This is part six of a travel column that will be updated by Simmons students studying abroad. Josie Dent, the Arts and Entertainment Editor of the Voice, is studying abroad in Galway, Ireland, for the full 2024-25 academic year. Please check back for further updates in this column from study abroad students.
Have you ever desperately googled “queer bars in Galway,” only to be met with confusing results?
Did you spend a tense, awkward night in Bar Nova, hoping that the only gay bar in Galway would provide you with a half-decent experience?
Have you breathed a guilty sigh of relief seeing that Bar Nova is now permanently closed?
Are you tired of sharing safe spaces with sixty-year-old men waiting for their 20-year-old Grindr date?
Did you ever take a trip to Dublin, only to be met with glares from mean twinks and their straight female friends who balk at the word ‘lesbian’?
The above examples may be Ireland-specific, but it highlights a struggle I’ve been facing the past six months I’ve been away from Simmons. As a historically women’s college, many students at Simmons identify as queer. One statistic from the Boston Globe even claimed that 40% of Simmons students identify as queer.
Coming from such a safe area, I wasn’t ready for what it meant to be gay in a university where many of the students, well, aren’t.
Sure, the University of Galway has a LGBTQIA+ society, but I’ve had bad experiences with clubs like those in the past. I wasn’t looking to be a part of something just for queer people, but I was uncomfortable with the realization that many people now were assuming I was straight.
Fear not, me and other queers!
West End’s Róisín Dubh knows your struggles, and has the solution – Pillow Queens, Ireland’s very own band led by queer women!
Joined by Shark School, a woman-fronted rock band, Pillow Queens graced the stage of the Black Rose for a night and a day, hosting both a late night show and a family-friendly show, the latter taking place Sunday afternoon.
Originally, they had been meant to play at Róisín Dubh in early December, but had to reschedule for late January.
While Shark School didn’t introduce themselves until after a few songs, it took a mere riff from frontwoman Nora Staunton, rocking a curly shag-cut, to wrap the room of lesbians and bi women (and their mustached boyfriends) around her finger.
“We’re Shark School. We like sharks. This next song is about stuff,” Staunton declared before launching into a noisy, guitar-riff heavy song.
Donning a suit vest and tie, Staunton’s presence wholly encapsulated the tiny stage.
Shark School proved that wailing into a mic, while a male-dominated field, is not reserved for the whiny men of midwest emo bands. I, for one, welcome the lesbian takeover of this genre.
Despite the room being packed, the crowd was one of the most respectful I have ever been in. As an 18-plus show, drinks were flowing (I was double-fisting ciders at one point), but I was never pushed, shoved or had an unwelcome hand brush against my back as someone moved behind me.
After the openers, there’s usually a tense, impatient buzzing in the crowd while they wait for the main act. When Shark School departed, the crowd who had been head-banging, dissolved into quick, easy chatter and laughter.
Even when the drummer for Pillow Queens, Darragh Tibbs, came onstage, the crowd remained calm.
The band worked their magic on the audience. Although suited to a bigger stage, the intimacy between the band and the viewers was amplified throughout the small space. Rósín Dubh is no stranger to shows, being a go-to for music, comedy, drag shows, anything else you could possibly want. With Galway being such a small town, there’s a sense of familiarity, heightened when Pillow Queens thanked the pub’s owner by name.
“What’s this song about?” vocalist/bassist Pamela Connelly asked.
“Lezzers!” came the answer from the vocalist/bassist Sarah Cocoran, before the band began playing “Gay Girls.”
Queer joy, when you really, truly experience it, is something magical. A room full of queer people, many queer women, in front of a band of queer women, is not something I had ever thought about witnessing. Watching women hold hands and kiss their girlfriends, completely free of the fear they might feel in the usual public settings was wonderful. .
Pillow Queens have since wrapped up their tour, though the band is far from done. They promised to be present at Femme Fest, taking place on February 27 at Rósín Dubh.