By Brian Nolan
Galway in May is a charm. The weather is usually bright and sunny, the students have finished university, the tourists and the swallows have arrived in numbers, and the buskers, the street musicians are back on the street in force adding their inimitable flair to our already colourful city.
Walking the streets of Galway one hears music from all over the world, music that was made for the street, and music that was made for less busy settings, music of all genres, from bluegrass to folk, from traditional to jazz, from afro-beat to opera, the streets of Galway has it all.
On one day last week, walking from Eyre Square to the Museum, I listened to a group of school-children playing jigs and reels on whistles and accordions and recorders, fund-raising for their school tour, then came across a duo of Swiss musicians playing arias on hammered dulcimers, and afterwards a lady from Ukraine strumming a complicated looking lyre while singing a lovely, though lonely song from the Black Sea, followed by a bred-bearded banjo player with a gravelly voice like Luke Kelly’s, singing songs from the Dubliners, and finally I was entertained by a talented string quartet playing and singing American jazz classics from the 1920’s and 1930’s.
I think Galway has more musicians per square kilometre than any other place in Ireland. Imagine what the town would be like if we had a Music School at the University, but we don’t, Limerick and Cork Universities cater for that!
One of the very special genres of music you will hear every day in Galway is Irish, or Traditional (Trad) music. Galway is the unofficial capital of the Irish Gaeltacht, the Gaelic or Irish-speaking district of Ireland, and while it is commonplace to hear Irish spoken on the streets and in the shops, showing that our Irish language culture is alive and well, it is even more heartening to hear our music and songs played with such passion around the city.
They say that Galway has over 100 pubs, and perhaps that is true. But whether it is 50 or 100 pubs, I think over 50% of them have some sort of Irish ‘Trad’ music and song entertainment, for free, most nights of the week. We call these performances ‘Sessiuns’.
I like an early session, so I tend to pop in most evenings to the two pubs at the top of Shop Street (the main drag), Taaffes, and Tigh Choli. Those sessiuns start at 5pm each evening, and with a break for the musicians around 8pm, continue into the night. The pubs are small and intimate and the music even more so, but there’s no food served while the music is playing in these two popular venues.
You can catch Trad music and food at An Pucan, and at Murty Rabbittes, both on Forster Street, just off Eyre Square. Music and food from 6pm. You can also dine and listen at Monroes Tavern, in Galway’s West End, and at the Quays Bar on Quay Street and The Kings Head, both in the Latin Quarter.
There’s a plethora of other places to catch a tune. Check out Barr An Chaladh in Wood Quay, Carrolls on Dominick Street, Crowes on Bohermore, O’Connors, Wards Hotel and Killorans in Salthill, Donnellys in Barna, Padraicin’s in Furbo, The Western Hotel and of course The Crane on the West End.
If you like to sing along, Irish ballads and songs, then try Joyce Redmond’s ‘Galway Girl Singing Sessiun’ at 6.30pm on every Saturday, at the Crane Bar in the West End. There is a regular Trad Jam session there also each evening at 9.15pm.
There are many other music venues, with formal and organised, or impromptu sessiuns in Galway. Go check out the Galway music scene when visiting. You will be back!
