Days Out NI
Live music Derry/Londonderry

The Gweedore Bar

The band room next door to Peadar's, where Derry goes for live music with a bit of volume behind it.

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Free inOver-18s in the evening
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The Gweedore Bar — The band room next door to Peadar's, where Derry goes for live music with a bit of volume behind it.

  • Who it's for: over-18s in practice. The programme runs evening and late, there is no food, and NI licensing caps accompanied under-18s at 9pm in the bar area. Not a family day out.
  • Music: live bands at weekends, ranging from traditional through jazz to contemporary and world music, plus comedy and DJ nights.
  • Tickets: usually free entry on regular nights. Larger shows and festival dates can be ticketed, so check what's on before you travel.
  • Food: no food offering listed.
Plan your visit

Part of a three-bar block

The Gweedore does not really work as a standalone destination, and locals do not treat it as one. It sits at 61 Waterloo Street inside the same premises as Peadar O'Donnell's and Fifty Seven Waterloo Street, with doors linking them. The usual pattern is to move between the three across an evening: the trad session in one room, a band in the Gweedore, a DJ in the 57 Club. One address, three different nights.

Live bands and DJs at weekends Connects internally to Peadar O'Donnell's next door A festival hub during the City of Derry Jazz Festival Room for 300, so gigs have real atmosphere Usually free to walk in on regular nights
Good to know before you go:

The gig programme runs mainly Thursday to Sunday and is announced through the venue's own Facebook page rather than a printed calendar. The venue's biggest weekend of the year is the City of Derry Jazz Festival in spring, when it runs multiple acts a day.

Before you set off

What to bring

  • 🎟️Your ticketBigger gigs sell out — book ahead rather than chancing the door.
  • 🪪IDIt’s an over-18s room, so bring photo ID if you look anywhere near it.
  • 💷A bit of cashHandy for the door, the cloakroom and the taxi home.
  • 📱The what’s-on pageThe listings change weekly — check who’s playing before you go.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Type
live-music bar and late venue
Who it's for
over-18s in practice. The programme runs evening and late, there is no food, and NI licensing caps accompanied under-18s at 9pm in the bar area. Not a family day out.
Music
live bands at weekends, ranging from traditional through jazz to contemporary and world music, plus comedy and DJ nights.
Tickets
usually free entry on regular nights. Larger shows and festival dates can be ticketed, so check what's on before you travel.
Food
no food offering listed.
Address
61 Waterloo Street, Derry~Londonderry, BT48 6HD
Questions

Before you go

Can we bring the kids?
over-18s in practice. The programme runs evening and late, there is no food, and NI licensing caps accompanied under-18s at 9pm in the bar area. Not a family day out.
What's the music like?
live bands at weekends, ranging from traditional through jazz to contemporary and world music, plus comedy and DJ nights.
Do I need a ticket?
usually free entry on regular nights. Larger shows and festival dates can be ticketed, so check what's on before you travel.
Do they do food?
no food offering listed.
Getting there

The Gweedore Bar is at 61 Waterloo Street, Derry~Londonderry, BT48 6HD. Tap below for directions.

Directions on Google MapsOfficial website See it on our map
Nearby

Make more of the day

More days out around Derry/LondonderrySee what else is close by More live music across NISessions, gigs and music centres
The story

Named for a Donegal parish

Gaoth Dobhair, anglicised as Gweedore, is a Gaeltacht parish on the Donegal coast about an hour and a half west of here. It has produced an unreasonable amount of Irish music for a place its size, Clannad and Altan among it.

Naming a Derry bar after it is a statement about where the city's ear points. Derry sits right on the Donegal border, and the musicians, the summer holidays and the tunes all travel that same road. The bar opened in the 1970s and has been a live-music room ever since.