People First, Music Second
In Tune with Tradition - Perspectives on Session Etiquette in Irish Traditional MusicShow Notes
This episode of In Tune with Tradition was recorded in person in Miltown Malbay during Willie Clancy Week 2025, (shortly after the podcast was officially launched), where Clare fiddle player, teacher and broadcaster Joan Hanrahan joins Tara Connaghan for a warm, reflective conversation about what Irish traditional music sessions really are: shared spaces built on listening, trust, and people first. They talk through session etiquette, intergenerational learning, the role of repetition and repertoire, and why music can feel healing in moments of grief, joy, and everything in between.
Chapters 01:25 – What an Irish music session means to Joan 02:22 – First sessions in Garvey’s in Inagh and learning tunes by osmosis 04:55 – Why the intergenerational nature of Irish music matters 05:51 – Nobody knows it all 06:13 – Old tunes, repertoire and why quantity is not everything 07:24 – Advice for joining a session when you know nobody 08:25 – The natural high when a session really works 11:15 – People first, music second 12:27 – Music as a constant through grief, loss and life 14:18 – Friendships across the world and a connection with Cape Breton 17:13 – What happens when musicians truly gel 18:21 – Processing grief through music 20:05 – Writing tunes for Joan’s father and sister 24:48 – Why Joan likes playing tunes more than twice 26:21 – What blocks the flow of a good session 29:44 – Welcoming people without asking them to prove their worth 30:33 – Joan’s ideal session size and why sessions should inspire you 31:58 – Festival sessions, hospitality and keeping music human 35:18 – Ten ingredients of a successful session 38:12 – Old pubs, open fires, singers, dancers and good listeners
Resources: The West Wind with Joan Hanrahan – Clare FM Joan’s long-running traditional Irish music and song programme on Clare FM. Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy Session Etiquette Questionnaire Share a question, challenge or joy from your own session experience for a future episode. Support In Tune with Tradition Help support the recording, production and editing of the podcast. In Tune with Tradition: The Private Session Experience Join the Session Etiquette mailing list Recorded and produced by Tara Connaghan and edited by Anita Alvarez Santos. Recorded in person in Miltown Malbay during Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2025.
More from In Tune with Tradition - Perspectives on Session Etiquette in Irish Traditional Music
In this episode of In Tune with Tradition, Tara chats with harper Janet Harbison at the Donegal Harp Summer School in Dungloe. Janet has spent a lifetime around the Irish harp, but this conversation is as much about belonging as it is about the belonging of the instrument. Tara and Janet talk about sessions as social life and practice, the difference between a harper and a harpist, learning the core session repertoire and why Janet now describes herself as a teacher of social musicianship. Along the way, Janet traces a musical life through Dublin, Belfast and Donegal, and reflects on the musicians, teachers, students and sessions that shaped how she thinks about traditional music. “Where there was traditional music, there was my tribe.” Mentioned in this episode: Patrick MacGill Festival Visit www.patrickmacgillfestival.ie for more details.
This episode Éamon Ó Ciosáin talks with Tara about nerves, listening and the things musicians gradually learn by actually spending time in Irish music sessions. Éamon speaks openly about going blank when asked to start a tune, playing slightly above your comfort level and why nerves do not necessarily disappear with experience.
Fiddle player and teacher Jacqui Martin joins Tara Connaghan to talk about friendship, slow sessions, rhythm, seating, safe places to play and why Irish music sessions can feel like strange social experiments where anyone can walk in and change the whole evening.
This episode explores how music can regulate the nervous system, build belonging, and help people feel safe in communal playing spaces. Tara Connaghan is joined by Louise Kelly, a consultant music therapist from the North of Ireland, TEDx speaker, and co-founder of Resilient Rhythms, whose perspective connects traditional music with anxiety, confidence, and connection. We discuss why some players sit on the periphery, why others play loudly or keep leaving and returning, and how those behaviours can be understood through fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses rather than judgment.
In this episode of In Tune with Tradition, Tara Connaghan speaks with Donal O’Connor in Belfast ahead of Belfast Trad Festival and Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. This conversation goes straight into one of the hardest parts of Irish session culture: expectations. Donal talks about how different people arrive at a session wanting different things. Young musicians may want to play their new tunes. Adult learners and intermediate players may want the buzz of a big inclusive session. Older or more experienced musicians may hope for a smaller corner, strong repertoire, good listening, space, chat and musical connection. The problems begin when all of those expectations land in the same room and are not spoken about. Donal also talks about Belfast Trad Festival, the challenge of managing session trails, why master musicians need space to play too, how listening sessions can help, why song and dance matter, and why respect remains central to the whole thing. This is a practical, thoughtful conversation about sessions as living social spaces: places where music, people, rooms, listeners, age, gender, alcohol, confidence, safety and expectation all meet.