Live Music Nights at PJ O'Hare's, Carlingford

What to Expect

PJ O’Hare’s sits on Tholsel Street, in the medieval core of Carlingford between the Tholsel gate and the harbour. The what’s-on calendar maintained by Carlingford Heritage Centre lists live music at the pub running across a full block of days in mid-August rather than on a single night, so this is a rolling programme rather than a one-off gig. That pattern holds through the peninsula’s busy season, when the village takes weekend traffic from Dundalk, Newry and Dublin.

The tourism calendar does not publish set times, door prices or the names of the acts in advance, which is normal for pub sessions on the Cooley Peninsula. What that means in practice is that music tends to start when the room fills rather than to a printed schedule, and the safest approach is to ring the pub on the day or check its social channels if a particular start time matters to you. PJ O’Hare’s is a bar rather than a nightclub, so the night runs to standard pub hours rather than club hours, and there is no late licence implied by the listing.

Carlingford has more than one live-music pub, and the same tourism calendar lists weekend music at the Carlingford Arms on Newry Street and at Lily Finnegan’s out at Whitestown on the same dates, so a night in the village can move between rooms on foot. The village is compact enough that everything on the calendar is within a few minutes’ walk of the square, apart from Lily Finnegan’s, which is a short drive or taxi out along the coast.

Good to Know

• Date: live music runs across the week and the weekend. Next listed night Saturday 15 August 2026
• Time: not published in advance. Sessions typically start in the evening
• Venue: PJ O’Hare’s, Tholsel Street, Carlingford, A91 TC58
• Price: no admission charge is published on the tourism listing
• Other Carlingford venues listed with weekend music on the same calendar: Carlingford Arms, Newry Street, and Lily Finnegan’s, Whitestown
• The Carlingford Heritage Centre tourism office can confirm what is on: 042 937 3650

Getting There

Carlingford is on the R173 coast road on the Cooley Peninsula, about 20km east of Dundalk and a similar distance south of Newry. Coming off the M1, take a Dundalk junction and follow the R173 through Ballymascanlon. Tholsel Street is in the centre of the village and is pedestrian-heavy at weekends, so use the public car parks at the harbour or by the village green and walk in. Dundalk Clarke is the nearest railway station, and taxis serve the peninsula from Dundalk.