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“THERE IS MAGIC in the bones of the Róisín Dubh.”
So says Eoghan McNamara, better known as Gugai. And he would know.
The music booker took over the Galway city venue with his business partners in 2004 and helped oversee its return to form as the go-to music venue in the West of Ireland.
The Róisín first opened its doors in 1993 under John Mannion and Mark Reilly. According to Gugai, the duo had “done a tremendous job of making it one of the places to play for folk acts”.
As the years went on, however, things ran out of steam a little bit as the owners focused on other ventures and aspects of the business. By the early 2000s, it had become a covers venue.
Around this time, Gugai was busy putting on gigs in different locations across Galway city but found himself hampered by not having a venue of his own. He approached Kevin Healy, formerly of the GPO in Salthill, to ask for advice on what to do next.
“He came back to me and said, ‘Would you like to buy the Róisín Dubh?’ and I said, ‘If you aren’t going to take me seriously, I’ll just go and ask someone else.’ He said, ‘Sit down there.’”
And the deal was done.
Along with Simon Heaslip and Greg Healy, the pair took over the Róisín Dubh. First on the agenda was expanding the venue.
“In 2006, we completely renovated the venue,” recalls Gugai.
We made the back bigger, we put a beer garden on the roof and put a small venue upstairs. It was very pokey beforehand. It’s a much better venue now – despite people at the time telling us we were ruining it and sucking the soul out of it.
Since then, countless international acts have graced the stage of the Roisín: Ed Sheeran, The xx, Caribou, Ellie Goulding, Biffy Clyro, and Seasick Steve, to name but a tiny handful.
Asked for some of his most memorable gigs, Gugai first cites two gigs by rock group Battles. “There was condensation dripping off the walls,” he says. “It was the loudest and hottest thing I’ve ever seen. They told me that it was one of their top three favourite shows ever.”
“I saw Ray Davies play to about 160 people. I think I was crying during one of the songs.”
And that’s before you get to Franz Ferdinand, Why? and The Zombies.
Sound eclectic? That’s because it is.
The Róisín Dubh prides itself on welcoming people aged “18-70” and plays hosts to all sorts of nights, including the club’s signature night, Strange Brew.
The now iconic club night was started by Gugai in The Warwick Hotel in 2002 and continues to go strong after all these years. (Gugai now runs his own record label of the same name and looks after artists like Daithí, Elaine Mai, Squarehead and Paddy Hanna.)
“We have a huge variety of things and we work with lots of local promoters to use the upstairs room. We give them that room for free to put gigs on,” explains Gugai.
“There’s a good melting pot of people using it.”
We have hip hop nights, techno nights, indie clubs. The best open mic in Galway is on Sundays here. Little Cinema do a short film showcase there. We have a bingo night. Kevin, my business partner, runs the comedy side of things.
What is it about the Róisín Dubh that keeps artists and fans alike coming back again and again?
“It’s the venue, the customers, the staff. We try to treat people very well there. We like to make them feel at home when they get there. People like coming back to us. I don’t know if anyone has ever really had a bad gig at the Roisin.”
I know many people hold it dear to their hearts. A lot of bands who play there go to see gigs and go there to listen to music. They feel very loyal towards it.
In short, it’s all about the memories.
“The ones you can remember and the ones you can’t,” he jokes.
This web summit crowd sound like an arrogant pack of smug w@nkers tbh.
So do you
I take it you’ll be off to Portugal next year then.
Good one Del.
Is there a way to block stories about the Web Summit appearing on my news feed?
So true, Cosgrave’s spin to get free publicity again.
Why would you invite a virus, too a web summit?
I think fine Gael know they have to keep enda away from the spotlight and prying media before the election because he’s bound to make a fool of himself again at some stage.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/eu-double-ireland-funding-homeless-services-soup-kitchens-211645244.html#HfACyON
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/benefits-must-be-cut-says-imf-28772608.html
Priorities I think?
In September, the indo’s front page was all about senior FG saying that we would see less of him leading up to the election. They obviously know that he is a liability but, with the verbal bucket-shuffling he’s been doing, i’d say they’d like to put him down now.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/graph-number-people-cannot-afford-food-ireland-doubled-134316730.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/irish-children-dying-neglect-abuse-100254423.html
Im glad, i might attend now
Spot on
The invite arrived last Friday, didn’t give him much notice did they? He should tell them he’s busy washing his hair that day.
