Established
Trading on the Doolin coast since 1832. Gus and Doll O'Connor took over in 1956 and ran it for forty years. Patrick Sexton has run the pub since 1998.
Claim this listing to correct your details, update your opening hours, add photos, or list your trad sessions. Basic claim is free.
Claim this listingPubHub lore
Established
Trading on the Doolin coast since 1832. Gus and Doll O'Connor took over in 1956 and ran it for forty years. Patrick Sexton has run the pub since 1998.
Music
Folklore collectors and archivists were visiting Doolin and Gus O'Connor's as early as the 1930s. The pub helped make Doolin synonymous with Irish traditional music — Gus let musicians play long before it was fashionable, when 'musicians were looked down upon around here.' Traditional sessions seven nights a week from February through November; weekends year-round. Real sessions, not floor shows — the audience is part of them.
Regulars
Micho, Packie and Gussie Russell — the Russell brothers — were fixtures here. Through the doors over the years: Willie Clancy, Tommy Peoples, Sharon Shannon, Christy Barry, Kevin Griffin, Yvonne Casey and the rest of the Doolin trad establishment.
Reputation
The cornerstone of Doolin's place in Irish trad music. One of the most reliably-good session pubs on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Memory wanted
PubHub is building a sourced public memory layer for Irish pubs. If you know a story, old name, regular ritual, music night, photo, article, forum thread, or correction for this Clare pub, send it in for review.
We label community memory separately from verified facts, keep private people protected, and preserve source links wherever possible.
Share a memory or source