Saturday Night Music at Mary's Bar

What to Expect

Mary’s Bar is tucked away on John’s Gate Street, an old-fashioned back-street local with no television and a hand-painted sign that tells you exactly what kind of night you are walking into: no wi-fi, talk to each other instead. There is a resident white cat called Snowball, worn wooden fittings, and regulars who have been coming for decades. Music happens every Saturday night, and again on bank holiday Sundays, usually a small set-up of local musicians playing ballads and session tunes rather than a booked headline act. It is as unpolished and genuine as pubs in Wexford town get, and it draws a mixed crowd of locals and anyone who has wandered off Main Street looking for something less produced than the bigger bars.

John’s Gate Street runs just off the Bull Ring, one of the oldest parts of Wexford town, and Mary’s Bar fits that older streetscape rather than the more renovated bars closer to the quay. There is no stage or sound system to speak of; musicians typically set up in a corner of the bar and play to whoever is around, which keeps the atmosphere closer to a house session than a booked gig. For visitors who have already done the bigger, better-known pubs around the Bull Ring and Crown Quarter, Mary’s Bar is the kind of find that locals tend to recommend by word of mouth rather than through any listings site.

Good to Know

• Every Saturday night, plus bank holiday Sundays, Wexford town
• Free in, cash-friendly small bar, no ticket or booking needed
• No television and no wi-fi by house rule, so the room stays focused on conversation and the music
• Line-up is informal and can vary from week to week
• A quieter, more local alternative to the bigger bars around the Bull Ring and Crown Quarter on a Saturday night

Getting There

John’s Gate Street is a short walk from the Bull Ring in central Wexford. Irish Rail runs from Dublin Connolly to O’Hanrahan Station in around two hours, and Bus Éireann and Wexford Bus coaches serve the town centre from Dublin, Waterford and the wider south-east. The station and quayfront car parks are both within easy walking distance.