With the St. Patrick’s Day season upon us, public television stations across the U.S. are airing Absolutely Irish this month.  The 90-minute concert film and documentary features some of the world’s leading traditional Irish musicians. 

Filmed live last April during a concert at the Irish Arts Center in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood by Academy and Emmy Award-winning director Paul Wagner, Absolutely Irish is replete with jigs, reels, airs, ballads, contemporary versions of familiar old tunes, and instrumental jams featuring some fine players — young and old alike.

Irish music impresario Mick Moloney, who has recorded some 40 albums of Irish traditional music and hosted several nationally syndicated folk music programs for American Public Television, leads this concert performance and also sings “McNally’s Row of Flats,” a Harrigan & Hart song of old New York.  Absolutely Irish also features performances by Irish fiddlers Eileen Ivers, Liz Carroll and Athena Tergis; multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan (founder of Solas); 80 year-old fiddler Mike Rafferty; guitarist John Doyle; vocalists Karan Casey, who sings the anti-war song “King’s Shilling,”  Susan McKeown, who sings the ballad “Fair London Town,” and Robbie O’Connell, who sings the romantic old number, “Flower of Kilkenny;” uilean piper Jerry O’Sullivan; whistle player and Cherish The Ladies leader Joannie Madden; and dancers Niall O’Leary ,Darrah Carr, and 85 year-old Jo McNamara.  Others captured live in performance include Marc Benford, Brendan Doyle and Billy McComiskey.  The entire ensemble closes out the concert with a performance of “Leaving Liverpool.”

Absolutely Irish is a presentation of WGBH and American Focus, Inc.  Check your local TV listings or your local PBS station’s Web site for information on air dates and times.