Kids in Pubs
 

We'll be in Ireland in late July with 2 teenage boys ( 15 & 16). We spend 2 days in Dublin, then head to Donegal, Mayo, and Clare for the next 8 days. One of the main goals of our trip is for our younger son, who is a fiddler, to experience traditional music at the source - the pubs. I'm wondering how stricly the new law prohibiting kids under 18 from the pubs after 9:00 PM is being enforced? Will ther be more latitude if we are eating dinner as a family and stay after 9:00? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Unless your boys look really young, you'll have no problem with them at that age.

You will rarely get a meal in a pub after 8 in Ireland. It's not really a restaurant they do most of their food lunchtime in the average pub.

As for your son. In Dublin It may be a prob but I really doubt it in the country. I would not worry about it as I don't feel it's strictly enforced unless its in an urban area.

I echo what Siobhan has said. They were pretty strict about it in Dublin, but I sat next to a Father and 14 yo daughter in Doolin and listened to music well into the night.

Also, it used to be that the "Temple Bar" in Dublin had music on and off throughout the day (at least on weekends) so you could hear some music early. There are also two pubs on the walking mall in Galway that have trad sessions that start about 5:00-6:00 PM on many if not all days.

If you catch the music in Doolin at either O'Connors or McGann's (esp. in July) you'll have to stake you claim to a table WAY in advance (probably two hours or more). Get as close to the band as possible. The noise level is pretty high and despite the presence of mics, the band can scarcely be heard from more than a couple feet away. McGann?s is marginally better than O'Connors for that. I was at O'Connor's in May and sitting at the bar and was having a very hard time hearing the band. The distance is probably less than 15 feet. The musicians tables are usually marked as reserved early in the evening.

There is a great deal of tradition music in Ennis also. Be aware that in a lot of rural communities you will see trad advertised in the pubs for the evening, but this will frequently turn out to be a ballad singer who will throw in a few Irish ballads but the bulk of whose repertoire will be made up of songs by Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson, John Denver and the Monkees and the like.

Hope you all have a great time!

Bill

Thanks for the encouraging news. I was hoping that once we left Dublin we wouldn't encounter too much of a problem with the kids - both of them over 6 ft. tall!

Do you have any thoughts about how receptive the local musicians will be about our young fiddler joining a session? At a couple of local sessions here, he's been invited to join in and play. We hope that he'll be able to in Ireland as well.

Are you staying in or around Galway? We went there 4 years ago with our daughters and stayed 3 nights at Cregg Castle. The owners are musicians, he plays the pipes and she the bodhran, and they're always amenable to jamming with the guests. We're going to return there for a couple nights this August. My daughter will be bringing her bodhran along. I think you'll find several opportunities for your son to sit in if he can pick up tunes fairly quickly.

Ah, wee Doolin. Some fine memories of great Irish music there way back in 1979.

Cregg Castle is an excellent choice. I've played some tunes with Anne Marie and Pat on my visit there.

Bill

If they are 6 foot tall no one will question their age and it will be fine.