Your favorite local Irish Music PUB
 

Hi! A small group of friends and family will be traveling to Ireland next month. We would love to know the names of the best local pubs to sit back with a drink and listen to Irish music. We will staying in the following areas: Dublin, Wexford, Cork, Killarney, Galway, Donegal (one night only), Bunratty Park House in Clare. Also, would you know if children would be welcome at all. Thank you.

Pubs in Ireland! Your options are limitless. You'll certainly find pubs that have entertainment scheduled, but the best music we heard were the sessions that seemed to happen spontaneously when a few people with instruments dropped in. My advice is to ask the local folks when you arrive in town.
Because you'll be in larger towns, you may find that children are not allowed in pubs after a certain hour. We didn't see this restriction in small, rural towns, however, so I assume it's up to the discretion of the pub owner.

I am going to Dublin in a few weeks. My friends there highly recommend Mulligan's Pub on Poolbeg St. Have fun!

One more question please. One of our group is an Irish musician from the states and has never been to Ireland. How can he transport his guitar safely on AerLingus? Thank you !

Hi jrsc:

It depends on what you are looking for in Irish music. If you are looking for ballads, you will find quite a few in Dublin and Killarney that are set up for tourists. Session music (more of what I call trad) can be harder to find, especially in small towns with the exception of Doolin.

My advice is NOT to ask the locals. I know it's strange, but I have been steered wrong almost every time by locals. Maybe it's just a joke, but I kept finding what locals thought was trad, was country western. The Irish also seem to have a real love for Neil Diamond and you will certainly hear "Sweet Caroline" a few times.

It is not really a bad thing that Irish music is set up for tourists in the tourist areas. It seems the Irish aren't big fans of traditional music and this was confirmed again and again by people I know. I would tell someone where I had heard some actual trad and they would say, oh, that's where the tourists go. The sad news is that probably the best Irish trad you will hear is in the states. This was confirmed by a high end music agent I met in Dublin once (he books the big acts Guinness Jazz Festival). He said that most of the great trad players have gone to the states because they can't make any money doing it in Ireland. I have indeed heard great trad in the States and rarely a match for it in Ireland. The trad music festivals in Ireland are definitely the exception to this. There are great musicians at those events.

I think the most fun I had was in Banagher at a place called Hough's. The band was made up of the owners and friends andthough they lacked a whistle player, they were great fun. They clearly weren't the best players but they did a great combination and various regular members of the crowd would get up and sing. The bartender was the lead singer and would come out and belt out a few tunes and then head back and tend bar while a guest would sing or the band would whip out a few jigs and reels. They had an Irish tenor, with a beautiful voice belt out a few ballads and added a John Denver tune. it was a hoot.

Ok, I've rambled too long. have fun.

Bill

Although I'll admit to having ended up humming along to 'Sweet Caroline' a few times, in most cases the locals did not steer me wrong. I think you should at least give them a chance!

In Killarney - try Sheehans (aka Grand Hotel) for traditional- by the fire - music. Danny Mann's pub is great for established bands - if you are there on a Tues or Thurs stop in for the Irish Weavers - they were FABULOUS.
For a bit more modern a place, but still great traditional music - try the Granary - across from the Tourist Info shop.

Debbie

Oh -
and most pubs have signs in them that children are welcome until 7 or 8, but are not supposed to be in the pub after that. (ALTHOUGH - we did see kids in some of the pubs later, I suppose the closer it gets to the start of the high season, the more they enforce it) Most of the pubs are very smoky, so I don't know how late I would keep little kids there anyhow.
Music usually starts around 9 or 9:30.

If you're in Galway on a Saturday afternoon (between about 2:00 and 6:00 PM) try An Ceili - it's just across the (pedestrian mall) street from Taaffes (that peope say is better) but it's not as dark as Taaffes. I think it would be more 'child friendly:'

Traditional Irish music in most pubs that feature it generally doesn't begin until about 9:30 PM. I especially like Cruise's in Ennis. I was in Ennis last week for part of their Music festival. So, if you can find some place on your itinerary that has a Ceili festival when you will be there, that's where you want to be. The next one I know of is Willie Clancy's in Miltown Malbay in the middle of July.

I gave them many chances Mary. Many many chances. Then I would walk around the corner and hear something good.

Bill

Hi - Both of my trips to Ireland, I found wonderful places to hear trad. And I live in Chicago and visit the local trad bars frequently.

