A New Yorker Steps into a Pub...
Friday, April 18 (Thurles, Ireland) - A day into my stay at the Crossogue Equestrian Center in Thurles, Ireland, I was invited to join some locals and their guests for a ‘truly authentic Irish experience’ that I would not be able to see anywhere else. Sign me up! So I squeezed into a car with six other people, and off we went to Jim of the Mills, someone's home that operates as a pub one night per week.
The right side of the house has a bar with one beer on tap: Guinness (finally had my first one in Ireland!) and the left side of the house has a room small room packed with chairs and an open fireplace. As guests trickled in, the true fun began. It started with about six older men and women, each with a different instrument jamming along to traditional Irish songs. One instrument would start and the rest would follow, building upon the melody with an orchestra of sounds. Before I knew it, the room was packed with adults and children of all ages, and I’d say 75% of them arrived with an instrument in hand or a voice ready to sing. From accordions to harps, guitars and banjoes to flutes, the instruments and singing voices came together in harmony and miraculously knew when to fade out.
At around 11:30PM, a tray of black pudding on soda bread was passed around to the musicians and guests (looked and tasted sort of like a falafel!) as the music continued deep into the morning hours. I then Googled what black pudding is, and (sorry mom) it is definitely NOT kosher!
Traditional Irish music, especially in jam band style, is not very common, and I heard that there are only four authentic places in the country where you can experience it. Even though it was a bit hard to wake up to ride the next morning, it was well worth it and I’m sure it will be one of the highlights of my whole trip.
Sorry for the poor quality of the video, but I wanted to try to capture the essence of what this night was all about:
The right side of the house has a bar with one beer on tap: Guinness (finally had my first one in Ireland!) and the left side of the house has a room small room packed with chairs and an open fireplace. As guests trickled in, the true fun began. It started with about six older men and women, each with a different instrument jamming along to traditional Irish songs. One instrument would start and the rest would follow, building upon the melody with an orchestra of sounds. Before I knew it, the room was packed with adults and children of all ages, and I’d say 75% of them arrived with an instrument in hand or a voice ready to sing. From accordions to harps, guitars and banjoes to flutes, the instruments and singing voices came together in harmony and miraculously knew when to fade out.
At around 11:30PM, a tray of black pudding on soda bread was passed around to the musicians and guests (looked and tasted sort of like a falafel!) as the music continued deep into the morning hours. I then Googled what black pudding is, and (sorry mom) it is definitely NOT kosher!
Traditional Irish music, especially in jam band style, is not very common, and I heard that there are only four authentic places in the country where you can experience it. Even though it was a bit hard to wake up to ride the next morning, it was well worth it and I’m sure it will be one of the highlights of my whole trip.
Sorry for the poor quality of the video, but I wanted to try to capture the essence of what this night was all about:
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