Text Box: In Gailic, the word “craic” more or less means to chat; to stand or sit around talking. And a “hooley” is a gathering of the Irish, usually informal and often in the kitchen, to play music, sing, dance, laugh and eat. This combination seems to fit how we see our group. We listed a number of other ideas but each of us agreed this is the only one that really stuck. Hooley is actually in the family name on Dad’s side, so we had to use it somehow. It’s our only actual Irish heritage connection. The name was probably derived from Hoolihan, but spelling didn’t carry over very well when they immigrated to America. Back in the day, a few generations ago, some great great uncle married a red haired Irish woman named Hooley. Now that was no doubt quite striking for our otherwise plain German background from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. And as the story goes, any relative thereafter who was overly creative and adventuresome, or a bit “different” as one might say, could be said of that, “Well, they have Hooley in their blood you know”. Dad is definitely one of the few in this generation which all relatives would agree has “Hooley in his blood”. We kids grew up knowing we too had it deep in our family blood, and wore it with pride. It was not until we were grown that we found this was not necessarily always meant in a complimentary way, usually said with more of a grin, a shift of the eyes, or some tone of mystery. Well, that is a matter of opinion, because we are proud of it and had to have the word in the name of our band. But what other word could we use with it in our name? We thought about a few other names, made a list to mull over, but within a few weeks realized this was the only combination that really spoke who we are and what we do. We see our programs less as a show, and more as a group of friends gathering for a “hooley”. We are a family band, but normally have others playing with us as well. One of our goals is to include local players for a few songs when we do programs throughout the great where ever. That is why we make our music freely available on this web page, so others can learn the songs as we do them, show up, and blend in. We ask you, what is more fun and fulfilling than playing and singing Irish music?