WTBQ's ‘A Drop of the Irish' celebrates St. Patrick's Day

Warwick — Sundays at noon means “A Drop of the Irish” on WTBQ radio here in Orange County. This Sunday, though, the show, which is hosted by Paul Byrne, holds its annual Paddy’s Day Party with in-studio musical guests, “Emish,” a Port Jervis Celtic rock band. Byrne said Sunday’s show should be one of the most fun yet. “Once a month we have live music in the studio,” Byrne noted, “but this Sunday will be a real party.” In addition to Emish, Byrne is encouraging fans of the band and of the show to stop by. “Listeners are encouraged to drop in to the studio Sunday and say hello and maybe have a drop of the Irish in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. Byrne started hosting the show nearly two years ago. The time slot, when he began, had much to be desired. He started out at 6 a.m. Moving the show to noon on Sundays has made a difference in his audience numbers. “We are getting a bigger response with the time change,” said Byrne. Every week brings new things to the show. The backbone of the show is Irish music but Byrne also takes calls from listeners. And there are lots of laughs. Byrne has had several famous Irish comedians on the show including Tommy Tiernan, Des Bishop, and Karl Spain. Past in-studio guests include the Dublin City Ramblers, Celtic Cross, who will be making their return appearance soon, The Wild Rovers, MacGillicuddy Reeks, The Cray And Dempsey Experience, Derek Warfield, Gaelic Storm, Ceann and Paddy Noonan. “The show is very interactive with callers from all over the world,” he said, noting that the show can be heard online on www.wtbq.com and has fans coming to its Myspace page, www.myspace.com/dropoftheirish. Now, WTBQ can also be heard on FM station 99.1 Byrne is flexible with his schedule and wants to encourage local Irish musicians to contact him and come on the show. If they can’t make it to do the show live on Sunday, he will pre-record a segment for the show earlier in the week. Byrne came from Dublin nearly six years ago for a change of scenery. He’s liked what he found. In addition to his radio gig, Byrne also does DJ and MC work for private parties. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Monroe. “I am the recording secretary and would like to encourage and welcome any blokes of an Irish-Catholic background to join up with us in Monroe,” he said. “It’s a wonderful Irish-American organization that is always at the center of any Irish event in New York.” Listen “A Drop of the Irish” can be heard on WTBQ radio AM 1110, FM 99.1 and on the Web at www.wtbq.com from noon to 3 p.m. every Sunday. The show is repeated the following Saturday at 6 a.m. The WTBQ studio is located on Ronald Reagan Blvd. in Warwick.