The Crane in Galway sticks out in my mind. I can't remember where it was, but the music was amazing. They set up on the 2nd floor, so don't be discouraged if you have a drink on the first floor and it appears nothing is going on.

Dublin - the Temple Bar area had great music. Kind of touristy, but it's a big city so I guess it's expected.

Have fun!
Julie

Thanks so much! I'm getting together a list . . . keep them coming.

Roisin Dubh on Dominick Street in Galway has a great atmosphere! Highly recommended.

Skeffington Arms (I think thats what it's called) in Galway, it is breathtaking, and looks as though the whole place has been carved out of wood.

Dirty Nellie's is really the only place around Bunratty, and we loved it--it's adjacent to the Castle.

Both have great music and cozy fireplaces.

There are two GREAT places for live music in Killarney (Killarney is my favorite place in Ireland for this reason!) and I will get back to you on the names, as I need to contact my friends in Ireland to remember what they were.

Have a great time, wherever you go in Ireland, it's great craic!

There are only 2 pubs in Doolin...OConners is the most popular and people come from all over the world for the music......you cant go wrong at either Pub

Hi jsrc,
There are loads of good pubs in the Temple Bar area of Dublin and if you just walk about in the evening you will hear the music and see the crowds.
We did the Traditional Irish Musical Pub Crawl and loved it.
http://www.softguides.com/dublin/maps/centre.html
There are a few more pub walks that sound good too, check out the web site.
Have a great trip :-)

It seems like every town we went to be it Galway, Dublin, Kilarney, Bunratty...we found good music. Sometmes it was more traditional music...other not...but we walked around the town and went inside and listened and if we liked it stayed and if we didn't found another place. We always found someplace we liked.

I know what Bill means by getting steered wrong as I ended up with two electric guitars and Willy Nelson in Killarney before I high-tailed it out of there, but Bill, 'the Irish don't like Trad Music', are you insane. I don't doubt that many musicians visit the US so that they can make some money and get more exposure, but why do they play the music in the first place. You may want to rethink that opinion. As for Doolin, it has three pubs and McGanns has some pretty good music, also,with outside tables where you can get away from the smoke and enjoy the cool night air. That is where I've had my best evenings, but others are close behind. Someone recommend a good place in Dingle, as I will be there in mid-Sept. As for the OP, very interesting itinerary. You will definitely be circling the coast. Enjoy, KJS

The best place in Dingle: Au Conair

Keenan:

That supposition wasn't my opinion it was that of the locals that I asked. And you didn't quote me exactly. I said that they aren't big fans of traditional music. That is not to say that all of them don't like it, but great trad by great music is getting harder and harder to find in Ireland. That's not to say that it isn't there, but it is harder to find.

I asked in almost every town and I heard over and over again that trad was mainly a tourist thing now. Note, I said mainly.

At both O'Connor's and McGann's in Doolin, the owners clearly made a decision to not let the music get too loud. Unless you were very close to the band, you couldn't hear them at all, despite the presence of microphoes above the band (both places) The mics were so far above them that all they served to do was broadcast the room noise. Everyone was talking and those that were crowded around the band were almost exclusivley tourists. McGanns did have individual mics for the muscians which helped a bit, but you still couldn't here the band much from outside the small room they were in.

Now, if there were very few people there, it would have been much easier to hear, but then again, if there were very few people it would just support the notion that Irish trad is losing it's luster.

In Shannonbridge, I heard a fantastic tin whistle player in a pub, but he picked it up only occassionally and it was mainly because the owner told him I was there to hear some trad.

The larger towns and cities will have plenty of Irish music in various forms, but they are aware that it caters to the tourist trade. Sure some locals will come in. Still, the pubs play Brittany Spears on the radio much more often than they play trad.

Finally, "why do they play it in the first place" you ask. The question is not how many play the music (of course then there is playing it well), but rather, how many listen to it. In the public schools in the US, hundreds of thousands of kids learn to play classical music on various instruments, but that doesn't mean that it will be the music they go to listen to when they grow up. In fact, it is pretty unlikely that they will ever go to a classical music concert at any point in their lives. Sort of explains why so many professional symphony orchestras are dying in this country. To be popular, you have to be able to appeal to more than just your musical peers.

Anyway, I don't think I'm insane, and I'm basing it on what the locals in various towns told me. I hit a lot of small towns and I got to spend a lot of time chatting with the people there, becuase I was traveling by boat. I heard pretty decent trad in Banagher, but as the woman in the cruiser rental place told me, "Oh, that place. They do music for the tourists".

Bill