To find an Irish music session in a pub, wander a town and follow your ear. (Rick Steves’ Europe)

To find an Irish music session in a pub, wander a town and follow your ear. (Rick Steves’ Europe)

Rick Steves’ Europe: Irish music hits all the right notes

Music is the centerpiece of travel in Ireland. If you listen closely, You can hear the nation’s soul.

The Irish seem born with a love of music. At social gatherings, everyone’s always ready to sing their “party piece.” Performances are judged less by skill than by uninhibited sincerity or showmanship. Nearly every Irish household has some kind of musical instrument.

That love is especially strong for traditional Irish music. You can hear it at cultural heritage centers and concert halls, but it sounds best in a pub. When I’m in Ireland, I walk around a pub-filled block like a guy choosing a dance partner, considering where I’ll stop to enjoy a pint and a tune.

Live music is a weekly — and sometimes nightly — draw at most town pubs worth their salt. Traditional music is especially popular in Dingle, Doolin, Galway, and Dublin.

Pub music ranges from instrumental reels and jigs, to ballads of tragic love lost or heroic deeds done, to contemporary sing-alongs. It’s worth staying until the wee hours for the magical moment when a lament is sung to a hushed and attentive pub crowd.

“Sessions” (musical evenings) may be advertised or impromptu. Often musicians just congregate and play for the love of it. There will generally be a fiddle, a flute or tin whistle, a guitar, a bodhrán (BO-run; goatskin drum), and maybe an accordion or mandolin.

Music starts in the pubs between 9:30 and 10 p.m., finishing at about midnight. For a bar with a good reputation, get there before 9 p.m. if you want dinner or a place to sit, or pop in later and plan on standing.

The music often comes in sets of three songs. The wind and string instruments embellish melody lines with lots of tight ornamentation. Whoever happens to be leading determines the next song. If they want to pass on the decision, it’s done with eye contact and a nod. A ceilidh (KAY-lee) is an evening of music and dance — an Irish hoedown.

Percussion generally stays in the background. The bodhrán is played with a small, two-headed club. The performer’s hand stretches the skin to change the tone and pitch. You’ll sometimes be lucky enough to hear a set of bones crisply played. These are two cow ribs (boiled and dried) that are rattled in one hand like spoons or castanets, substituting for the sound of dancing shoes in olden days.

Watch closely if a piper is playing. The Irish version of bagpipes, the uilleann (ILL-in) pipes are played by inflating the airbag (under the left elbow) with a bellows (under the right elbow) rather than with a mouthpiece like the Scottish Highland bagpipes. Uilleann is Gaelic for “elbow,” and the sound is more melodic than Highland pipes, with a wider range. The piper fingers his chanter like a flute to create individual notes, and uses the heel of his right hand to play chords on one of three regulator pipes. It takes amazing coordination to play this instrument well, and the sound can be haunting.

Occasionally, the fast-paced music will stop, and one person will sing a lament. It may be a remnant of the ancient storytelling tradition of the bards whose influence died out when Gaelic culture waned 400 years ago. The stories — often of emigration to a faraway land, or a rebel death struggling against English rule — are always heartfelt. While you’re listening to a lament, study the faces in the crowd.

If the chemistry is right, a session can be one of your greatest Irish experiences. The music churns intensely while members of the group casually enjoy exploring each other’s musical style. The drummer dodges the fiddler’s playful bow. Sipping their pints, they skillfully maintain a faint but steady buzz. The floor on the musicians’ platform is stomped paint-free, and servers scurry artfully through the commotion, gathering towers of empty, foam-crusted glasses. Make yourself right at home, “playing the boot” (tapping your foot) under the table in time with the music. Talk to your neighbor. Locals often have an almost evangelical interest in explaining the music.

The Irish love of music is so intense that Ireland is the only nation with a musical instrument — the Irish harp — as its national symbol. You’ll see this harp’s likeness everywhere, including on the back of all Irish euro coins. The harp’s inspirational effect on the Irish was so strong that Queen Elizabeth I, who tried to eradicate the Gaelic culture during her reign, ordered Irish harpists to be hung wherever found and their instruments smashed.

But the Irish survived Elizabethan brutality and more than four centuries of oppression. Today, the Irish people have a worldwide reputation as talkative, athletic, moody romantics with a quick laugh and a ready smile. Listen well: You can hear their national soul in their music.

Edmonds resident Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Rick’s favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at rick@ricksteves.com and follow his blog on Facebook.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

What’s Up columnist Andrea Brown with a selection of black and white glossy promotional photos on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Free celeb photos! Dig into The Herald’s Hollywood time capsule

John Wayne, Travolta, Golden Girls and hundreds more B&W glossies are up for grabs at August pop-up.

Rodney Ho / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Tribune News Service
The Barenaked Ladies play Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville on Friday.
Coming events in Snohomish County

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Edmonds announces summer concert lineup

The Edmonds Arts Commission is hosting 20 shows from July 8 to Aug. 24, featuring a range of music styles from across the Puget Sound region.

Big Bend Photo Provided By Ford Media
2025 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Increases Off-Road Capability

Mountain Loop Highway Was No Match For Bronco

Cascadia College Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Midori Sakura looks in the surrounding trees for wildlife at the North Creek Wetlands on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Cascadia College ecology students teach about the importance of wetlands

To wrap up the term, students took family and friends on a guided tour of the North Creek wetlands.

Mustang Convertible Photo Provided By Ford Media Center
Ford’s 2024 Ford Mustang Convertible Revives The Past

Iconic Sports Car Re-Introduced To Wow Masses

Kim Crane talks about a handful of origami items on display inside her showroom on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Crease is the word: Origami fans flock to online paper store

Kim’s Crane in Snohomish has been supplying paper crafters with paper, books and kits since 1995.

The 2025 Nissan Murano midsize SUV has two rows of seats and a five-passenger capacity. (Photo provided by Nissan)
2025 Nissan Murano is a whole new machine

A total redesign introduces the fourth generation of this elegant midsize SUV.

A woman flips through a book at the Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Pop some tags at Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley

$20 buys an outfit, a unicycle — or a little Macklemore magic. Sales support the food bank.

The Mukilteo Boulevard Homer on Monday, May 12, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Homer Hedge’: A Simpsons meme takes root in Everett — D’oh!

Homer has been lurking in the bushes on West Mukilteo Boulevard since 2023. Stop by for a selfie.

Sarah and Cole Rinehardt, owners of In The Shadow Brewing, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Arlington, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In The Shadow Brewing: From backyard brews to downtown cheers

Everything seems to have fallen into place at the new taproom location in downtown Arlington

Bar manager Faith Britton pours a beer for a customer at the Madison Avenue Pub in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burgers, brews and blues: Madison Avenue Pub has it all

Enjoy half-price burgers on Tuesday, prime rib specials and live music at the Everett mainstay.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.