum) and tin whistle, and ultimately joining in the fun. I have played for dancers and singers. I have serenaded the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Knights of Columbus, the AOH and the Emerald Society. I have written the occasional article for the Irish Edition. I have become intimately familiar with every dark corner and crevice of the Commodore Barry Club.

As a member of the Emerald Society Band, I helped dedicate the Irish Famine Memorial. I’ve eaten more than my fair share of brown bread, and I have lingered over a pint or two of Murphy’s Ale. I have met and (briefly) swapped jokes with Gerry Adams at Shannon Airport. I have learned a few choice Irish language expressions.

In just a few years, I have learned much about Quaker City Irish-American culture–and I owe it all to a bunch of guys in skirts.

At the same time, I would be the very first to admit that compared to many people in the Irish-American community in Philadelphia, I still know almost nothing. I want to know more, and I’d like to share what we learn.

And as this introduction suggests, it ain’t all green beer and shamrocks.

—Jeff Meade