My name is Casey Groves, and I'm the Artistic Director of Inner Compass Theatre. We begin the run of a play about Irish Catholic Immigrants called Hogan's Goat this Sunday at the IRISH HOUSE on St. Charles. AOH Members get half-price tickets at $5 a person. Just mention that you are a member to the ticket person.

Also, please check out our fundraising website. 5% of all donations to this project go to the AOH's Hunger Project which feeds the hungry and honors those who suffered because of the Great Famine in Ireland. We have a lot of great artists donating their time to bring this project to life, and it would be great if we could repay their generosity. We are doing this out of love for the art of theater and Irish culture mostly out of our own pockets, and we could definitely use your support in paying for our production costs. We are very thankful for the performance space and the encouragement that The Irish House is providing for us and for the significant donation that Finn McCools has offered us already. We look forward to connecting with you at the production!

All the best,
Casey Groves
Artistic Director
Inner Compass Theatre


INNER  COMPASS  THEATRE's
Production of  HOGAN's GOAT
Slings Election Year Mud - Irish Channel Style at the Irish House

 
HOGAN'S GOAT "has the rhythms of highly charged verse, verse with a sting in its tail."
-NewYork Herald Tribune-



HOGAN'S GOAT by William Alfred
At the Irish House - 1432 St. Charles - Tickets $10
Sundays and Tuesdays at 8pm from May 20th - June 5th

HOGAN'S GOAT is a battleground between faith  and ambition in an Irish Immigrant Community in the midst of a mayoral election in Brooklyn, 1890. There are strong parallels in this modern verse play to our own Irish Channel and to the coming mudslinging of the 2012 Elections. The site specific dark wood warmth and yesteryear decor of the IRISH HOUSE provides the perfect atmosphere for the play. Chef Matt Murphy plays a cameo role.


Directed by Casey Groves with Assistant Directors, Todd Voltz and Rachel Whitman Groves. Featuring Rachel Whitman Groves, Casey Groves*, Paxton McCaghren*, Todd Voltz, Trey Burvant*, Kristin Samuelson, Jeff Pope, Jeffrey Martorell, Rachel Mauti, Karel Sloane Boekbinder and Claudia Baumgarten.
 
*Actors appear courtesy of Actors Equity Assoc.
Have a Pre-theater Pint and Meal.
Come at 6:30pm and order off
Chef Matt Murphy's delectable menu
Reservations - (917) 969-8698  or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Attention Louisiana Hibernians - Photographs from our recent St. Patrick's Day celebrations, as well as the Irish Ambassador's visit last November are now available for purchase at: www.darrylschmittphotography.com

 
Simply go to the website and at the bottom of the page, there is a "View and Order" section.  You'll want to check out the "Hiberians" and "Ambassador Visit" galleries to view the individual photos and place your orders.  Any questions about orders should be directed to Mr. Darryl Schmitt at 800-799-0128 or 504-455-0128.

All the best, Joe
 
Joseph C. Casler
Louisiana State President -
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America

Hi friend,

I realize that you probably already have a list of charitable recipients for your generosity, but you are receiving this:
     (1) "for your information" since this great program is new to New Orleans, and/or

     (2) to encourage your support for a worthy project to help YOUTH, PEACE, and Northern Ireland
           and/or
     (3) so that you can pass along this information to an individual or organization with an interest in helping YOUTH, PEACE or Northern Ireland!

Friends Forever is an organization with which I have been involved for over 20 years.  I can attest to it's efficacy.

Friends Forever (www.friendsforeverusa.org) is in its 26th year of bringing groups of 10 teens from areas of conflict (primarily Northern Ireland and Israel) to the USA for a 2 week retreat in a neutral environment, which begins a year long peace building program back in their homeland.  I am working to bring 5 Catholic and 5 Protestant teens (ages 16-17) from Northern Ireland to New Orleans in the fall of 2012.  They develop bonds of trust and friendship over the 15 days of being together 24/7 (like in a "life raft"), along with 2 Northern Ireland youth workers.

Most groups have gone to New England since 1986.  The teens get to know one another, and also experience our religious, cultural and political diversity and tolerance.

Pints for Peace  is a fund raiser to help cover the $25,000 needed (airfare for 12 from Northern Ireland is the largest expense!).

It is simple!!!!!

* Participants raise at least $50 by being "sponsored" to "raise a Pint for Peace" on May 12.  The Pints for Peace website (www.pintsforpeace.org) has tons of information!!  

* For the $50+ contributed, the participant gets a "Pints for Peace" t-shirt, which they wear into participating bars/pubs on May 12 in order to get a "special"

* The participating bars are being listed on the "Pints for Peace" website.  So far, Finn McCool's ($2 pints of Guinness), Tracey's, Phillips Restaurant & Bar ($2 pints of bottled Guinness), The Irish House, Bayou Beer Garden, and Mid-City Yacht Club, all in New Orleans, and George's Mexican Restaurant (in Mandeville - 20% off entrees!!) have signed on, with several others in progress.

It is a WIN - WIN - WIN!!!!

