Spring Lake is already green with fresh water lakes, towering old trees, lush parks and rolling lawns surrounding elegant homes. Despite having visited many times, I was unaware that it's known as The Irish Riviera. Founded in 1892, Spring Lake became a favorite seaside location for affluent Irish-Americans from New York and Philadelphia.
The Second Annual Spring Lake Irish Festival
The Irish Festival started in 2010 and this year's 2011 event was held Saturday, 18 June, with ideal weather — brilliant blue sky and temperatures in the low 80s. Two convenient outdoor venues hosted the music groups that entertained from noon until 4:00 PM. The main staging area surrounded the town clock at 3rd and Morris Streets with a section of east Morris closed for a food court. Two blocks north, at 3rd and Washington Avenue, the second venue was in front of the mid-century modern building, in this very Victorian village, that houses The Bottle Shop. Along the length of the 3rd Street business district, many shops offered special sales and outdoor eating possibilities giving ample opportunity to leisurely stroll while never being out of ear shot of the music. Good timing had an annual Art Exhibition of local professionals on display in the park within a short walk down 3rd Street.
Pipes and Step Dancing
The Festival opened with the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh Pipe Band followed by The Bantry Boys, who performed twice during the afternoon. Both groups gave good renditions of classic Irish and Irish-American songs with an emphasis on the ballads from the 1916 — 1923 Irish Revolution. The young teenage students from The Patricia Murphy School of Irish Dance performed traditional Step Dancing without, fortunately, the modern flourishes that have invaded that medium due to the popularity of Riverdance — the Hollywood version of step dancing. These young students demonstrated a high degree of skill with their arms straight, high kicks and light-on-the-feet stepping.
The Trinity Irish Band performed traditional instrumental music with flawless precision in front of the Bottle Shop. Several band members of this talented group deftly switched from tin whistle to fiddle to Celtic bag pipe. Their feet tapping enthusiasm entertained a large crowd that spilled onto the street and filled the outdoor seating at restaurants across the street. Comments that Irish instrumental music "all sounds the same" after a while miss the point. It's dance music, but, unfortunately, no one in the audience took up the band's repeated calls to dance. Anyone who's been to an Irish Ceilidh can appreciate the urge to move to the lively and beautiful interplay of fiddle, pipes, banjo and drums. The Bennacht Musical Duo rounded out the musical entertainment with renditions of more recent Irish songs.
The Food Court and Scones
The Food Court on Morris Street offered fair from six Spring Lake restaurants . As a professional foodie I was impressed with the Black Trumpet's Crab Cake Sandwich ($10.00), the excellent, and piled high, Hot Corned Beef Sandwich from Harrigan's Pub ($5.00) and the selection of gourmet pizzas offered by Spring Lake Pizzeria.
Two blocks away is the Scone Pony bakery which makes the lightest, crumbly scones I've had since visiting Ireland. The extensive variety is baked on-premise several times a day in an attempt to keep up with demand. The lemon scone was excellent, large and at $2.95 worth every bite.
The Irish Centre
Mary Reilly, chair of the festival, is the owner of The Irish Centre Boutique on 3rd Street, which besides gifts and books, was host to Daltai na Gaeilge, an Irish language school since 1981. Irish Gallic is not easy to learn — even more difficult to pronounce — and I applaud this organization's efforts to keep this poetic language alive. Author Mike Farragher was signing copies of his book, This is Your Brain on Shamrocks, (Author House Publishing, 2011) a humorous homage to the "guilt trips" that were part of every Irish Catholic's childhood — and present day adulthood.
One recommendation I'd suggest is to change the hours of the Festival. Saturday was such a beautiful day to be at the beach that I'm sure attendance, although adequate, would have greatly swelled if the hours had been from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. Yet those at the beach did miss an entertaining schedule of events and perhaps next year will delay those tans for another day.
Spring Lake is an easy 90 minute drive from both Philadelphia and New York. NJ Transit runs a regular schedule of trains between New York and Spring Lake.
Marc d'Entremont - Years of experience as a chef, historian and teacher guides my travel and food writing. I explore all things that shape a culture.
Join the Conversation