Two well-known local authors who have written books about Ireland and Irish culture will be special guests at the Collectors & Artisans Expo coming to the historic Buffalo Irish Center, located at 245 Abbott Road in the heart of Buffalo’s Irish Heritage District. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 10, just one week before St. Patrick’s Day!

Selling and signing copies of their books at the event will be Irish authors Sinead Tyrone of Cheektowaga and John McGlarry of Boston, N.Y.

Tyrone’s A Song Of Ireland: A Collection of Poems, was published in 2017 and is based on her travels to Ireland and Northern Ireland. In this volume she captures the magic of Ireland through stories of strong, proud people and iconic landscapes marked with castles and ruins, patchwork fields and dramatic coastline. Other works by Tyrone include Crossing The Lough Between in 2016 and Walking Through The Mist in 2013.

McGlarry’s 2016 release, The Arrival, and 2013 release, The Leaving, chart the voyage of young Liam McGinley and his fellow Irish countrymen who step into the unknown world of a city in a foreign country that didn’t want them and did everything to make their arrival harder … but couldn’t stop them!

“It is truly an honor to have such prominent Irish authors at our event, and the timing — one week before we all become Irish for a day and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day — couldn’t be better,” said West Seneca resident Joe Kirchmyer, organizer of the Collectors & Artisans Expo. “I hope the entire Western New York Irish community will come out to meet Sinead and John, have a nice conversation about Ireland, ask them questions about their work and buy a few books to take home and enjoy.”

Kirchmyer also thanked NFB Publishing of Buffalo and its owner, Mark Pogodzinski, for his help coordinating the author appearances. For more information on NFB Publishing, please visit www.nfbpublishing.com.

The Collectors & Artisans Expo will host dozens of vendors, and 100 percent of the $2 admission will benefit the Buffalo Irish Center and two South Buffalo high schools, Mount Mercy Academy and Bishop Timon - St. Jude High School.

Antique appraisals by Water Valley Antiques will be offered during the March event. The cost will be $2 per item, or a maximum of three appraisals for $5. Food will also be available for purchase during the event thanks to the Irish Center kitchen staff, and plenty of free parking is available in the Irish Center parking lot, along Abbott Road and on nearby neighborhood streets.

Vendor tables (handcrafted and collectible items only, please) are still available for the March 10 event. For more information, please contact Joe Kirchmyer at jkirchmyer@verizon.net. For updates, please follow the Collectors’ Expo Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Collectors-Expo-162985497593654.

To borrow a line from the Irish Center’s website: You are welcome, a thousand times, wherever you come from, whosoever you be!