Fleadh Nua music festival - Ennis in May-June

Hi Julie, I was considering posting a similar question, but you beat me to it! Our schedule is only going to allow a couple of nights, and attending events on the first Wednesday of the festival. We hope it doesn’t have overwhelming crowds, but will be there for that short time, regardless. The music promises to be outstanding! Maybe you’ve seen this, but here’s last year’s program, if it provides any idea of what you might expect:

https://www.fleadhnua.com/images/2022/Fleadh_Nua_2022_Programme_v2.pdf

The only Ennis B&B recommended in Rick Steves’ 2020 guidebook (much cheaper than the 2 hotels) appears to have gone out of business. His book does say that rooms book up fast for the festival, and I’ve found another well-rated B&B an 8 minute walk from the center of town. On our previous trip that included several nights in County Clare, some were in Lisdoonvarna, close to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren. If you opt to have 2 nights on Ennis and 2 nights elsewhere, look at Lisdoonvarna.

It looks like weekends are full of a variety of events, based on last year’s program. Less so for Wednesday last year, but even it was plenty for a Trad fan (which I bet you’ll become) to savor.

Thank you Cyn! I pored through RS's book a while back, but that was before we knew we were coming to this area. I'll go back to re-read and also check out the website to see last year's program. We're staying at Newpark House, and if we decided to do the additional 2 nights elsewhere, we will take a look at Lisdoonvarna. Let me know if you have a specific place to recommend there or elsewhere in the Burren.

JulieMcD, it appears that you’ve got a great place for 2 (or 4) nights in Ennis. Maybe someone here can still give us an indication how crowded (or not) this festival has gotten in the past. I can understand if it’s popular, but hopefully the venues manage visitors well. And for the after 8pm music, it appears there are several pubs involved, so if one place gets too packed, move down the street a few doors.

Our Lisdoonvarna stay was 10 years ago, actually, at a place a mile or two west of town. Sadly, it appears they may no longer be operating … I unfortunately don’t recall the name, or have old contact info readily available. They had a wonderful Jack the donkey as part of a farm next door, and the woman who ran it made the most fabulous breakfasts. One menu option upon request was an omelet with outstanding local smoked salmon. A Norwegian woman originally moved to Lisdoonvarna and set up a smokehouse. A little online research just now suggests a man named Vladimir runs it now - maybe it changed hands, but apparently he runs tours of the operation, including samples. We ate twice at the Wild Honey Inn, which was a charming little place with good food, and emphasized organic. It turns out now that they have earned a Michelin star! And their rooms are undoubtedly pricier than a decade ago, but they must still be really nice. It appears there still are lots of B&B’s and other lodging places in town. Not sure about music venues in Lisdoonvarna, though :)

We have been to the festival and loved it. It was crowded but not so much that you couldn’t sit and enjoy the music. We even got to see the children dance. The music was magnificent as were the people and the food. On pub was crowded but a lovely couple offered to share their table with us.

We did take a road trip one day to the Burren. Stop at https://www.burrenwine.ie/ on the way for tea and a sweet or for lunch. We stopped here and enjoyed a Bakewell tart and some hot tea. I still think about this place.

We stayed in the city and it wasn’t a problem to get in/ out at all.

Have fun!

Hi All, we'll be in area 5/23-30, just came across this on www: https://www.fleadhnua.com/ for 2023 . Sounds great. Also understand that Doolin is a big trad music place. Have started looking at B&Bs, lots of occupancy already, agree Lisdoonvarna seems promising.