For a city
with a population of less than 80,000 souls, Galway certainly tends to punch
above its weight.
More than 23,000
full-time students help the city’s bars to maintain a thriving trade through
the wet and windy winter months, but it’s in summer time that Ireland’s western
capital really comes into its own.
There is
hardly a weekend between April and October when the city’s citizens are not
celebrating one festival or another, from the major international Arts Festival
in July to raucous celebrations of film, literature, music, theatre, and all
things culinary.
If you do
happen to visit the City of the Tribes during the forthcoming peak season, for
what it’s worth, here is a local’s guide to the ten pubs you must visit if you
really want to sample the best of the night life the city has to offer.
An Pucan
A pub which
underwent a major renovation after new owners took it over a couple of years
ago, the new-look An Pucan has become a huge favourite on the locals’ social
scene. Boasting live music seven nights a week, good food, and a cavernous beer
garden, the pub is a huge hit with students and young professionals at
weekends.
Also popular
with sports fans, the pub has become a 21st century Galway institution
and regularly wins awards for the quality and innovation of its social media
campaigns.
O’Connell’s
Eyre Square
Once a small
grocery and bar, O’Connell’s boasts a fantastic location in the heart of the
city. Overlooking the green space in John F. Kennedy Park, where the late US
President addressed a huge crowd just months before his assassination in 1963,
it has been trading solely as a pub since the 1970s. It also has one of the
best beer gardens in the city.
A preserved
building, the pub’s stunning, traditional décor includes tiled floors and
stained glass windows, with historic photographs on the walls. It attracts a
diverse clientele throughout the year, although it is particularly popular with
professionals (who frequent the pub after work in the early evenings) and rugby
fans. The home ground of the Connacht rugby team, currently enjoying their best
ever season, is just a five minute stroll away.
Tig Coili
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| Photo; Aidan Coughlan |
Mainguard
Street
If you
wander the narrow streets of Galway in search of a lively, impromptu
traditional music session, chances are you will end up in this pub in the heart
of the pedestrian zone. During the peak tourist season it can be almost
impossible to get a table, as many of the region’s finest musicians are
regularly found here belting out the tunes free of charge. ‘Tig’,incidentally,
is Gaelic for “the house of” and affable owner Coili is hugely popular with the
punters.
Often the
musicians just sit around a table, without any amplification, so getting in
early to grab a good vantage point should be at the top of your priorities for
the evening. The pub has an attractive outdoor seating area, where you can
watch the world go by on sunny afternoons. Some of the city’s best buskers
regularly set up for the day right outside the front door.
19 Shop
Street
Just up the
street from Tig Coili, this is another pub which has been synonymous with music
in Galway for many years. Amplification is actively encouraged here as guest
bands blast out the ballads and rebel songs for a young, lively crowd.
The pub has
been owned by the Lally family, who have had strong connections with both the
Connemara Gaeltacht and Galway’s Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) teams for
many years. It’s a great place to sing along to ballads, to watch a GAA game in
summer, or to hear locals speaking their native tongue.
 |
| Photo: Aidan Coughlan |
Tigh Neachtain
17 Cross
Street
Local
comedian John Donnellan recently quipped that you need to drink in Tigh
Neachtain at least three or four nights a week if you are to be considered a
“serious artist” in Galway. There was an element of truth to his provocative
claim, as many a novel, poem, or screenplay was conjured up – if not quite
completed – within the pub’s four walls.
With a
splendid location in the heart of the city’s Latin Quarter, good food from the
stylish restaurant upstairs, open fireplaces, and live music, this has been a
firm favourite with a Bohemian otoclientele for decades. It’s also a great place
to watch the world go by from the outside seating area in high summer.
McGinn’s Hop House
19 Woodquay
http://www.mcginnshophouse.com/
This new pub
in the historic Woodquay area showcases the boom in craft beers which has taken
place across Ireland over the past five years or so. With 18 types of beer on
draught, you will be spoilt for choice when you enter this friendly bar which
is a big hit with the city’s sports fans and native Irish speakers.
Although
it’s one of the newest additions to the Galway pub scene, the affable Fergus
McGinn has over two decades of experience in the pub trade behind him. Killer
pizzas and slow roast meats, cooked around a wood-fired oven, set this premises
apart from the competition.
The Salt House
Raven
Terrace
http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/salthouse/
There is
nothing particularly notable about the décor or lay-out of this pub, tucked
away beside a canal on the west side of the River Corrib. A lot of Galway pubs
are brighter, breezier, and bigger, but none can match the sheer variety of
craft beers available at The Salt House. This place boasts 120 varieties of
bottled craft beers from all around the world, and 21 different types of beer
on draught at any one time.
The bar
staff here are knowledgeable and passionate about their beers, so much so that
they love to make recommendations about their favourite brews. You could spend
an entire week sampling the wide variety of beers here, some of which are
brewed locally in Galway. Just don’t ask for a Guinness or a Heineken when you
make it to the top of the queue!
Monroe’s Tavern
Dominick
Street Upper
This
cavernous venue on three floors is a Galway institution, as it has been owned
and run by the same family for decades. You can find traditional Irish
set-dancing, rousing ballads, and good food on the ground floor; while the late
night upstairs bar features visiting acts seven nights a week.
Late night
bars have taken over from night clubs somewhat on the Galway social scene in
recent years and venues such as Monroe’s, the Front Door, and The Dail cater
for those who want to enjoy a late drink after the ‘normal’ pub closing time.
Roisin Dubh
 |
| Photo: Aidan Coughlan |
Lower
Dominick Street
Just a
stone’s throw away from Monroe’s, you will find the city’s other main live
music venue in the part of the city known to locals as ‘The West’. Roisin Dubh
is probably the best place to see touring live international and national rock
bands in Galway, while it also provides a welcome stage for emerging local
artists.
Some of
Ireland’s best live acts, such as Le Galaxie, Villagers, and Two Door Cinema
Club started playing free shows here on Thursday nights and the venue is also a
huge hit with the city’s comedy fans. Management at the Roisin also put on
occasional gigs at bigger venues such as the Seapoint ballroom in Salthill, and
co-promote the music programme for the Big Top at the Galway International Arts
Festival in July.
O’Connor’s
Upper Salthill
The sleepy seaside suburb of Salthill might not have the night life to
match Galway’s thriving city centre, but it boasts one of the most attractive
pubs in the city in O’Connor’s, which has been run by the same family since
1942.
First established in 1845, the pub is as famous for its hospitality as
its free live music sessions. One of the country’s original singing pubs, its
décor has to be seen to be believed. Not too many pubs across Ireland boast a
bicycle hanging from the ceiling!
* An edited version of this article was published by IrishCentral.com on Wednesday, May 18.
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