Sessions on Bridge Street: Westport's Trad-Music Pubs

A town that punches above its weight

For a town of around six thousand people, Westport has a remarkable reputation for traditional music. It centres on Bridge Street, the steep run of painted pubs climbing up from the river, and on one pub in particular. If you come to Westport for one thing after the mountain and the Greenway, make it a session.

Matt Molloy's

Matt Molloy's is the anchor. It is owned by Matt Molloy, the flautist of the Chieftains, one of the most celebrated traditional musicians Ireland has produced, and he has run the pub since 1989, on the site of a bar that dates back to 1896. There is live music most nights of the week in the famous back room, and the 1993 live album Music at Matt Molloy's, recorded right there, is one of the best-known Irish session records anywhere.

Sessions usually start around half past nine on weeknights and a little earlier, around eight, on Fridays and Saturdays, though times shift, so check on the night. There is no cover charge; the price of admission is the price of a pint. Get in early if you want a seat near the music, because it fills up, especially in summer.

The Porter House and beyond

Matt Molloy's is not the only show in town. The Porter House on Bridge Street has won recognition as one of the best music bars in Ireland and runs live sessions twice a day, seven days a week, with extra afternoon sessions at the weekend. Entry is free and visiting musicians are made welcome. Up on High Street, J. McGing's, a bright old pub more than a century old, has music most nights and a long-standing tradition of free sandwich trays on a Friday evening.

The pattern across the town tends to be trad earlier in the evening, turning livelier and more varied as the night goes on. Impromptu sessions are common, and you might catch anything from bluegrass to a visiting choir depending on who is in town.

How to behave at a session

A trad session is not a concert, and it is worth understanding the difference. The musicians are playing for each other as much as for the room, often without a set list, feeling their way from one tune into the next. The single most useful thing a visitor can do is listen, and keep the chat down during the quiet tunes. A loud table talking over a slow air is the quickest way to mark yourself out.

If you play, ask before you join in rather than launching in uninvited, and follow the lead of the musicians already playing. Buying the players a drink is always appreciated. And whatever you do, do not request Galway Girl. The musicians have heard it, they know it, and a request for it tells everyone you wandered in from a coach tour.

The Folk and Bluegrass Festival

If you can time it, the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival in early June is the town's music scene at full tilt. Founded in 2007, it has grown into Ireland's leading bluegrass event, bringing Irish, European and American players to around ten venues, with ticketed evening concerts and dozens of free pub sessions, a square dance and workshops. 2026 marks its twentieth year.

The rest of the year, you do not need a festival. On almost any night, the music is there to be found on Bridge Street, and finding it is half the pleasure. Walk up the hill, follow the sound out of an open door, and order a pint. That is the whole instruction.