Trad / Ballad Pub Sessions in Athlone - 30th April/1st May

JethroC

Hi all. Myself and the old man are heading to Athlone for the night on one of the dates above and are wondering what's the town centre pubs like for Trad & Ballad Sessions? If anyone can give some suggestions as to where's best to go to? Cheers...

martin1

As far as I know there is a nice session or sorta singalong,

maybe not all trad but good craic anyway in Flannerys pub on Sat nights.
Its beside Dunnes in Irishtown.

I was there a couple of weeks ago and there was a few guitars,an accordian and a very nice 5string banjo doing some bluegrass.

Check it out

Saint_Mel

martin1 wrote: »

As far as I know there is a nice session or sorta singalong,

maybe not all trad but good craic anyway in Flannerys pub on Sat nights.
Its beside Dunnes in Irishtown.

The only danger in Flannerys is that they are not very open to "outsiders" and if you are there don't dare talk, even in a whisper, while the performance is on or you risk getting told to feck off by Anne

martin1

I think st mel that you exaggerate slightly in your review of Flannerys.

The locals therein have a healty respect and a natural empathy with the inhouse musicians.........a talented bunch one and all.

So on the rare occasions when the house has to be called to order, it is really only for the benefit of those true music aficionados, who are there week in week out.

In other words when someones singin
shut the **** up

JethroC

Thanks for the replys...I'm just looking for something simple and authtentic.
Sounds like Flannerys is the right place, even if they are serious about their music!
martin1...you say it's in Irishtown? Is that far from the Castle?

BoB_BoT

it's the other side of town. It's right next door to front entrance (Drapery dept) of the Dunnes Stores, near Golden Island.

tubos

Sean's bar usually has a bit of trad, well it has any time I've been there.

JethroC

I found Flannerys on the map. Looks like about a 10 min walk from where we're staying which is just up the road from Sean's bar. We'll take a look in there too...I've seen a few people mention it in different threads here.

martin1

Come to think of it, something tells me that theres no session there on Bank holidays............

I could be wrong, but check it out anyway.

JethroC

Thanks for everyone's help. Ended up in Sean's for most of Saturday. Great trad session on from 6 there and also good to see that they don't have any TVs in the main bar. A fair amount of tourists were there but it still manages to retain a lot of regulars too. It was nice to see even in a tourist pub that they don't over charge for drink with the rounds coming in fairly cheaper than in Dublin. Also got to The Castle Inn for the rugby. Nice pub. Would definitely head back again...