Cobblestone--Traditional Music Session

I went to the Cobblestone, an older pub on the North side of the Liffy that has a strong presence of traditional music session. This one was on a Sunday afternoon--helpful for me since the ones during the week begin at 9:30 pm. Here is a picture of Claire Thompson--she is learning the Bodhran in the first picture with Alex, one of the musicians from the session. Alex chatted with us for a bit and said he had been a jazz saxophone player, but moved to Ireland since he liked the approach to music better. You can find him most Sundays at the Cobblestone. John Thompson, a fellow Fulbright hailing from Maine and Claire's dad is in the second picture. John and Kate's kids are attending a local school--the primary is divided by gender--and are quickly picking up Irish! My friend Dan tells me that we must also take in Hughes pub--a few blocks from the Cobblestone. He swears it is like stepping back to the 1800s--we'll check it out before we leave!