Traditional Music and Local Pubs
26 September 2018
A spot recommended to us by Charlie for both dinner and music was a place in Oughterard called Power’s Thatched. Oughterard is a nice little town in Connemara, and apparently pronounced OOT-er-ahrrrd, which is very different than how I was trying to say it. We dropped in and got some of those amazing local mussels, along with chicken and duck entrees, and some local craft beers. The food was excellent. The beers, well...
I find it disappointing that - in many cases - “craft beer” simply means an American IPA. Not that there is really anything wrong with American IPAs. Sure, they aren’t my favorites, but their importance in starting the craft beer scene can’t be understated. They were key in bringing back some of the older, traditional styles; pre-prohibition beer styles that have been forgotten from the days when you were far more likely to get a hearty porter at your local colonial tavern instead of anything like a Miller Lite. But the IPAs we get today are really a modern American take on a beer style from its colonial past. Many countries with a strong brewing culture – countries like Ireland – have their own styles, their own history, their own traditions. Sometimes I would really love to see these people embrace their own traditions a little bit more, and realize that craft beer is to treat traditional and modern brewing as a craft, it is not simply a matter of making an IPA from Americans and ignoring your own rich history. I am happy to say that while I’ve been disappointed with some of the craft beer scene here in Ireland, there are a few breweries that are pushing the local scene forward. I was very happy with the Galway Bay stout the other day, and Beth did manage to find a great stout here at Powers’s too!
So... rant over.
As we sat through dinner, there were some musicians setting up their equipment. They started playing just as we were finishing our meals. The other night at Olso bar I posed the question if you were really in Ireland without a great pub and great people. I forgot to add great music to that!
I love traditional music. We’ve actually seen a good bit over the years – bluegrass in Appalachia, some sweet bouzouki in Greece, an amazing troubadour with a hurdy-gurdy in Prague, and of course some Swiss Alp polka in Zurich. But nowhere else will you find traditional music so ubiquitous and embraced as you will in Ireland. A ‘session’ - what it’s called when traditional musicians take over seats in the pub to play – can spring up at and inject a lively atmosphere into the room that a recording just can’t do. To watch and hear the musicians playing these songs – some of the songs very old – is to watch and hear a group of people keeping a very old tradition alive. Sessions don’t involve going up on a stage or selling tickets, it’s just a jam at a pub. The music just doesn’t feel the same any other way.
We left Oughterard on the amazingly clear night and made our way back to Spiddal, much closer to our cottage, and found the place we scoped out earlier in the day – Tigh Giblins. Charlie informed us that this place had great traditional music, and his wife Dearbhaill is an accomplished traditional musician herself, so we figured he knew what he was talking about. We settled in and got a pint of that good local Bogman draft, easing my complaint from earlier. The session was in full swing when we arrived.
I thought I recognized one of the musicians. I’ve learned a lot over the years and followed the scene, so I figured I probably recognized him from something I’ve heard before. Eventually I realized we were watching Charlie Lennon, a very well-respected musician and composer in the Irish music scene! To show up at a pub and watch a legendary performer such as this just jamming at one of the tables next to you is one of the greatest things about session music in Ireland.
It is something you absolutely must experience on a trip here!
