The Aisling Project had a great day out at the Irish Vintage Rally at Greenford last Sunday. The sun came out and many thousands of Irish men, women, boys and girls from all over the capital and others from further afield in the UK and Ireland came along too for the biggest Irish gathering of the year in London. We teamed up with Johnny Howard who brought his thatched Irish house on a trailer and parked beside our stall. Inside the perfectly realised miniature country cottage was a trip down memory lane for many of us and outside the turf fire burned all day and the smells of the countryside were wafting over the playing fields of Tir Chonaill Gaels. Soon Johnny was cooking spuds, bacon, cabbage and strong tea from the crane over the fire and queues were forming for a slice of home cooking Co. Kildare style. Everything vintage and Irish was on display as a convoy of tractors, trucks and cars from yesteryear stretching from Cricklewood to Greenford shone in the north London sunshine. A Ford Cortina, a Morris Minor and an old P&T phone box were raffled and auctioned to support worthy causes, including our own. Daniel O’Donnell was seen fitting curtains out for the latter and sang a few numbers on stage with some of the country and Irish performers who rocked the main stage and there was a dance stage with a succession of musicians and incredible dance displays throughout the day. All this and the Hurling final with a typically convincing win from Kilkenny (honours were evened when a Galway man won the guess-the-number-of-sweets-in-the-jar competition) and it proved to be a great day for the Irish in London.
Don’t forget the next great day for the Irish in London is the Aisling Comedy benefit at The Union Chapel, Islington on Thursday 17th September at 7.30pm. Your host is Ardal O’Hanlon and guests include Rich Hall, Rob Newman, Roisin Conaty, Jason Byrne, and Bernard Casey. Tickets are available from:
http://store.unionchapel.org.uk/events/17-sep-15-aisling-comedy-benefit-union-chapel/