Yes, in one sense but the time scale is important in the great scheme of things.
Most of us here(myself included) have always known Sandy Bell's as a folkie and even predominantly tune venue but that wasn't always the case.
I can also remember when The Capatin's Bar and even the Royal Oak(It was called The Pivot during the seventies) weren't folkie/trad institutions either.

However, I was referring to folk and trad music over several generations when regular organised gatherings didn't happen in pubs as such. We didn't have "session pubs". That's not to say that music and song never happened in these environments, of course. It just wasn't a regular or organised thing.

It has been suggested that Irish sessions as we know them today date back as recently as 1947 in London and were patronised by Irish workers who presumably played a bit of music too.
Of course, there would have been music in pubs from time to time before that in The UK and elsewhere but it wouldn't have been a regular thing nor presumed to be always welcomed.