Live Music in PK's Bar, Hillgrove Hotel

What to Expect

PK’s Bar at the Hillgrove Hotel on the Old Armagh Road runs live music every Saturday night from 9pm. It is a hotel bar rather than a pub session: a solo performer or small act works through a set of covers and ballads for a mixed crowd of hotel guests and locals in for the evening. Entry is free and there is no booking, which makes it one of the easiest nights out in Monaghan town to just turn up to.

The acts rotate weekly, generally covers performers playing a broad mix of Irish and popular standards suited to a hotel bar rather than a dedicated trad crowd. The Hillgrove is a large hotel with its own leisure club, set back from the Old Armagh Road on the edge of town, so PK’s draws a different crowd to the Diamond pubs: golfers, wedding parties, and locals who want a bigger, more comfortable room. Monaghan Tourism’s calendar carries the Saturday slot unbroken from mid-August into November 2026, with an extra Sunday night added on 25 October for the bank holiday weekend. The hotel also programmes ticketed concerts in its function room across the same period, including the Rock Rising Show on 2 October and Derek Ryan on 16 October, so check the hotel’s own concerts page if you want a seated show rather than a bar gig.

Good to Know

• Next date: Saturday 15 August 2026, then every Saturday night
• Time: from 9pm
• Venue: PK’s Bar, Hillgrove Hotel, Old Armagh Road, Monaghan
• Price: free, no booking needed
• Extra Sunday night listed for 25 October 2026, the October bank holiday weekend
• Confirmed weekly on the Monaghan Tourism calendar through to November 2026

Getting There

The Hillgrove Hotel is on the Old Armagh Road on the eastern edge of Monaghan town, about a 15-minute walk from the Diamond or a couple of minutes by taxi. The hotel has a large car park, free for patrons using the bar. Monaghan town is on the N2, roughly 90 minutes from Dublin and under an hour from Belfast on the A3 and N12. Bus Éireann services use the bus station on North Road in the town centre.