“I’m very glad that we don’t have to evacuate,” Pauline Turley, vice chair of the Irish Arts Center, quipped midway through this year’s lunch, “Celebrating the Women of Irish Arts.”
In the grandeur of the gold-laden Renaissance Revival styled Metropolitan Club on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, smoke had begun emerging from a radiator near the stage and some attendees were smelling burning. The cause was benign and related to construction outside, the problem quickly remedied.
“Typical show biz—the show must go on!” Turley added with a laugh. She has seen a lot in her 26 years at the IAC.
Turley acknowledged the Center’s journey in her opening remarks, before the smoke incident.
The annual event began with a song from Katie Richardson, musical director of a show running at IAC until July 16, “Good Vibrations”. It began just before the mid-June lunch, continuing its very successful run from Belfast and telling the story of both punk rock and The Troubles.
“That was ‘Dreams’ by the Cranberries,” Turley said. “It’s very appropriate. We just celebrated 50 years of the Irish Arts Center [in 2022] and reached our dream of opening [in 2021] our $65-million home on Manhattan’s West Side.
“We now can continue to make dreams come true for so many Irish artists in this capital of the world.”
Turley, who marked a personal milestone in the last year — becoming a mother at 48 — expressed admiration for this year’s honoree Megan Foley, not just for her many good works in Connecticut but for raising six children.
Foley, who reportedly “dabbled” in acting before devoting herself to social causes, said in accepting the award, “I’m not a well known director or a famous actor. I’m not a Wall St. executive.”
But she is an IAC fan. The first time she was invited to an IAC event, she said, “ I met Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Aidan Quinn. I was hooked!”
Others who spoke included Maeve Higgins, comedian, actor and writer. “I’ll keep it brief,” she said, adding as she looked longingly towards the door, “I did call the fire department and they’re on their way. Handsome, so handsome… I’ve gotta go.”
On a serious note, she added that it has become “more precarious” to be an artist.
The IAC has supported her since she performed there the very night she moved to the U.S. from Ireland in 2012, she said.
From left, Megan Foley, Maeve Higgins and Pauline Turley
Another guest was Cáit O’Riordan, perhaps best known from folk-punk band, the Pogues, and now hosting The Rocky O’Riordan Show on Sirius-XM radio.
She also praised the IAC as a place where, “3,000 miles from home they’re gonna get your name right and you can get a decent cup of tea.
She concluded playfully, “Thank you for putting the fada on my name”—referring to the elongating accent on vowels in the Irish language.
Elaine Brennan, who jointly chaired the lunch with Loretta Brennan Glucksman (no relation) and Kate Devlin, recalled listening to the Pogues.
“’Rolling Stone’ magazine rated ‘Rum, Sodomy and The Lash among the Top 500 albums ever,” said Elaine, a County Clare native and Executive Director of Global Strategic Partnerships for Northwell Health.
Turley said this year’s fundraiser was “the most successful ever--we raised more than $300,000.”
“All of you are amazing women in your own right, the glue that holds our homes, our businesses, and our arts organizations together,” she said.
Rachael Gilkey, IAC Director of Programming and Education, added that IAC now has an “all-female programming team” and a total staff of 25 people, up from five, when it began.
It was fitting that this celebration of women occurred in a venue that did not admit them until the 1940s. The Metropolitan Club was opened in 1891 by J.P. Morgan at a time when bankers such as himself were excluded from some gentlemen’s clubs.
Turley’s daughter, Lily, clearly enjoyed her first entrée to the Club and, at 17 months, may be a future woman of Irish arts.
