Sean’s Sunday Session

Traditional Irish music session in Seans bar in Athlone with Robert Sarazin Blake attending

It’s never a mundane experience, these Sean’s Bar sessions.

After dropping his friend back up at his car, Robert Blake and I made our way across town back toward the flat. To be honest, I was not at my best, but feeling the need to be a gracious host I had ingested a number of pain-killers, a significant amount of caffine and the aul cough was settling down. Needless to say, Robert wasn’t about to miss a chance to sit in Ireland’s oldest pub and experience the session.

He was delighted to hear David Francey’s Torn Screen Door trundled out in fiddles and whistles and even more delighted to hear his own Salt and Lemon receive the same treatment just scant minutes later.

I have to say that maybe the hot whiskey wasn’t actually a good idea – I thought it might soothe the aul throat. Instead, it left me feeling a bit woozy. I left the session a bit early and, as Robert headed off for the bus and a brief series of gigs in the UK, I collapsed into bed for the remainder of the day.