Irish trad sessions – sharing music and the craic

Anne Brady
Anne Brady
Anne Brady wanted a way to find traditional music venues in Ireland where she could meet up with other musicians. Her solution was to set up a website called findtradfolk that lists sessions all across the country.

There is nothing like a good trad session. The banter and music all adds to a great night and it really brings people together.

It is the sessions that have kept Irish music alive. It’s wonderful that when you put the hard work in and learn to play an instrument you can have the opportunity to share it and experience the “craic” in a trad session.

Where is the fun sitting at home playing by yourself?

The beauty of traditional Irish music is the community that comes with it and it also gives the chance to hear how other people play different tunes, variations and so on.

Finding trad sessions all over Ireland

It can be difficult, however to find a session in an area you don’t know well. What’s more, when you first start going to sessions and you don’t know many people in the trad scene it can be even harder to know where to go.

I’m from Cavan originally and when I moved up to Dublin for university I didn’t know any sessions to go to. It was only after being in Dublin quite some time that I began to get familiar with the scene up there. Recently I have moved house again but I won’t have that problem this time round.

Findtradfolk is a directory of regular traditional Irish sessions all over Ireland. When I created this website I wanted to solve a problem for many musicians, whether you have been playing years and you have moved to a new area or just starting to learn and want to find a beginners session. Sessions can be found by county, town, day and time. It’s a simple idea but no other entertainment website had the facility and I think it was really needed.

Venues both small and famous

Since the start of Findtradfolk in August many pubs and musicians around the country have gotten in touch to include their sessions on Findtradfolk. Some are well known spots like O’Donoghues in Dublin. This is one of Dublin’s oldest and most famous bars and has Irish music every night of the week. It’s a great spot for people that want somewhere really lively any night of the week.

Other pubs on Findtradfolk are less well known like Maggies Bar in Killeshandra, a small village in Co. Cavan or Larry’s Bar in Prosperous, Kildare. There are so many pubs in quiet villages around Ireland that are so easy to miss but I hope that with the help of Findtradfolk this won’t be the case anymore.

To find sessions around Ireland check out Findtradfolk website.