WIN - bars get additional business
WIN - participants get a t-shirt, and some "specials" at participating bars on May 12. 
The top 25 fund raisers ($500+) could win a trip for 2 to Ireland in a special drawing!!
WIN - Friends Forever and the "New Orleans/Northern Ireland Project" gets the funds
raised by the "Raise a Pint for Peace on May 12" participants through their "sponsors"!
This "variation on a pub-crawl" fundraiser, is a simple, easy way to support a VERY worthy cause and it can also be lots of fun (especially with a group of friends)!! 

But, May 12 is just around the corner!!! 

If you just want to help, your donation of any size can also work to promote this peace building project! [Friends Forever, c/o Karen Babin, 900 S. Peters St., NOLA 70130]

Participants on May 12 will be a group of individuals who believe in helping youth from troubled lands to find ways to BUILD PEACE in their conflict prone communities, folks who believe that peace can eventually come to Northern Ireland, and/or folks who have close ties to the Emerald Isle!!  Recent violence in Derry/Londonderry, and the "Peace Walls" in Belfast (15-20 foot tall walls which divide communities, and which have been up longer that the Berlin Wall) bear witness to the fact that programs such as Friends Forever are still needed.

Please get in touch if you have any questions, need more information, or would like to be involved during the October 20-November 4 visit! 

FYI, the following organizations have all made donations of at least $500: Irish Network-New Orleans, Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club, the Rotary Club of Matairie, and the Rotary Club of Covington.

Thanks for your consideration!

Best regards,                  

Karen Swaim Babin

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

(Contact Details available) 

Greetings Brother Hibernians,

The month of March is upon us and with that come all of the St. Patrick's celebrations that allow us the opportunity to showcase our Irish pride. We have already had a busy few weeks since Mardi Gras, starting with our participation in the Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Louis Cathedral wherein we harkened back to the original roots of this brotherhood to defend the Catholic clergy and parishioners from radical protesters. That was certainly a very proud moment for our organization. We've also been treated to a "March Evening in Ireland" Fundraiser by our brothers in the West Florida Division and most recently held a thoughtful and moving wreath laying ceremony at the Celtic Cross Monument at the West End neutral ground in New Orleans.

The week leading up to St. Patrick's Day promises to give us even more opportunities to promote and celebrate Irish culture. The American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) comes to New Orleans from March 14th-17th and will bring with it several hundred Irish history scholars and enthusiasts marking one of the most significant Irish cultural events to ever take place in New Orleans. The Irish Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, Jimmy Deenihan and Irish Consul General Paul Gleeson will be in town to officially welcome attendees at the opening reception on March 14th. Also on March 14th, Father Neal McDermott is holding an Irish Cabaret event at St. Dominic's as a fundraiser for needy students.

On March 15th, a very special annual event is taking place at Annunciation Square where the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club hosts its block party where all proceeds are donated to St. Michael's Special School. And on the following night, March 16th, we are holding an Irish Night at the Fair Grounds where we will partake of a buffet of Irish fare and take our chances betting on the ponies. Of course, the culmination of the week will be our St. Patrick's Day activities on March 17th.

Starting at 11:30 AM, the AOH will hold its annual mass at St. Patrick's Church honoring this year's Hibernians of the Year, Jimmy Brennan and Kevin McKay. The Mass will be concelebrated by Archbishop Aymond and retired Archbishop Hughes. Following the mass, the men of the AOH will march in the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Parade and will be honored by the company of our Honorary Irish Rose, Miss Emily Mueller and her mother.  That evening, we will hold our 136th Annual St. Patrick's Day Banquet at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. Many local dignitaries are expected to be in attendance, including Archbishop Aymond. The USMC Brass Quintet will begin the evening's festivities and will be followed by the Muggivan Irish Dancers. The headline act of the night is the O'Neill Sisters trio from County Kerry, Ireland. This promises to be a rollicking and fun-filled day!

I hope that you will all have an opportunity to take part in the festivities. This is certainly our time to shine, so let’s get out there and celebrate!  Éirinn go brách!

All the Best,

Joe Casler

Miss Emily Mueller will ride with the Ancient Order of Hibernians in the Irish Channel Parade on Saturday, March 17, 2012, as an "Honorary Irish Rose." As many have read and seen in the news, Emily is an autistic child who was subjected to some of the most deplorable bullying during the Muses Parade three weeks ago. Shaken and humiliated, Emily resolved never to attend Mardi Gras again until her mother posted the story in a blog, which went viral. The Krewe of Muses then invited Emily to their den where she was treated to her very own "Emily Gras." Since then, the Ancient Order of Hibernians discovered that Emily claims Irish descent and even visited her ancestral home two years ago, so the Louisiana Hibernians decided to further lift Emily's shaken spirits by asking her to ride with us on March 17th. The Muellers have accepted our invitation, so the Hibernians will be honored to be in special company that day. The Hibernians have secured a convertible and throws for Emily and her mother as they ride in our formation. Please make plans to come out to the parade and join us to help restore this special young lady's faith in the goodness of the people of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana.