There are arguments that will never be settled in Ireland. The greatest GAA player of all time. The best county. The finest cup of tea. But perhaps the most passionate debate of all — the one that turns quiet men into fierce advocates and sends fiddle players into fits of righteous indignation — is this: where in Ireland will you find the very best traditional music session?
A good session is not merely a performance. It is a gathering, an unspoken conversation between musicians who may never have met before that evening, a living piece of Irish culture that has survived centuries, emigration, and the relentless march of pop music. We have ranked ten of the finest venues in Ireland for traditional folk music — and we fully expect you to disagree with us. That is, in fact, the point.
10. Teach Hiúdaí Beag, Bunbeg, County Donegal
Out on the rugged Donegal Gaeltacht coast, where Irish is still the everyday language and the Atlantic wind comes in sideways, you will find Teach Hiúdaí Beag — Hugh’s Bar, to non-Irish speakers. Sessions here feel genuinely ancient. The musicians arrive without announcement, settle in by the fire, and begin. The repertoire leans heavily on the Donegal fiddle tradition, arguably the most distinctive regional style in Ireland, with a bowing technique that digs deep into the rhythm and sets your feet moving before you have even registered it. If you want a session that feels truly rooted in the landscape around it, start here.
9. McKenna’s Bar, Listowel, County Kerry
Listowel is a literary town — home of the legendary Writers’ Week festival and more than its fair share of poets and storytellers. McKenna’s Bar is where the music meets the words. Sessions here have a warmth and informality that reflects the town itself: welcoming to visitors, but with a core of local regulars who know every tune and every player by name. The Kerry musical tradition is richly represented, with polkas and slides that you simply will not hear in the same form anywhere north of the Munster border. Come for the music; stay for the conversation.
8. Sean’s Bar, Athlone, County Westmeath
Sean’s Bar holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest pub in Ireland — established around 900 AD, give or take a decade. When you pull up a stool here and listen to a fiddle player launch into a set of reels, you are sitting in a building that has been offering shelter and hospitality for over a thousand years. The sessions are held regularly throughout the year and draw musicians from the surrounding midlands counties. There is something quietly extraordinary about hearing music that is centuries old in a room that is older still. Our readers in County Westmeath will no doubt have strong feelings about this one — we have already been exploring the best pubs County Westmeath has to offer.
7. O’Flaherty’s, Dingle, County Kerry
Dingle draws visitors from all over the world, and with good reason. But even among the town’s many fine establishments, O’Flaherty’s stands apart. Covered in musical memorabilia, photographs, and handwritten poems, it feels less like a pub and more like a living museum of the tradition — except the museum comes alive every evening with sessions that can go on well past midnight. The Flaherty family have been hosting music here for generations, and there is a genuine sense of custodianship about the place. This is a pub that takes the music seriously without ever taking itself seriously.
6. Tigh Coili, Galway City
If you have ever wandered the narrow streets of Galway’s Latin Quarter on a summer evening, you will have heard the sound pouring out of Tigh Coili long before you reached the door. This tiny, always-packed pub on Mainguard Street is one of the most reliably excellent session venues in the country. The music starts early and the standard is consistently high — you are likely to find yourself elbow-to-elbow with some of the most accomplished trad players in Connacht on any given evening. There is no stage. The musicians sit wherever there is room, and the boundary between performers and audience dissolves completely. That is the Irish session at its finest.
5. The Cobblestone, Smithfield, Dublin
Dublin has not always been known as a stronghold of traditional music — that reputation belongs more to Clare, Kerry, and Galway. But The Cobblestone in Smithfield has spent decades quietly proving that argument wrong. It is a proper traditional pub: no televisions, no fruit machines, no DJ booth. Just music, conversation, and Guinness poured to perfection. Sessions run multiple nights a week, and the standard is remarkable. When a property developer threatened to build over part of the site in 2021, hundreds of Dubliners marched in protest and thousands more signed a petition. That response told you everything about what The Cobblestone means to this city.
