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Hi Fodorites,
Hoping for your expert opinion.
I will be traveling to Dublin, and just love traditional Irish music. I understand that there are plenty of places that have musicians playing....but what's worthwhile?
What pubs do you recommend for this?
( Hoping to avoid some cheesy touristy trap, please let me know which ones to avoid as well). Some places I have read about and would also appreciate your feedback on- O'Donoghue's, Oliver St. John Gogarty, O'Shea's Merchant, and Brazen Head.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to share!
Dublin - Best pubs for Traditional Irish Music Sessions?
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The best pub in Dublin for traditional music is the Cobblestone in Smithfield (take the Luas tram from the city centre). Be aware though that it is a proper traditional pub and people are there to listen to the music - chatting while the music is being played is frowned upon.
Any of the other pubs are fine - more touristy and more "singalong" - wouldn't be my cup of tea but okay for a taster of Irish music. O'Donoghue's or the Brazen Head would be about the best of them - I wouldn't be a fan of the other two because I don't really like the areas that they're in - but tourists seem to enjoy them.
We were interested in learning some things about traditional Irish music (e.g. history of songs) and the musical instruments, so we did the Traditional Music Pub Crawl, which is actually much more about the music than it is about pubs! Anyway, if you want some fun education thrown in with your music, I would highly recommend this tour.
At the end of the evening, the musicians recommended a couple places to go for a good traditional Irish music experience and the Cobblestone was at the top of their list.
check out www.dublinsessions.ie for lots of info, pics, vids etc of sessions in Dublin, a new site and up to date
Hughes, Chancery Street (behind the Four Courts) has good traditional sessions most nights.
...whatever happened to Slattery's (Slatt's)? It was rather wild, good trad music, heavy smokin' and as vehemently anti-Brit as one could find in Dublin. Of course, that was the late 70's and early 80's I'm referring to. A priest staying at the same B and B (John and Betty Eagan's place)highly recommended it at the time. On later visits, for some reason did not get around to re-visiting. If it's still there,(Capel Street?) drop youself around, LOTRHB...great craic!
stu