A Whirlwind Visit to Seattle to Meet with Celtic Friends
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
SEATTLE - On a recent whirlwind visit to Seattle, which is also known as the Emerald City, I dropped in to see several of our advertisers and to meet The Celtic Connection distribution team along with John Keane who writes the monthly Seattle Irish News column for our publication.
Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant
PICTURED at Fado's Irish Pub in Seattle are Jordan Dailey and Manager, Ed Maloney. Both are former Boston residents and ecstatically happy with the Red Sox win.
 |
Our first stop was at Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant, which is located at the corner of First and Columbia Street. It's easy to find with the recognizable Celtic design. This is a huge pub with a capacity of about 300 people. It can be deceiving when you first walk into the bar but if you continue walking, the pub goes around in a circle with several different rooms with each room depicting its own Celtic design, and if you continue walking, you will arrive back at the main bar area again.
Fadó is decorated with beautiful traditional Celtic artifacts throughout the pub, which must have cost a small fortune to cover the huge areas of the pub. The pub is open seven days a week and opens daily at 11:30 AM for lunch. They offer an extensive pub menu with daily lunch and dinner specials. There is also live music seven nights a week with a traditional session on Sunday afternoons. For the sports fans there are also lots of televisions to watch your favourite games.
One other unique feature at Fadó is the “build your own bloody Mary bar” on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It’s great for those people who may have partied until the early morning hours or just to get a start to the week-end.
The general manager at Fadó is Ed Maloney, an Irish-American from Boston. He told me that Fadó is now booking Christmas parties and because the pub has so many rooms, they can book parties from 10 to 20 to 300 people and they are very flexible on food and beverage.
Bartender Jordan Dailey is from Maynard, Massachusetts. At the time of my visit, the World Series was taking place between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. Needless to say, Ed and Jordan are true Red Sox fans and they weren’t getting much sleep while the series was on. No doubt it was all worth it with Boston winning the Series.
St. Patrick’s is celebrated for a whole week in Seattle with a parade and a St. Patrick’s Day dash along with loads of other events that take place. With Fadó situated downtown, they get a lot of the runners in after the St. Patrick’s dash. Ed said that throughout the celebrations they feature live Irish music day and night with visits from traditional Irish dancers.
The motto at Fadó is ol, ceol, agus craic! which translates to drink, music and fun – somehow, it sounds better in the Irish language, the real spirit seems to get lost in translation. For more information on booking your Christmas parties or any other special events call (206) 264-2700.
Seattle Kilts
Whether you need to rent a kilt or you are looking for that special Celtic gift or even Haggis, new owner Megan Hawkins of Seattle Kilts, and Matt would be delighted to assist you.
 |
Our next stop was at Seattle Kilts (formerly Hector Russell’s), which is located at 83 University Street, at the Harbor Steps. Megan Hawkins is the new owner and she is still busy expanding and re-arranging since taking over the store. Megan has just re-organized the kilt rental room and expanded the U.K. specialty groceries, recently adding fresh haggis.
Seattle Kilts carries, CDs, books, piping supplies, clan crests, flags, gift items, Celtic jewellery, marmalades and jams, kilts and kilt rentals, Aran sweaters for children and adults, flasks with Celtic designs and something new from Ireland is the pewter design drinking glasses and the very popular quaick from Scotland.
Something else quite unique is the aroma therapy handwoven throw, which has lavender woven into the wool. Makes a great Christmas gift or better still...something special for yourself. There are also Highland dancer pewter Christmas ornaments. One of Megan’s most popular items right now is the heavyweight cotton rugby shirts – they have been flying off the shelves.
There are lots of gift ideas for Christmas at Seattle Kilts and as Megan says, “If you don’t see it, ask either me or Matt.” Megan is a Highland dancer and she also teaches Highland dance classes which makes her a good fit for Seattle Kilts. For more information call (206) 242-0291.
The Irish Emigrant Pub and Paddy Coyne's Pub
PICTURED at the new Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub in Seattle are (L-R) John Keane, Sally Rowland, Finian Rowland, Paddy Coyne (himself), Catherine Mitchell and Catholine Butler.
 |
The Irish Emigrant Pub at 5260 University Way North East has been established for the past four and a half years, and it is very popular with the college crowd. The Irish Emigrant shows all the Gaelic games (during the season), and also some of the rugby and soccer.
Every Monday night there is a pub quiz which draws upwards of 80 people. The pub also features live entertainment on the weekends. There is an upstairs party room for weddings, funerals, birthdays or for other private parties. Right now, The Irish Emigrant is taking reservations for Christmas parties.
On St. Patrick’s Day, The Irish Emigrant puts up a tent outside near the pub and between the pub and the tent, they can cater up to 700 people.
Connemara-born, Pat Coyne, who is one of the owners of The Irish Emigrant and his partners opened a new location this past summer called Paddy Coyne’s Pub at 1190 Thomas Street North. It’s a cosy little Irish pub with a nice warm fireplace, catering mostly to industrial and professional patrons. It is located close to the Seattle Times and several industrial buildings.
The pub does a brisk lunch business and features a daily special along with hearty soups and sandwiches. Business picks up again after the offices close in the evening. Bookings for Christmas parties are now being taken at Paddy Coyne’s Pub.
Pat Coyne has played Gaelic football with the Seattle Gaels and he is also a fluent Gaelic speaker and said that when he calls his family in Ireland, the conversation is entirely in Irish.
The Celtic Connection Volunteers
We arranged to meet with Catherine Mitchell who distributes The Celtic Connection in downtown Seattle and the University area at Paddy Coyne's Pub. She is also a board member of the Irish Heritage Society in Seattle. We gathered there along with Finnian and Sally Rowland, who also distribute The Celtic Connection in the Ballard area of Seattle. Finnian is from County Mayo and he recently returned from a visit to Ireland where he took in the All-Ireland Gaelic football final at Croke Park.
