Pubs
December 05, 2024
Last June we went back to Ireland! Shall I talk about the pubs that we visited while we were there? Yes. Yes, I shall.
On arrival day, we had dinner at Brogan's, just down the street from our hotel in Ennis. We ate there last year too. It was packed, so we had to wait a fair bit, which gave us a chance to have our first Guinnesses of the trip.
The first day of the tour, we went to Innis Oirr (pronounced "Innishear"), one of the Aran Islands. We had a wonderful lunch at Flaherty's Bar, which had all sorts of license plates decorating the walls. The music session was outside on the patio - the weather was perfect for tunes!
On Day 2, we went to Westport, a beautiful town on the Atlantic coast. The session was at Matt Molloy's Pub, famous for its Irish Trad music. (Matt Molloy was a member of The Chieftains, among other bands.) Although Matt wasn't there, his son Peter played, along with Tony Reidy and Sean Regan. And Eileen! The tunes were amazing!
The third day featured a trip to the Ceide (pronounced Cayjah) Fields. The Ceide Fields is a neolithic site which supported a prehistoric community of farmers, until a blanket fog turned the farmland into bogland. After that we visited Eileen's uncle's wind farm and then had refreshments and a session at The Kiltane Tavern, where we heard the Doocey Brothers and Eileen play on of my favorite tunes, Kitty's Wedding.
No pub on the fourth day, but we saw more of the Wild Atlantic Way, had high tea at our castle, and had a lovely performance with Don Stiffe after tea, and a marvelous session in the castle chapel (!) with Cathy Jordan and Steve Cooney, and Eileen. (Fun fact - Steve Cooney was married to Sinead O'Connor from 2010-2011.)
On the very rainy fifth day we roamed around Galway. The Tig Coile pub, known for its Irish Trad music sessions, provided us with shelter from the rain. A couple of the other tour folks joined us, which was lovely, and we had a fun chat with a local guy as well.
Finally, on Day 6, we had a wonderful lunch and session at McDermott's Pub in Doolin. The seafood chowder was delicious and the tunes were terrific. This time Eileen was joined by our very talented tour folks. That's one the great things about this tour - if you can play an instrument, you can play in the sessions.
So there you have it! The next day we flew home. I'll post more about this trip during these Holidailies, so stay - dare I say it? - tuned.