Traditional Irish music in the mid-20th century did not enjoy the revered position it now holds in Galway.
Prior to the early 1960s, traditional Irish music in Galway was much less noticeable and its performance limited. The settings for the playing of Irish music were confined to rural, semi-private and domestic sessions at home with relatives, neighbours and friends.
This was known as the “rambling house tradition”- nightly, unannounced visits for music, dancing and storytelling. However, this was fading, and it was replaced by the very often chaotic sessions in pubs.
Prior to this, singing and music in pubs were generally frowned upon and those who broke into song were likely to be thrown out. There were two exceptions to this, Cullen’s Bar (now An Púcán ) in Forster Street and The Eagle Bar (now Wilde’s Bar ) at the corner of William Street West.
East Galway, in particular, was a stronghold for fiddlers like Paddy Fahey and musicians like Joe Burke who defined the era with lyrical, distinct melodies, while the city saw a resurgence through pub sessions at venues like ‘Monroe’s Tavern’.
Seán Ó Riada was a key figure in paving the way for the revival of the 1960s.
In the early 1960s, public performances of traditional music in the form of céilís became popular in large dancehalls, namely ‘the Hangar’ in Salthill, ‘the Commercial’ in Dungannon, Tyrone and ‘the Astaire’ in Galway city.
These ballrooms were enormously popular - some may recall the hundreds of bicycles parked outside the Hangar on a Sunday night.
A key moment in the rebirth of trad music in the 60s was when Dick Byrne and his pal Joe Hegarty opened their own club in 1963 - ‘The Fo’Castle Folk Club’. It was located in the yard of the Enda Hotel on Dominick Street. The club became a stepping stone in the emergence of a number of important groups.
One of those was Sweeney’s Men composed of Joe Dolan, Andy Irvine and Johnny Moynihan who ‘helped define a new identity and pride for traditional music and had a major influence on future groups such as Planxty, De Dannan and the Bothy Band.’ This now unlocked the ‘Golden Age’ of trad music in the 1970s.
While these dances and sessions drew huge crowds throughout the 1960s, by the following decade they were considered ‘old-fashioned’ and were largely associated with poverty by young people at that time.
Traditional music making is a major factor in Galway's development into a cultural city today. Strolling down Shop Street, the wailing trad music greets the visitors to Galway. It can be heard through speakers from Taaffe’s Bar, or on a fine day, drifting through open windows of Tigh Chóilí’s across the street.
Traditional music sessions take place twice a day, every day of the week, all year round. It's the mould of the city and will remain that way for eternity.