Or in discussions with the security services about surrounding the banks and ATM’s?
Now now Kerry, you know that was a dream he had and is just a bit confused about fact or fiction?
I’m sure they’ll release all of the emails in a spectaculary unprofessional manner to make themselves seem better.
Paddy Cosgrave is a pox.
Enda Kenny isn’t?
The Web summit is turning into another garath brooks type of fiasco, enough is enough it’s gone to Lisbon grand, no one really cares if Kenny was invited or not, more he said she said crap
Do the orgainsers of this web summit believe hotels in Lisbon will be any cheaper than Dublin? Deluded if so.
All you need, is the weather.
Yes but as per Paddy Cosgraves usual requirements more than likely Enda will have to buy a ticket :-)
“Sorry lads, I’d love to attend, but I’m busy reconfiguring the large hadron collider with this fella I bumped into in Narnia.”
Nah, he’ll be on manouvers with the army that week.
ATM watch?
It’s like being invited to dinner at your girlfriend’s house who you just bent over backwards for, after she has announced she’d having a fling with a guy she met in Ibiza and moving over there to live with him.
@ Supernova: Good. I can picture him at a talk about cloud computing remarking about how its always overcast in Castlebar.
Haha, he’d ramble on about how the entire summit is under attack from the hacker group lizard squad. Send in the army!!
Why can’t Enda grow some balls and appear on Vincent Browne? Thats where we all want to see the clown make an ass of himself.
Need to be GM balls then Ivor…
You mean Angela Merkel’s ear-rings
Funny place for her to have ears and earring lol.
I’m sure they’ll manage away fine without him. And i think he should buy a ticket like everybody else if he wants his photo opp, as thats all he’s gonna be there for.
Merkel and Draghi might buy hm a ticket. They might see it as another opportunity for him to make a threatening statement about capital controls aimed at the portugese, like when he was in madrid, when they used him to warn the portugese that if they don’t sign up to eu inposed austerity, the money supply to portugal will dry up.
In fairness opening a email can be a difficult task. Possibly beyond Enda….
Has to remain under lock and key. Accident waiting to happen. FG won’t release him..
I’m sure his busy schedule will involve a lot of dithering and indecision and trying to think up some more badly thought out tall tales.
Fcukin nerds.
Nerds invented sex toys and computer games lol.
Sulking in the corner, what a leader lol.
Why don’t you give it a rest slow boy your three and four year old tales of disaster are as stale as your ideas.
Insults rather than having a debate, I do not think I an even a year on the journal…
I think you need to educate yourself on what is happening rather than believing all the nonsense from this government. Because we are in a mess and the only ones who can’t see it are those who are F.G. / Labour supporters…
If you want a debate then go ahead but Ireland is in a mess as the unemployment figures are 400,000 but over 70,000 are on so called schemes like scambridge etc…
I could go into a debate with you but after seeing your twitter profile with 4 photos of Hitler on them, I see you are just a troll looking to pick on someone… Have a nice life…
Oh, thank God ! He’d probably declare war on China or Russia or something. He can’t be trusted in public…
a calculated snub showing a stupid degree of arrogance
Weird.
I came in here looking for news…
Your car is on fire, that is news lol.
I think Portugal will be a flop. there was a synergy to Dublin – lot of US tech companies already here. made sense for a lot of executives to travel and tie it in with a visit to their European headquarters. Ridiculous state of affairs that this is moving given our dependence and national “brand” associated with US tech. A combination of a greedy promoter and foolish government that has come to this.
Enda did the right thing by not attending their web Summit, after they dumped Dublin for Lisbon.
“Come into my parlour” said the spider to the fly…
AAAAhhhh Enda please go lets see if you can put both feet into your big mouth, You might need the army to stand around you in case there is a problem, but then they might be standing at all the ATM machines to keep fthe foreign beggar’s from sitting under or beside them. Would you just go somewhere out of this country & take the rest of your cronies with you.
Whatever,im outa here.
Whatever
have your say