Help - Visting Ireland in May

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 19 May 17 - 04:54 AM

Try Ireland's Medieval capital and great music city Kilkenny

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 18 May 17 - 05:17 PM

From a tip by Iains on another thread ......

A TripSavvy page dated May 2017 gives tips and a long list of sessions ...
https://www.tripsavvy.com/traditional-music-sessions-in-ireland-1542734

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 18 May 17 - 05:13 PM

From a tip by Iains on another thread ......

A TripSavvy page dated May 2017 gives tips and a long list of sessions ... https://www.tripsavvy.com/traditional-music-sessions-in-ireland-1542734

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jul 16 - 01:50 PM

'We have traditional folk music here too you know '

You do, as do a lot of other countries.

Thing is, they're all different and liking the one doesn't really guarantee you will like the next one.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,Henry Piper of Ottery
Date: 18 Jul 16 - 10:41 AM

I do hope he managed to get to England as well,....We have traditional folk music here too you know !!!!!

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: maeve
Date: 18 Jul 16 - 07:24 AM

Just to mention GaryDon's proposed visit to Ireland was to be May 2003. I wonder how it went?

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 18 Jul 16 - 05:41 AM

Asking hotels about "traditional music" in Ireland can lead to rather haphazard results! That said, Dingle and the surrounding area will not be a problem as it has a strong music scene and tradition. Inevitably, some of the locations will be more tourist oriented than others but a little investigation (e.g. chatting to the locals who actually stay in the bar when there's music) should produce excellent results!

Regards

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: leeneia
Date: 17 Jul 16 - 06:51 PM

When I visited Ireland, I found it helpful to ask at the hotel desk if there was any 'traditional' in town.

Another source of info is the local tourist office.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 17 Jul 16 - 04:49 PM

Dingle Town & Dingle Peninsula
-a map pinpointing pubs and restaurants, 2016.
It shows more than googlemaps currently lists.

It isn't particularly a music oriented map but there are few links there.


open in the browser, type 'music' into the search box.
Dingle Town & Dingle Peninsula map

I'll be there in September and afterwards I'll try to post some updates here.
Can anyone help in the meantime?

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 03:32 PM

Ye lucky hoor! ;)

If you're going to see the Cliffs, stop in for a pint in Doolin and say hi for me. Don't matter which pub. I crawled my way through `em all a couple years ago.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,celticousin
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 03:18 PM

Make an effort to spend a day/night at the Peacock Holiday Hostel when in Kilarney...It's a bit out of town and well worth the trip. Owned by a wonderful English couple whose names are Owen and Rose Barnes. Only has about 15-20 beds. Very reasonable rates w/semi-private rooms. Also, there's a pub-band called Spailpin w/an American mandolin player. He plays slide mando on a couple of songs. Have fun!!

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: ard mhacha
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 02:30 PM

Declan, I read McCarthy`s Bar a couple of months ago, a laugh on every page, one of the funniest books on Ireland I have ever read. Ard Mhacha

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: TIA
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 10:41 AM

Oh, and if you dive, don't miss Kilkee (Jacque Cousteau himself rated it as one of the top five dive spots in the world). Even if you don't dive, the tide pools on the north end of the beach are fabulously alive with squirmy and pinchy things. I'll stop now, I'm getting myself all worked up and it's *your* trip.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: jimmyt
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 10:36 AM

Also Gus O'Connor's in Doolin was a happinin' place when I was there a couple years ago. Sessions seem to appear and disappear mysteriously in Doolin, you will have to follow the musicians from pub to pub as they try to visit all of them throughout the day and night in Doolin. Ennis sounds wonderful to me! I can't wait to go back!

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: TIA
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 10:02 AM

On Dingle, find St. Brendan's launching spot (there's a small memorial at the head of a cove on the NE foot of Mt. Brandon). Stand there and look west at the huge ocean, and pretend you have no idea what's beyond. Was he brave or f'in nuts?

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: Declan
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 06:13 AM

Also worth a read in this category is McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy which is a very funny book about his various travels in Ireland.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,ceejay
Date: 18 Dec 02 - 05:37 AM

If you want a good read and to see how to do it properly, get hold of a copy of 'The Many-colored Land', by Christopher Koch. Its not a travel diary but a very personalised account of his visit to Ireland and it easily knocks Steve Fallon's 'Home with Alice' for a loop. Koch is a well-credentialled Australian writer of fiction, 'The Year of Living Dangerously' and 'Out of Ireland' are his best known books.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 03:08 PM

I am SOOOOOO jealous... take me with you?

