Continuing to plan our October trip, grateful for the input about train travel.
We plan to spend about a week in County Clare, taking a train to Galway and spending a few days there, then by bus to Doolin and then Westport in County Mayo. Our #1 interest is good, authentic trad sessions. On past trips we've enjoyed outstanding sessions in Dingle and Dublin. We were in Doolin briefly 20 years ago but from what I'm reading it has gotten much more developed and crowded, and reviews are mixed as to whether it's worth it or is too touristy.
My questions: Is Doolin still a good destination for music (again, we'd be there in early Oct)? Would Ennis be better? Are there other County Clare towns reachable by public transportation that we should consider? Any lodging suggestions for Doolin and/or Westport?
Many thanks, all.
Posted by
Washington, DC USA
546 posts
I heard trad music in Doolin in 2018 at McGann's and at McDermott's. I thought it was great but I have no background or experience for comparison. The audience/customers in both seemed to be a mix of tourists and locals. There were definitely plenty of tourists but I assumed that ;the folks arriving in pickup trucks must have been locals. In addition to the scheduled performers, there were people with instruments playing outside between sets. There were definite schedules of performers; people did not just drop by with their instruments and join in -- I don't know if that is what you mean by "developed." My only other experiences were at the Poet's Corner pub in Ennis which if I remember maybe had just one group for the evening and was a little more upscale for dining but also very enjoyable, and the Western Hotel pub in Galway where some musicians known to the other performers did seem to drop in aout over the evening and where I seemed to be one of the very few in the audience who didn't personally know the musicians.
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
814 posts
Doolin is more reliable than Ennis (IMHO). Try sessions.org for the latest. Or FB. Wed. night is Blackie O'Connell at McDermotts.
We were in Doolin in 1995 and thought it was a tourist trap. We avoided it for many years, but returned recently, and thought it was not as bad as we remembered.