4. Morrissey’s Pub, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, County Waterford
Waterford is sometimes overlooked in conversations about traditional music, which is precisely what makes Morrissey’s such a discovery. This is a pub that does everything right: unhurried service, an atmosphere that makes you want to linger, and sessions that showcase the distinctive south Munster traditions. Flute players in particular seem to gravitate here, and the flute sets — long sequences of jigs and reels played without pause — have a momentum that is almost hypnotic. Pack a car and make a weekend of Dungarvan. You will not regret it.
3. Matt Molloy’s, Westport, County Mayo
Matt Molloy is the flautist of The Chieftains, one of the most celebrated traditional groups in Irish musical history. His pub in Westport has been a pilgrimage destination for traditional music lovers since he opened it in 1989, and it has never coasted on that reputation. The sessions here are exceptional — drawing in musicians of the highest calibre, often without any announcement or fanfare. Westport itself is one of Ireland’s most charming towns, and a session at Matt Molloy’s followed by a walk along the Carrowbeg River the following morning is a combination that stays with you. The craic in Westport is legendary for good reason.
2. O’Connor’s Pub, Doolin, County Clare
There are those who will tell you that Doolin has become too touristy, that the sessions at O’Connor’s are no longer what they once were, that the real music has moved on. These people have not been to O’Connor’s recently. The pub remains one of the most atmospheric music venues in Ireland — low-ceilinged, perpetually full, situated in a tiny village on the edge of the Burren where the land ends and the sea begins. Clare musicians play here, and the Clare tradition — particularly the fiddle and concertina styles associated with legends like Noel Hill and Bobby Casey — is among the most celebrated in the country. You may be sharing the room with forty other tourists. You will not care, because the music will demand your entire attention.
1. O’Donoghue’s, Merrion Row, Dublin
There is a framed photograph on the wall of O’Donoghue’s that stopped us cold the first time we saw it. It shows four young men — barely out of their teens, by the look of them — crammed into a corner with their instruments. Those young men were Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, and Ciarán Bourke. They became The Dubliners. And this is the pub where they played their first sessions together in the early 1960s.
That history would be enough to earn O’Donoghue’s a place on any list. But what keeps it at number one is not nostalgia — it is the fact that the sessions here are still extraordinary. The pub has been running continuous traditional music sessions for over sixty years. Musicians come from every county and every tradition. On a good night — and most nights are good nights at O’Donoghue’s — you will hear something that reminds you why this music has survived everything the world has thrown at it. You leave lighter than you arrived. That is the whole point.
The Session That No List Can Capture
Here is what we know about traditional music sessions in Ireland: the best one you have ever heard was almost certainly in a pub that does not appear on any list. It may have been in a tiny village in Leitrim on a Tuesday evening in November, with seven musicians who happened to be in the same room at the same time and decided, without discussion, to play. That is how the tradition works. It lives in the unplanned moments, the spontaneous gatherings, the sessions that materialise from nothing and leave everyone present feeling as though they witnessed something rare.
The pubs above are remarkable because they create the conditions for those moments to happen, night after night, year after year. The music that plays in the best pubs in County Donegal, and in every great music pub across Ireland, is not background noise. It is the point of the evening.
We know you disagree with us. We know you have a pub, a session, a particular Tuesday evening in your memory that belongs higher on this list — or deserves its own list entirely. Tell us in the comments: where is the best traditional music session you have ever witnessed in Ireland? Which pub did we leave out? Which one should not be here at all?
And if you would like a weekly dose of Ireland’s music, heritage, and hidden places delivered to your inbox every weekday, subscribe free to Love Ireland. No spam. No nonsense. Just Ireland, as it really is.
Tours & experiences you might love
Powered by Viator. Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Secure Your Dream Irish Experience Before It’s Gone!
Planning a trip to Ireland? Don’t let sold-out tours or packed attractions spoil your journey. Iconic experiences like visiting the Cliffs of Moher, exploring the Rock of Cashel, or enjoying a guided walk through Ireland’s ancient past often sell out quickly—especially during peak travel seasons.
Booking in advance guarantees your place and ensures you can fully immerse yourself in the rich culture and breathtaking scenery without stress or disappointment. You’ll also free up time to explore Ireland’s hidden gems and savour those authentic moments that make your trip truly special.
Make the most of your journey—start planning today and secure those must-do experiences before they’re gone!