Live Music in Kilkenny

The Kilkenny live music scene

For a city of its size, Kilkenny has an unusual amount of music, and nearly all of it is free. Roughly three gigs in four cost nothing, a higher free share than Galway or Cork, and it comes from five pubs within a few minutes of each other that keep standing weekly schedules rather than one-off gigs. Folk is the leading flavour, with rock second and pop, trad and country behind, and almost everything is in Kilkenny city itself.

The weekly rota looks like this. Matt the Millers on John Street Lower runs a free traditional session at 6pm every evening and a live band on Friday and Saturday nights from 9pm, which makes it the busiest venue in the county. The Kilkenny Hibernian Hotel on the Parade has live Irish music at 9pm every night except Saturday. Kyteler's Inn on St Kieran's Street holds its trad session on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 9.30pm. The Marble City Bar on High Street covers the start of the week with sessions at 7pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Ryan's Bar on Friary Street has bands at 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and an earlier 8pm slot on Sundays. Put together, you can find a free session on any night of the week, and on Fridays and Saturdays you have a choice of four or five.

Cleere's Bar and Theatre on Parliament Street is where the two halves of the city's scene meet. It runs a weekly trad session every Monday at 9.30pm and, around that, a steady run of ticketed gigs in the small theatre at the back: Duke Special, Arborist, Clare Sands and Chris Brokaw are the kind of names it books. It is the room most touring folk and indie acts play when they come to Kilkenny, and it is small enough that most nights sell on the door or close to it.

For bigger names, the Set Theatre at Langton's on John Street takes the touring acts who have outgrown Cleere's, from Jeff Tweedy and Mick Flannery to The Undertones. The Hub at Cillin Hill on the Dublin Road, a larger hall on the edge of the city, hosts the arena-style nights, with The High Kings and Gavin James regulars over the Christmas week and the likes of Paul Brady in the new year. Hotel Kilkenny on College Road runs a winter series of tribute and country shows with 8pm starts, generally €35 to €40, and St Mary's Cathedral adds the occasional choral or classical concert at around €25.

The most interesting venue outside the city is The Seantí in Kilmacow, at the southern tip of the county near Waterford city. Its programme is folk-heavy and serious, Andy Irvine, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Tommy Sands and Jerry Fish have all played it, almost always at 8pm and usually €22 to €35, and it is worth the drive from either city. Thomastown, Johnstown, Callan and Graiguenamanagh each have a pub or hall with the occasional gig.

Ticketed prices generally run from about €12 to €40 with most in the mid-€20s, and the free pubs mean the average night out costs nothing beyond the drink. Late starts are limited to Ryan's weekend slots and the odd late show. The weekend is less of a peak here than in most counties, which is the clearest sign of how much Kilkenny's music happens on a Tuesday evening at 6pm with nobody charging at the door.

One thing to know about the rhythm of the year: the session pubs run their schedules in blocks and the calendar is fullest from June to December, with the Kilkenny Roots Festival over the May bank holiday weekend and the Arts Festival in August the two big spikes. January is quieter for sessions, and the ticketed rooms fill the gap: Hotel Kilkenny's winter series runs into February and the Hub and the Set book into the new year.

Kilkenny venues worth knowing

A short, opinionated list of where to go in Kilkenny and why. Open any venue for its full upcoming calendar.

Traditional sessions in Kilkenny

Kilkenny has a free session every night of the week. Matt the Millers on John Street Lower runs trad at 6pm daily. The Marble City Bar on High Street has sessions at 7pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and Cleere's on Parliament Street holds its weekly trad session on Mondays at 9.30pm. Kyteler's Inn on St Kieran's Street takes Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 9.30pm, and the Hibernian Hotel on the Parade has live Irish music at 9pm every night except Saturday. Ryan's Bar on Friary Street adds bands on Friday and Saturday nights and a Sunday 8pm slot.

Live music in Kilkenny: common questions