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music · Wednesday 29 July 2026 · 9:00pm 
Trad Session at Clarke's Bar, Lanesborough
At Clarke's Bar · 1 Main Street, Lanesborough, Co. Longford
At Clarke's Bar · 1 Main Street, Lanesborough, Co. Longford
Once a month, on the last Wednesday, Clarke’s Bar in Lanesborough turns its front room over to traditional Irish music. Banjo, uilleann pipes, guitar and voices gather around a table with no stage and no ticket desk, just musicians settling in and playing until the night runs out. It is a proper pub session in a Shannon-side border town, the kind that keeps trad music alive in small Longford towns without ever being dressed up for tourists.
The lineup shifts from session to session, as is normal with trad music, but the backbone is usually banjo, pipes and guitar with songs threaded between reels and jigs. Clarke’s is a working local pub at 1 Main Street, complete with a pool table, a dartboard and screens for match days, but on session nights the music takes the room over. Regulars describe the atmosphere as easy and welcoming, the kind of bar where a stranger gets pulled into conversation within five minutes. The session starts at 9pm and typically runs for a couple of hours. Musicians are welcome to bring an instrument and sit in; there is no audition, no sign-up sheet and no formality to it. Anyone happy to sit and listen is just as welcome as anyone who wants to play.
Lanesborough sits on the River Shannon at the northern tip of Lough Ree, about 18km from Longford town on the N63 and roughly 20km from Roscommon town. Driving from Dublin, take the M6 to Athlone then the N61 north. There is parking along and around Main Street. Public transport is limited; Bus Eireann serves Longford town, with a car or taxi needed for the final stretch to Lanesborough.
Lanesborough is one of the better fishing towns on the Shannon, known for coarse angling and a riverside promenade with views of the old bridge and the marina. Worth a stroll before the session starts. There is more to see in Lanesborough and across Co. Longford.
Heading to Clarke's Bar in Lanesborough? Longford has plenty more to see. Read the Lanesborough area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.
In town for Clarke's Bar? These Dublin tours book out in summer.