'Luck of the Irish' Keeps Rain at Bay for Riverfront Fest

“Lucky” was the word on everyone’s lips at the in Peekskill on Saturday, as the looming storm clouds quietly rolled out by mid-afternoon and the crowds began to pour in for the 3rd annual .

“We’re not worried about the weather. The Irish never are,” said Festival Chairman Dan Dennehey.

“This is one of the most heavily populated areas of people who claim Irish descent in the whole United States,” Dennehey told Patch. “And the one thing the Irish have is pride in their heritage and culture.”

A member of the Peekskill Ancient Order of the Hibernians (a fraternal Irish society and co-sponsor of the festival), Dennehey said the Order’s membership has quadrupled since the festival’s inception in 2009.

“The fact that people come here is proof that there’s a need for stuff like this,” he said.

“When you live in lower Hudson Valley … people have to go to the city for displays of Irish culture. Well, we’re going to bring it right to their doorstep.”

The two-day event included live music, a beer garden, Irish food, face painting and activities for kids and various vendors peddling everything from the requisite Kiss Me I’m Irish T-shirts to homemade soda bread.

Bill Bywater, a sculptor based out of New Windsor had a booth at the fest.

“A woman came to me—one of the members of the Ladies AOH—whose brother-in-law had died in 9/11,” Bywater said. “And she wanted me to make her one of these Celtic crosses. It was the first I’d ever made.”

Bywater nearly halved the sticker price of his sculptures for festival patrons.

The event coincided only two weeks from the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and a portion of the proceeds from the event—including ’s Sunday concert at the —will be used towards the and to fund the planned memorial in Cortlandt. This year’s Hudson Valley Irish Fest was dedicated to the victims and heroes of 9/11.

Funds will also go into the HVIF coffers in preparation for next year's festival, and towards activities and events held at the new Hudson Valley Irish Center, located at the Little Red Schoolhouse in Verplank.

By 4 o’clock, with the threat of storm clouds a distant memory (“We can deal with the rain, we’re Irish,” said Jesse Harkin, a Cortlandt resident and bartender at Brodie’s Pub in Mohegan Lake) Celtic Cross wrapped up its set and Jameson’s Revenge prepped to take the stage.

Bernadette Olsen and her husband Jim spent the day lounging in lawn chairs and listening to the bands fill the park with music. They were especially excited to see the band Just 2—direct from Ireland—on Sunday.

“They’re going to sing Happy Birthday to my husband,” Bernadette told Patch.The burgeoning tradition—and friendship—started just last year when the two-piece honored Olsen with the song and birthday shout-out on stage. This year they’d be singing it on his 80th birthday. 

Bernadette returned the favor by singing their praises. “Typical Irish. You meet them once and they’re your best friends for life,” she said. “They just have that charm about them.”

She considers herself lucky to have met them.