Irish concert kicks off St. Patrick’s Week celebrations in Saint John

St. Patrick’s Week celebrations in Saint John kicked off on Sunday with a traditional Irish in the city’s venerable Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

The 3rd Annual Irish Heritage Concert also served as a fundraiser for the Cathedral Restoration project. The ambitious $10 million project involves restoring a number of areas of the church that are in need of attention.

The church is very much connected to the Emerald Isle and the week will see an embracing of heritage.

“We’re celebrating the heritage of people, mostly the Irish who were instrumental in building the cathedral between 1853 and 1855,” said Lynn Forbes Gautier, Executive Director of the Cathedral Heritage Foundation.

The concert is open to people of all faiths and cultures. Even the soloist says she feels like an honourary Irish girl today.

“I’m not Irish by blood but I like to believe that everyone has a little bit of Irish in them this time of year,” Heather Flemming explained.

The songs she performed speak to the intimacy of Irish music.

“The words talk about the Irish landscape, about old friends, about memories,” Flemming said. “Things that everyone can relate to whether you’ve been to Ireland or not.”

Once again when it comes to the debate surrounding Saint John being Canada’s Irish city, it’s an argument some staunchly defend.

“I’m a Canadian but I’m also a citizen of Ireland,” Forbes Gautier said. “From the west of Ireland, County Claire where traditional Irish music is very, very, very popular and even in Ireland they don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s week for a whole week.”

St. Patrick’s Day is on Friday, March 17.