Where to find the trad session: Galway's music pubs

Galway has a reputation for music, and unlike a lot of places that trade on that reputation, it mostly earns it. A trad session is not a gig. It is a circle of musicians playing tunes for the love of it, usually for nothing, often around a small table in the corner. The good ones are loose, the players come and go, and the room is meant to listen. Here is where to find them and roughly when, though sessions move and times drift, so treat the schedules below as a guide and not gospel.

Tig Coili

Tig Coili, on Mainguard Street just off the bottom of Shop Street, is the one most people mean when they say they want a session in Galway. It is the red pub on the corner, no television, no pool table, just music. Sessions run twice a day, every day, typically early evening around 6pm and again later around 9.30pm, with a longer night at the weekend. Because it is central and busy, it fills early, so if you want to sit near the players, get in well before the music starts.

Taaffes

A few doors up on Shop Street itself, Taaffes runs music daily, usually an early session around 5.30pm and a later one around 9.30pm. It is known for ballad sessions as well as instrumental tunes, so this is a good bet if you want to hear singing and not just fiddles and box. It is small and gets packed, which is part of the appeal and also the warning: arrive early or stand.

The Crane Bar

Out in the West End, over the river on Sea Road, the Crane Bar is the one serious players and serious listeners point you to. It runs music seven nights a week, with the proper sessions upstairs, typically from around 9.30pm. The upstairs room is a listening room: people are there for the music, conversation drops when the tunes start, and that is the etiquette, not snobbery. If you only have one night and you care about the music itself, this is the pub to choose.

Tigh Neachtain

Tigh Neachtain, on the corner of Cross Street and Quay Street, is one of the oldest and most loved pubs in the city, painted a distinctive blue and easy to spot. It is a warren of snugs and a long-standing haunt of writers, artists and musicians. It carries live music through the week, and even when there is no formal session it is a fine pub to drink in. It is also the heart of the West's pub culture rather than a music venue first, so go for the room as much as the tunes.

Monroe's Tavern

Across the river in the West End on Dominick Street, Monroe's is bigger than the others and runs live music seven nights a week. It is best known for being one of the few places in the city with regular set dancing, often on a weeknight, which is worth catching: a floor of people dancing to live trad is a different experience to sitting and listening. Check ahead for the dancing night, as it can change.

How a session works, and how not to wreck it

A few unwritten rules make the difference between enjoying a session and annoying everyone in it. Do not talk over the music. In a listening room like the Crane this matters most, but it holds everywhere; the tunes are the point. Do not request songs. A session is not a jukebox, and asking for the Galway Girl will mark you out instantly. Leave the players' table alone. The seats around the musicians are theirs; do not park your pint or your coat there. Buy a drink, the pubs make their money at the bar and that is what keeps the music free. And if you play, the polite move is to listen for a while, catch the musicians' eye, and wait to be invited in rather than launching straight into a tune.

Timing your night

Earlier sessions, the 5.30 and 6pm ones, tend to be quieter, easier to get a seat at, and good if you want to actually hear the playing over conversation. Later sessions get busier and livelier and louder. A wet weeknight is often better than a heaving Saturday: the crowd is local, the playing is unhurried, and you are not fighting a stag party for a stool. Whichever you pick, the Latin Quarter pubs are all within a few minutes' walk of each other, so it is easy to wander between a couple in an evening. Confirm session times with the pub on the day, because they shift with the seasons and the players.