Galway's pub scene is the reason many people visit, and it delivers. The city has a higher concentration of pubs per capita than almost anywhere in Ireland, and the standard of live music is genuinely high — you can wander from pub to pub on a weekend night and hear different sessions in each one. The music is particularly good on Thursday to Saturday evenings from September through May, when the student population is in town.
Tigh Neachtáin on Cross Street and the Crane Bar on Sea Road (a short walk from the city centre on the west bank of the Corrib) are the most celebrated traditional music pubs. Monroe's Tavern on Dominick Street has good sessions in a less tourist-heavy setting. The Roisin Dubh on Dominick Street is Galway's main music venue, booking touring acts and local bands in a basement space that holds several hundred people.