In Search of the Craic: One Man's Pub Crawl Through Irish Music [Hardcover]

Colin Irwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

There's nothing quite like hearing Irish music in Ireland. Not on big concert halls or grand arenas, 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

There is nothing quite like Irish music to stir the blood and lift the soul. Slow airs to make you weep, jigs to make you happy, songs to make you sing and reels to make you dance like a dervish. It travels well, but still there's nothing quite like hearing Irish music in Ireland. Not on 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.

From the Publisher

There’s nothing quite like hearing Irish music in Ireland. Not in concert halls or popular tourist taverns, but in the small pubs in remote areas where the locals gravitate for those informal sessions known as the Craic. Here, Colin Irwin undertakes a long journey into Ireland’s musical soul. He dances at the Fleadh in Listowl; chats with Bono, Sinead O’Connor, and Christy Moore; visits the spa town were farmers come searching for wives; and drinks hot toddies with the legendary Keane sisters of Galway. In Search of the Craic is a glorified pub crawl, a night out that has lasted centuries, and comes with all the color, humor, drama, and pathos you’d expect from a country of drinkers, dancers, and musicians. Colin Irwin, author of The Abba Story, also writes for MELODY MAKER, THE GUARDIAN, and THE SUNDAY TIMES. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Andre Deutsch (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0233000046
• ISBN-13: 978-0233000046
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,489,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vicarious pleasure, May 12, 2005

By 

Bejasus (Belfast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Search of the Craic: One Man's Pub Crawl Through Irish Music (Paperback)

Like most pub "sessions" in Ireland, this book doesn't offer a flawless performance, but it is still good craic. And, like a good session, it leaves you wanting more.

People unfamiliar with the Irish traditional music scene, however, might find the book's references too obscure to be of interest, since reading about music you haven't heard must be like listening to someone describe what a slow pour pint of Guinness tastes like, when you've never had the pleasure of drinking one yourself.

But anyone who has traveled Ireland and checked out a pub or two in search of traditional Irish music will enjoy the vicarious pleasure of following along with Colin Irwin on his quest. His interviews along the way with some of the leading figures in Irish music are one of the best parts of the book. Hearing Liam Clancy talk about his conversation with Shane MacGowan, bad boy of The Pogues, was priceless. Also funny was Irwin's own discomfort at being face to face with Clancy -- after a jouralistic career in which he had often mocked the trailblazing Clancy Brothers for their Aran-sweater-Oirish act that today seems over-the-top. Just as rewarding was seeing how unbothered Clancy was by the criticism.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beats the Duval crawl hands down(!), April 5, 2008

By 

M Zin "old picker and strummer" (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In Search of the Craic: One Man's Pub Crawl Through Irish Music (Paperback)

My only regret about this book is that I didn't find it before I went to Ireland in 2005 in search of "the music". While my daughter and I did find lots of great traditional music in Cork, Galway, Dublin and other places, Mr. Irwin's book provides as close as you can get to a guide to something as fluid and out of the spotlight as Irish session music and musicians. In the guise of a funny (and it truly is funny) series of musings, Mr. Irwin manages to put together a non-academic, but relatively exhaustive overview of the development and then current state of Irish traditional music. His biases are laid out clearly, many times to be auto-debunked as his travels open his eyes to the precursors of his heroes of the '70's and '80's, like Planxty, Bothy Band, etc. Mr. Irwin's research would be of great benefit to anyone traveling to Ireland for the music, or just interested in Irish traditional music.

4.0 out of 5 stars The craic is found!, January 10, 2012

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Susan Maclean (Sturgeon Bay, WI United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In Search of the Craic: One Man's Pub Crawl Through Irish Music (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading of this man's travels through Ireland, of the varieties of music, pubs, places and people. He is descriptive and captures the essence of it all. Having just been in Ireland and experiencing some of it myself may have enhanced the stories in the book. My favorite part is of Jim O' the Mill Pub in County Tipperary. Saving the best for last, indeed. Jim invited us to his pub. We were able to visit twice. A place of magic and respect for traditional music, where people of all ages sip their pint, play and sing the music in front of a peat fire in a huge fireplace, sitting on wooden chairs a century old. It really does not get any better than that.