Barrington White House livestreams ‘I Am Ireland’
Tenor Paddy Homan long planned to create a show focusing on the early years of Ireland’s struggle for independence from Great Britain. The native of Cork, Ireland, saw that dream realized with “I Am Ireland,” a one-person show focusing on the songs, speeches, and images of Ireland’s history up to the 1916 Rising, that premiered on PBS on Dec. 15, and will be rerun several times in the future, including on March 17. Plans are in place to syndicate it nationally.
Homan will share segments from the PBS show and sing historic Irish songs on March 4 during a livestreamed performance presented by Barrington’s White House.
“‘I am Ireland’ is a one-man show documenting Ireland’s road to independence from 1798 to 1916,” Homan said. It was filmed at Old St. Pat’s Church in Chicago and at the homes of 40 musicians from The City Lights Orchestra.
“It was an inner calling,” said Homan of his desire to honor the centennial of the 1916 Rising that changed the course of Ireland’s history. Also known as the Easter Rebellion, it was an attempt to establish an independent Irish Republic.
“I come from the same parish as Mother Jones,” Homan said. “She was one of the most hated women in America at one time but she stood up for workers’ rights and social justice. When you surrender into Irish history and a nation’s struggle for exercising freedom, independence, and autonomy, you can see the inspiration there. And music is that universal medium that is able to connect the people.”
Homan indicated that his one-person show was also inspired by his having seen performer Hershey Felder’s one-person show on Gershwin
when he first came to America in 2003. He then thought, “What about if I did something on Ireland like that?”
That thought stayed in Homan’s head when he returned to Ireland and when he came back here to earn a master’s degree in philanthropy from DePaul University.
“Philanthropy is all about storytelling,” Homan said. “I got credit for the last part of my master’s on writing the bones of this show.”
Now a Chicago resident, Homan serves as the senior director of development and philanthropy at Plymouth Place Senior Living in La Grange Park.
Homan worked on writing “I
Am Ireland” for 14 months with Andrea Dymond of Columbia College.
He describes the music of the period covered by the show as “Songs of rebellion; songs of hope.” The show focuses on the strength of the Irish people.
“It’s a celebration of who we are,” Homan declared.
“I Am Ireland” debuted in 2016 at the Beverly Arts Center. “It was myself and three musicians,” Homan said. “We had all the pictures to go with it.” He has performed the show about 20 times since then, across the country and in Ireland.
The stage performance of the piece drew the attention of Rich Daniels, conductor of The City Lights Orchestra. Homan began
singing with the orchestra, and Homan and Daniels began planning a way to record the show.
“Under the auspices of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago, they became the host of bringing our vision for ‘I Am Ireland’ to TV,” Homan reported. The 90-minute stage show was condensed into a one-hour program for PBS Channel 11.
Homan will perform with one musician for the Barrington’s White House show.
“You will laugh, you will cry,” Homan said. “And you will be inspired at the same time.”
After the performance, there will be a live question and answer session. Homan said, “I
love to talk to people about the story and the journey and connection to Ireland.”
Homan concluded that the show is about “hope, perseverance, the interconnectedness of our cultures and our societies. And the gem in all of this is music.”