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: boglion
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 03:07 PM

Three days on the Dingle Peninsula - Wonderful!

Check out O'Flaherty's bar in Dingle as well as the aforementioned Drochaid Beag. Try also Dick Mack's and for real atmosphere try MT Moriarty's in Strand Street. The woman who runs it is related to the dark-haired woman in "Raglan Road".

Don't miss the Conor Pass - stop at the waterfall and climb up to Pedlar's Lake. Try and climb Mount Brandon (from Faha above Cloghane) or Caherconree while you are there - these are fabulous. For a gentler stroll take in Lough Adoon for a really atmospheric place. This is accessed from the Conor Pass road.

A trip to the Blasket Islands from Dunquin is also a great day out.

My friend Micheal O'Dowd runs an excellent Guesthouse in Cloghane (O'Connor's) [phone]. Music is always welcome - if not compulsory. www.cloghne.com. Micheal spent 10 years or so working in the States.

Have a great time.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: greg stephens
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 10:12 AM

An Droichead Beag is probably the pub to head for in Dingle, if its not happening there someone will know where it is.And do make sure you get out to Slea Head.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 10:09 AM

Cuckoo Fleadh in Kinvara is first weekend in May; great sessions for three days in 9 pubs. here's a link to the 2002 schedule . I spect it will be updated as May 2003 approaches.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: TIA
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 09:10 AM

McDermot's and McGann's in Doolin have been "discovered" and get rather full of Americans, but the music there is top notch (ask around to find banjo player Kevin Griffin). If you have any interest in nature, the Burren is a natural wonder -- perhaps one of the top two or three wildflower preserves in the world and May will be a good time to see it. Also from Doolin, hike the coast south towards the Cliffs of Moher and you'll see them completely without other tourists.

Enjoy, I'm jealous.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,Guest GaryDon
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 09:00 AM

Ennis sound like great fun with music. I appreciate the help thus far

Gary®

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GUEST,Declan
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 05:48 AM

I second all the above about Ennis. If you can stay until the week-end of 23-26 May there is a festival in Ennis called the Fleadh Nua where the normally busy Ennis music scene is added to by many visiting musicians from other parts of the country (and of the world), but any week-end (or week-day) in Ennis you should have a choice of great sessions.

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 03:41 AM

I just got back from Clare and Galway. Yes, I second Greycap's motion! Ennis is a beautiful town, full of great music. Fiddler and bouzouki player Eionn (Owen) O'Neill hosts an open session at May Kearney's pub on Wednesday nights. Cruise's pub is another fine one for music, and they serve very good food. Ennis is full of pubs with traditional music.Check into Custy's Traditional Music Shop on Francis Street. They will tell you who's playing where. B&B's average 35 Euros a night, including breakfast. I recommend Laurel Lodge in Ennis. Quiet, comfortable, and a very friendly couple who run it. Tel: [phone].

In Galway, Tis Coili, The Crane, and Taafe's are where to hear sessions. Wednesday nights The Crane holds a "listener's club," where gigs are held for around 7.50 Euros. No bar talk, as the performers are given center stage. After the performance there's a session, where everything's back to the normal talking.

Your within an up to an hour's drive to Ennistymon, Lahinch, Bunratty Castle (about 1/2 hr), the Cliffs of Moher and a good day trip to the Burren and Connemara, incredibly beautiful country. Happy trails!

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: Greycap
Date: 17 Dec 02 - 03:11 AM

You'll just love it - plenty of music in Ennis
Enjoy

Subject: Help - Visting Ireland in May
From: GaryDon
Date: 16 Dec 02 - 10:35 PM

I would like some suggestions when I fulfill my dream and visit Ireland next May. Hopefully to attend a Beltane ceremony as well. I will be spending 10 days total. Flying into Shannon, then to Galway for 3days including the Aran islands, down to Limeric for a day and on to Kilarney for 3 days visiting the Dingle penincila. On to Tralee for a day, then up to Listowel and ending in Ennis before leaving for the states again. I am interested in the arts of Galway, the history of the Shannon, the beauty of Dingle and many of the stone circles in and around Kerry and into Limerick.

Some help with the festivals, ceremonies and other points of interest to a first time traveler would be appreciated. Including but not limited to nightly sessions along the way. I play Guitar O'Carolan and yes the Bodran and Bones too.

Thanks in advance for all your usual helpful advice

Gary