A pint and a drop there please, Jim.

Traditional Irish music has not always been the most popular music genre, especially, and oddly, in Ireland.

Thankfully, there have always been those who have tended the flame and sat cosily by it on a Sunday night with a pint of porter.

Now, traditional Irish music is more popular than ever (especially when the lockdown period of the pandemic showed us what we were missing) and there are several venues around town that do a great weekly session, with some of the best Irish music players in the biz.

Here’s a small selection to check out this weekend: 

An Spailpín Fánach

The Spailpín Fánach is another absolute treasure in Cork City. It was founded in 1779 and sits across from the newly renovated Beamish & Crawford brewery.

The Spailpín hosts Trad from Wednesdays to Sundays, from around 9pm onwards. Musicians are welcome to come and join every week, so if you’re secretly a fiddle-maestro, you can cut your teeth in the bar’s welcoming surrounds.

Sin É

The festive season is in full swing over at Sin É on Coburg Street. With no reservations required, they’ve got live music seven days a week, winter warmers to keep Jack Frost at bay and a fantastic crowd every evening. Live gigs take place every day from 6:30pm-8:30pm and 9pm-11pm.

O’Sho

O’Sho has just announced, Live Window Trad, which will take place on  Saturdays from 5pm-7pm with Muireann Ní Sheaghdha and Aoife Blake Music holding down the fort. If the bar is full you can always bring your own fold-out chair (or stand) and enjoy some tunes on the street!

The Welcome Inn

Thursday is the weekend, right? The Welcome Inn does a weekly “Ballads and Banjos” every Thursday from 9.30pm with “acoustic guitar, banjos, fiddle and mandolin combine for a high energy performance of some of your favourite tunes”.

The Gables

Douglas Street is no stranger to amazing music and The Gables is one of those long-standing Cork pubs that are part of the architecture of the city. Call in on a Sunday night from 9pm and get your fill of Trad before the weekend is out.

Hup! We’re on the road again…