Celtic Heritage and Culture Celebrated on the Hill

A capacity crowd filled ’s Makeshift Theater Saturday night for the Third Annual St. Patrick's Day Concert, sponsored by the Stanley-Whitman House.

The Celtic band Cead Mile Failte (Gaelic for 100,000 Welcomes), featuring vocalist Michael McDermott, John DiNicola on piano, Susan Mazer on guitar and Carin Joy Wiesner on violin, performed.

Stanley-Whitman House Director Lisa Johnson explained how the annual concert began.

“Michael McDermott, who works at the Stanley-Whitman House, is a professional actor and singer. He offered to hold a St. Patrick’s Day concert as a fundraiser. I thought it was such a great idea, since we have a large Irish population in this area. The first year the concert was held at Stanley-Whitman House. Our largest room seats 45 people- and 80 showed up!”

Dr. Sue Sturtevant, Hill-Stead Museum’s Executive Director and CEO, was in the audience at the first concert and offered to hold the concert at the Makeshift Theater in the future.

“This place has always been used for neighborhood parties,” Sturtevant explained. “What better neighbor than the Stanley-Whitman House.”

“I was thrilled by her generosity,” Johnson said. “People love coming up to this house.”

“This is the first year the band has had a name,” Johnson added. “This is the only concert they get together to play. Creating a name shows their commitment to this being an annual event for many years to come.”

The enthusiastic audience will certainly support that. Although the concert began at 7 p.m., the crowd began to form minutes after 6 p.m. to get the best of the first come, first choice seats.

David Johnson of Simsbury was among the first to arrive. With him was his mother, Hava, brother Daniel and fiancée Kate Heaton.

“I grew up with Michael,” David Johnson explained. “We have come every year to this concert. He is very talented and I look forward to seeing him on Broadway!”

Heaton, a Delaware native, was “very impressed by the collection at the Hill-Stead and the history at Stanley-Whitman. It’s amazing to see how people lived then.”

“I came because I am always looking for cultural events to expose my son to his Irish heritage,” said Joan DeGrandis, who came with her son Anthony, 7, and her parents. Her grandparents on both sides came from Ireland.

Between the concert, the beautiful setting on the hill, and the mood created by the display set up by O’Reilly’s Irish Gifts, “the largest Irish and Celtic store in the nation,” it felt like Ireland had been brought to Farmington for a night.

“All proceeds of the concert go to making sure all children can attend events at the Stanley-Whitman House,” Johnson told the audience, adding to their joy at being there.

Stanley-Whitman House is located at 37 High St.

For more information or to register for a program, visit the museum’s website at www.stanleywhitman.org or call 860-677-9222.