A Double Anniversary in Gastown
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THE KILLARNEY SHOWBAND on stage at The Blarney Stone playing as usual to a packed dance floor.
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EDDIE EMERMAN (far left) owner of The Blarney Stone with members of Killarney: Ditz, John Lynch, Angus, Marie, Steve, Terry, Mike and John.
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By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - A double anniversary celebration will take place at The Blarney Stone in historic Gastown on May 17 over the Victoria Day long week-end.
The Blarney Stone will be celebrating their 37th anniversary while the fabulous Killarney Showband will be celebrating their 25th anniversary.
The Blarney Stone was the first Irish pub in Vancouver and while Irish pubs have come and gone, the Blarney Stone just keeps packing them in with line-ups every week-end.
So many people have told me that they met their future husband or wife at The Blarney Stone, then their children joined the line-up at the door, and now their grandchildren. This grand old building is an icon in the Gastown area.
Owner Eddie Emerman has worked very hard to preserve and restore the original beautiful dark wood beams, tables, chairs and original old photos on the wall.
If you haven't been to The Blarney Stone for some years, now is your opportunity to take a walk down memory lane and you will be surprised to see that not much has changed.
One of the reasons for the success and the big draw that keeps generations coming back to The Blarney Stone, year after year, can only be attributed to the fabulous Killarney showband.
They will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as the longest playing house band in the world - and the longest performing Irish showband in Canada - what a record, what a band!
Rudy Viktora, the original owner of The Blarney Stone first spotted Killarney playing in Dublin and approached the band to play at the pub during the St. Patrick's Day period of 1974.
Shortly after returning to Ireland, Rudy was on the phone to the band, asking them to come back to The Blarney Stone, since patrons were clamouring for their return. And return they did, on several occasions.
After many flights back and forth across the Atlantic, the band finally became landed immigrants in 1980, and the rest, as they say, is history and Ireland's loss became Vancouver's gain.
The Blarney Stone opens their doors at 5 PM on May 17 for dinner, the Irish dancers will be on at 9 PM, and Killarney will be playing all night. Sounds like a great celebration.
The Blarney Stone is located at 216 Carrall Street, Gastown, Vancouver. For more information, call (604) 687-4322 or visit: www.blarneystone.ca.
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