Dubliners biography

 

The Dubliners originally comprised Barney MacKenna (Born 16 December 1939, Donnycarney, Dublin, Eire), Luke Kelly (Born 16 November 1940, Eire, d. 30 January 1984), Ciaron Bourke (Born 18 February 1936, Dublin, Eire, d. 10 May 1988) and former teacher Ronnie Drew (Born 18 September 1935, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Eire). They formed in 1962, in the back of O'Donoghue's bar in Merion Row, Dublin, Eire, and were originally named the Ronnie Drew Group. The members were known faces in the city's post-skiffle folk haunts before pooling their assorted singing and fretboard skills in 1962. In 1964 Kelly left the group and went to England where he continued to play on the folk scene. Two other members joined shortly after Kelly had left: Bob Lynch (Born Dublin, Eire) and ex-draughtsman John Sheahan (Born 19 May 1939, Dublin, Eire). In Concert was the result of a live recording on 4 December 1964 in the concert hall at Cecil Sharp House in London. The band played various theatre bars, made several albums for Transatlantic and gained a strong following on the Irish folk circuit. After an introduction by Dominic Behan, they were signed by manager Phil Solomon and placed on his label, Major Minor. In 1965, the group took the decision to turn professional, and Kelly wanted to return. He replaced Lynch who had wished to stay semi-professional.

Throughout their collective career, each member pursued outside projects - among them Kelly's stints as an actor and MacKenna's "The Great Comic Genius', a solo single issued after the Irishmen transferred from Transatlantic to the Major Minor label in 1966. During this time they received incessant plugging on the Radio Caroline pirate radio station. Bigoted folk purists were unable to regard them with the same respect as the similarly motivated Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem after the Dubliners were seen on Top Of The Pops promoting 1967"s censored "Seven Drunken Nights" and, next, "Black Velvet Band". "Never Wed An Old Man" was only a minor hit, but high placings for A Drop Of The Hard Stuff and three of its successors in the album list were a firm foundation for the outfit's standing as a thoroughly diverting international concert attraction. A brain haemorrhage forced Bourke's retirement in 1974, and Drew's return to the ranks - after being replaced between 1975 and 1979 by Jim McCann (Born 26 October 1944, Dublin, Eire) - was delayed by injuries sustained in a road accident. Kelly's ill health (a brain tumour) saw Se n Cannon drafted into the line-up in 1980, with Nigel Warren Green also filling in on tour. Kelly passed away in January 1984.

Ronnie Drew's trademark vocal, "like coke being crushed under a door", was heard to great effect in 1987 on the band's 25th anniversary single, "The Irish Rover", a merger with the Pogues that signalled another sojourn in the UK Top 10. Eammon Campbell was added to the line-up in the late 80s, and in 1995 Drew left the band for the second time and was replaced by Paddy Reilly