Dingle Peninsula, Ireland- Travel Squire

Trad Music on the Dingle Peninsula

There’s something in traditional Irish music that speaks to the soul. Whether it’s a jig, a reel or a haunting fiddle tune, it calls to you. It made sense for it to speak to my husband; his great-great-grandfather arrived from Cork during the famine. I’ve always yearned for the Ireland experience and I don’t have an Irish bone in my body. The minute I arrived there though, I felt I’d come home.

No Ireland trip would be complete without going to a pub to hear the local musicians. One of the reasons we chose the Dingle Peninsula for a week’s stay was the vital traditional (trad) music scene there. We rented a cottage at Dunquin, west of the town of An Daingean (Dingle) at the northern end of the famous Sleahead scenic drive. We had a million dollar view of the ocean, the Blasket Islands and the setting sun from our living room window.

The only thing my husband wanted to take home from Ireland was an Éilís Kennedy CD. She’s not exactly a household name, even in Ireland. On our first day there, the first person we asked had an answer. It turned out Kennedy was a local and she and her husband owned John Benny’s Pub in Dingle. The place is a hub for trad music with live performers every night. We headed there for lunch and the CD, of course. The performance board in the window announced that Kennedy would be performing on Friday, our last night in Dingle.

Walking around town that same day we discovered Siopa Ceoil an Daingin, a music shop tucked away on Main Street. On a lazy afternoon you’re apt to find Michael Herlihy, the owner of this tiny traditional music treasure trove, playing the bodhran (an Irish drum) or some other Celtic instrument. Chat him up or just browse his selection and he may offer you a glass of Irish whiskey. We left with a new CD in hand and an invitation to hear him play that evening at An Droichead Beag (The Small Bridge Pub), one of THE places to go in Dingle to hear trad music.

After dinner, we drove back to town on tiny roads in what the Irish call a “soft rain” eagerly anticipating our pub crawl. In case you don’t know, a pub in Ireland is a gathering place for local musicians and if visiting musicians drop by they’re often invited to join in. You can sometimes even catch a well-known musician sitting in on a session. That night it was standing-room only but the music was delayed as there was an important soccer match on the wide-screen. Even in Dingle, it was clear what the priority was. When it finally began though, the music was electrifying and the performances top notch. Some visiting musicians from North Carolina sat in and the female fiddler was the one to watch. Feet were tapping all over the place and it was “good craic” (fun), as the Irish say.

Our last night in town came too soon and we were at last off to John Benny’s Pub to hear Éilís Kennedy. The pub was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night but there were about a dozen people in the back where the trio had set up. Her clear voice and equally clear blue eyes gave Kennedy’s music a haunting quality. As the evening wore on, one by one people went home and by the end, we were enjoying our very own private concert. It was a night to remember. My husband’s wish was fulfilled and then some. He got a personalized performance.

Dingle has much more to offer visitors than trad music. The wild beauty of the rugged coastline is unchanged in some places, looking much like it did thousands of years ago. It’s as if you’ve stepped back in time. There are many historic and even pre-historic sites to see. An Daingean is a magical place and we’ll be back.

Renting a cottage as we did is my advice if you’re staying for more than a few days. We cooked most of our dinners taking advantage of the bounty of locally-raised meat and poultry and of the daily fresh fish catch. In summer, there’s delicious local produce to be had. Leaving was hard, but we were rewarded with dolphins as we crossed the Shannon River by ferry. We took that as a positive sign. Sláinte!

Pubs with traditional Irish music:

John Benny’s PubStrand Street, Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland

353-66-9151215

www.johnbennyspub.com

Photos courtesy of John Benny’s Pub Photo Credit: Eilis Kennedy and John Benny Moriarty

An Droichead Beag (The Small Bridge)

Main Street, Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland

353-66-915-1381

The Marina Inn – music every evening during the summer and Thursdays and Sundays the rest of the year.

Strand Street, Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland

353-66-915-1660

Also recommended by local musicians:

O’Flaherty’s Pub – opened in 1846 and is still going strong. Owner/musician Fergus O’Flaherty presents live music every night in summer and on weekends the rest of the year. You are apt to find him playing with the other music-makers present. According to Mazzarella (Mazz) Flaherty, owner of the Dingle Record Shop, a tiny space on Green Street, her brother “plays everything you put in front of him and what a balladeer.”

The Squire’s Scoop – From May through September, uilleann piper Eoin Duignan, organizes and hosts a series of concerts at St. James Church, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The concerts feature Duignan playing with other Dingle musicians. The church is small and the concerts popular. Buy tickets in advance, on sale around town.

The Peninsula has several festivals offering trad music:

Late February brings Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh, a trad festival in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh (Ballyferriter). www.scoilcheoil.com/endefault.htm

The festival of Beltane, harking back to pre-Christian days is still celebrated in Dingle. Feile na Bealtiane celebrates the ancient May Day rites with a wide variety of events that take place all around the Dingle Peninsula. You can hear poetry in pubs, watch street theater, go to a trad concert, a book launch, even sheepdog trials. There is also a political symposium held every year in late April or early May; the 2011 dates are April 28^th through May 2^nd.

The Trad Fusion Festival – debuting this September, this will be a new annual event. According to their website, the event will “provide a platform for both national and internationally acclaimed performing artists to showcase modern and original talents within the usually more traditional environment that is the Dingle Peninsula.” www.dingletradfest.com

*If you’re in Dingle and want to know what’s going on, Mossy Donegan publishes West Kerry Live every two weeks. The magazine is available all around the peninsula in shops, tourist bureaus, hotels, and cafes; “everywhere” according to Donegan. He says if something’s happening on the Dingle Peninsula, it will be listed. The magazine is also available on the web. www.westkerrylive.ie/

Dingle News www.dinglenews.com/home.asp

Music shops:

Siopa Ceoil an Daingin www.siopaceoil.ie/home.php?lang=english

Main Street, Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland

353-66-915-2618

Dingle Record Shop www.dinglerecordshop.com/index.php

Green Street, Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland

353-87-298-4550