The Pub on a Tuesday Night--Blarney Castle Hotel

The pub is a social attraction for both young and old; it is a space for dancing, music, drinking, chatting. Each Tuesday night at a hotel pub in Blarney, a 8 Km taxi ride from Cork, a group of international students, locals and tourists from the upstairs hotel gather in the cozy, dimly candle-lit space for a night of traditional Irish improv music. One by one, patrons of the pub arrive, fiddles, flutes and accordions in tow. They gather around a small corner table--their Guinness and Murphys casually set in a circle according to their playing position around the table. As one starts to play a tune, the others follow suit, the songs lasting as long as 10 minutes. On a familiar tune, one patron starts to sing and the whole pub joins in. When the night becomes late, the musicians slowly disband one by one, until it is only us waiting for a taxi.