In Search of the Craic: One Man's Pub Crawl through Irish Music

by Colin Irwin

It travels well, but still there's nothing quite like hearing Irish music in Ireland. Not in big concert halls or grand arenas, or even the popular taverns on the tourist route, but in the small pubs in remote areas where the locals habitually gravitate for those informal sessions that invariably develop into a serious social occasion universally known as the craic. For those who play it, it's not a style of music, but a way of life, producing its own culture and characters. After 25 years visiting Ireland both as a music writer and a tourist, Colin Irwin goes in search of the craic. He talks to some of the leading Irish musicians like Christy Moore, Donal Lunny, Paddy Moloney, Martin Hayes, Andy Irvine, Cara Dillon, Paul Brady and Frankie Gavin about their experiences and they direct him to places where the craic is mightiest. This is the story of his journey into Ireland's musical soul and the extraordinary characters he meets along the way. But Ireland, being Ireland, nothing ever goes quite according to plan...

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, Ireland, Memoir

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was harder to get through than I expected. Parts of seemed stream of consciousness and went off on tangents. One example is when the author read an article on a pub wall about the hurling tournament in 1899. There were about three pages concerning research on what happened and why the teams mentioned in the article did what they did. And then without transition we were back in the 21st century. Since the author was hunting for good pub music he spent a lot of time drinking in pubs which may explain the incoherency of some parts (he was probably still drunk).

The author appears to have moved around Ireland at random with no advance hotel arrangements and then complained about the difficulty of finding good lodgings. There were some interesting anecdotes about musicians, but overall I didn't get much out of this book.

[Camilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delight! Zippy, funny writing that includes some deep dives into traditional Irish music and drunken rambles through various villages and cities. This armchair tour of Ireland's music was perfect for quarantine.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried to read it. Stopped. Tried again. Gave in.

[Daimon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a fun read - a tour through Irish music history as told through a tour of Irish music pubs. The chapers all start as part of a narrative of an multi-week trip of the author's around Ireland, but nearly every detail leads into a multi-page tangent on some facet of Irish music tradition, bands, players, instruments, or venues. It can be highly informative (although if you're not fluent in the details of Irish music, much of it is lost on you) but the tangents often become a bit too technical or just too long.

However, still a book I enjoyed reading. Just won't read it again, unless I'm looking for names of traditional Irish bands to check out.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In Search of the Craic" is a witty, interesting account of the author's tour around Ireland, the various people he met, and more importantly, the music he listened to. He pays homage to the greats of Irish traditional/folk music. The Bothy Band, De Dannan, Clannad, The Pogues, Sinead O Connor, Christy Moore, all the above and many more are paid tribute to.
A very informative, amusing read. It must be....this is my fourth re-read.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

One man's odyssey in search of the elusive Craic (a Gaelic word encompassing a good time had in a pub with music and alcohol and company...usually summed up by those who find it as "you had to be there..."). The search takes the author on a hilarious tour of modern day Ireland. Did he find the craic? You'll have to read the book to find out, it'll be worth the trip

[Dearg Glas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sort of lighthearted and "touristy" book, if that makes sense. Not bad at all, but in my view there are more interesting books that cover similar territory, such as Irish Folk, Trad & Blues: A Secret History, McCarthy's Bar, and Ciaran Carson's Last Night's Fun.

[Kevin Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed with anecdotes of one mans search through Ireland for the source of the real traditional music. Some of the stories are very funny. If you are interested in this music scene, the stories and histories are priceless.

[Beth Gilmartin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully witty romp through Ireland in search of a session (traditional Irish music). The author has a great writing style. This is a good light summer read.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Irwin takes you on a road trip through Ireland in search of the perfect session and Tommy Peoples. He is a very good story teller, and this is just fun to read.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book - sometimes it drifted into just a list of musicians and songs but when you cut through that there were some lovely little anecdotes thrown in too.