Temple Bar, Dublin

The Temple Bar was large and picturesque, taking up an entire corner of the Temple Bar district; a perfect backdrop for sweeping Irish Ballads or upbeat fighting songs that the Emerald Isle is known for. The bar itself was huge, just the thing to provide for a population renowned for consuming alcohol, so they could then enjoy said music drifting from a stage ideal for the soulful Irish band with fiddle and concertina. The setting was all perfect for all the idyllic, fabricated tradition of Ireland; sadly what filled this superficially ideal setting was a well and profusely promoted fiction that drew in a tourist population in search of the ever elusive native culture.

The bar was big, nice looking, and had a number of bars all accessible to the large population of tourists boisterously singing along with the house band. The band was good and probably Irish playing to a room jam packed with tourists and locals looking to get lucky. The crowd was enthusiastic and the performers drew from a well-known musical repertoire, mostly American and English, to accommodate the inebriated, creating and maintaining an atmosphere of joviality.

The band consisted of a pair of men with guitars and a female vocalist. They all sang at various times in the night covering everything from the Jackson Five to Yellowcard with a number of U2 songs smattered throughout. Requests were taken and the band encouraged the audience to sing-along. The performers sang very well for the whole time I was in the bar, impressing me with their staying power and their patience with the drunk crowd.  

Despite being cliché and less “Irish” than we were expecting Temple Bar was highly enjoyable. I knew a number of the songs the band played and felt encouraged to sing along because everyone else was. The band was only slightly raised from the crowd making the whole experience and connection between band and audience more intimate, despite there being three feet of wary-spectator space between the edge of the stage and the nearest patron. It seems no one was willing to be the first to close the gap. Contributing to the mellow atmosphere was the low red lighting utilized to encourage consumption and to increase likelihood of intimate relations because everyone looks better in red.

The crowd was the best part of the night, no one was merely watching, everyone was interacting in some way—singing, dancing, making requests, or shouting encouragements. No one was left feeling unwelcome; some even used this opportunity to demonstrate their sweet dance moves for the benefit of the entire crowd, despite the fact that they could not dance. The whole experience was impressive and unforgettable. Despite my unfulfilled, slightly over-ambitious expectations the performance was completely worthwhile; I might not have experienced the traditional so-called ‘Irishness’ I expected, nor did my housemate find her Irish soul mate, the ultimate goal of the trip, but we still were able to take part in the fabricated magic of Temple Bar and enjoy all it had to offer.

By Sarah Hooper