Friday session at County Clare

Start your weekend the Irish way

Every Friday night, County Clare pub in Milwaukee hosts a session — that is, a rather informal gathering of musicians playing traditional Irish music. I can't believe I'd never been to a County Clare session before last Friday. It's such a magical, days-of-yore feeling to be sitting around drinking beer with a dozen talented musicians turning out tune after tune on fiddles, drums (bodhráns), and flutes just a few tables away. There was also a man playing a tiompán, which is a kind of wooden box fitted with metal strings, played a like a xylophone (is my loose understanding of it). 

The music was beautiful and the vibe, laid-back. While Adam and the boys sat around gulping Guinness, I sat alone at the bar, mesmerized by the music and completely content. Truly, if you have nowhere to go on a Friday night and Irish music is your jam, County Clare is the place to be.