We also met here with John Keane who writes our monthly Seattle Irish News column. John Keane is a man who wears numerous hats and he is a virtual walking green pages for the Irish community of Seattle and beyond.
He is the secretary of the North American Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and he is very involved with the Seattle Gaels men and women's Gaelic football teams. He is also a board member of the Seattle Irish Heritage Society and he is one of the main organizers for Irish Week in Seattle and for the St. Patrick's Day parade in that fair city. John, who is originally from Westmeath, also recently returned from Ireland where he attended GAA meetings.
Plans are well underway for Irish Week and the St. Patrick's Day parade in Seattle. Irish Week this year will be from March 10 to the 17, with the St. Patrick's Day parade on March 12. This year for the first time a marching band, with between 150 to 200 people from Sonora, California, will march in the parade.
There are numerous other events taking place daily throughout Irish Week. Read John Keane’s, Seattle Irish News column for more details.
In May of 2005, John Keane and some 80 to 90 businesses from the Seattle area, which will include representatives from Microsoft and Boeing – two of the biggest employers in the Seattle area – will travel on a business mission to Ireland. They plan to visit Dublin, Belfast and Galway.
Maureen Keane (John’s wife), writes the very popular, Sláinte – To Your Good Health column in The Celtic Connection. Maureen is a best selling-author, nutritionist, and whole foods expert. She has authored 13 books on health and nutrition.
Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub
Kells Irish Pub and Restaurant, located in Post Alley near Seattle’s famous Pike Market, is operated by the McAleese family and is one of Seattle’s original Irish pubs. Pictured above are the patriarch Joe McAleese and his son Patrick Pearse McAleese.
 |
Later in the evening, we dropped into Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub, located in Post Alley, which is nearby the famous Seattle Pike Market. Kells is one of the original Irish pubs in Seattle where entertainment is featured seven nights a week. The pub is owned and operated by the McAleese family, who are relatives of Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland. The motto at Kells is, "If you can't go to Ireland, come to Kells."
Kells have pubs in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco and all are noted for their fine food. The Seattle pub gets a lot of their fresh fish and vegetables from the Pike Market. We had dinner at Kells and enjoyed a creamed seafood dish and a pork loin dinner, which was delicious. And the tea was real Irish tea, served piping hot.
While visiting Kells I met Joe McAleese, the patriarch of the McAleese family, and his son Patrick Pearse McAleese (there's no mistaking that name). The sons, Patrick, Paul and Gerard have all played Gaelic football, mostly for St. Brendan's Football Club in San Francisco. Kells also sponsors the St. Brendan Gaelic Football Club in San Francisco.
Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub, Seattle, is located at 1916 Post Alley, for more information, call (206) 728-1916.
Gaelsong
ABOVE is the distinctive exterior of Gaelsong in Seattle.
 |
Colleen Connell, founder of Gaelsong.
 |
Our next stop was at Gaelsong, a Celtic shop located at 2207 North East 65th Street. The logo for Gaelsong is a green spirit woman and that is what first catches your notice on the outside of their distinctive green building with its gold lettering.
Inside this unique shop there is a feeling of the esertoic. There are so many interesting and unusual Celtic items in jewellery and home decor. Again, we find the bronze green spirit woman and oak green man plaques for the wall.
There are lots of candles to bless your home with the gift of light, in addition, you will find hidden cup flasks in Celtic designs, stained glass windows, and a magnificent Celtic stained glass folding fireplace screen that will give your home the rich look of an Irish castle. There are Celtic tapestries, shawls, scarves and throws, along with books of Celtic poetry, meditation, the Book of Kells and history of the Druids.
PICTURED are the staff at Gaelsong (L-R) Chanda French, Rhiannon Lucier, David Hammond and Linda Holske.
 |
Two very new items at Gaelsong are organic traditional Aran Isle fisherman knit sweaters for men and women and the Hibernia ring – Hibernia being the Latin word for Ireland. This unusual ring has a Celtic spiral design and trinity knot with a diamond accent.
The bulk of Gaelsong’s business is mail order. To find out about some of these unusual Celtic items, check out their website at: www.gaelsong.com, or call: 1-800-205-5790.
Galway Traders
Eileen Kilgren standing in front of some of the many Celtic gift ideas at Galway Traders, Seattle.
 |
Our last stop was at Galway Traders, a Celtic shop located in the Ballard area of Seattle. The shop is actually a charming old character house that is chock-full of traditional Celtic items, jewellery, home decor and gift items.
Walking into Galway Traders is like walking into someone’s home. It has a warm welcoming feeling as you walk through the living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway. Each room is bursting with everything from Claddagh rings, Celtic jewellery, books, Belleek China, Galway Crystal, Barry’s and Bewley’s teas, tweed hats and caps, marmalades, jams, lots of Celtic wedding items, beautiful and unusual gifts for the newborn, handwoven ponchos, capes and shawls to Celtic Christmas tree ornaments.
Galway Traders has probably one of the largest selections of Celtic CDs, tapes and sheet music in the Pacific Northwest. There is a whole room dedicated to music at Galway Traders.
Galway Traders also carries Irish dancing shoes, which is a hard-to-find item for Irish dancers. Eileen xxx, who works at the shop told us that it’s not unusual on a Saturday morning to see Irish dancing students sitting on the steps in the hallway trying on the shoes.
Eileen and Hugh Murray are the proprietors at Galway Traders and they have been in business for years. Hugh is originally from Ireland.
Galway Traders is located at: 7518 - 15th Avenue North West. For more information, call (206) 784-9343.
|
