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The Dubliners

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This article is about the Irish folk band. For the book by James Joyce, see Dubliners.

The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962, making them one of the older bands still playing music today.

Formation

The Dubliners formed in 1962. They made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's pub in Dublin.

Band members

The founding members were Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke and Barney McKenna.

Drew spent some time in Spain in his younger years where he learned to play Flamenco guitar, and he accompanied his songs on a Spanish guitar. His grave voice has been compared to a cement mixer and the sound of coke bottles being crushed under a door, it is instantly recognizable. Drew left the band in 1974 to spend more time with his family, to be replaced by Jim McCann. He returned to the Dubliners five years later, but left the group again in 1995. Paddy Reilly took his place this time around. Some of his most significant contributions to the band are the hit single Seven Drunken Nights, his rendition of Finnegan's wake, and McAlpine's Fusiliers.

Luke Kelly was more of a balladeer than Drew, and he played chords on the five-string banjo. Kelly sang many defining versions of beautiful songs: traditionals like 'Black Velvet Band', 'Whiskey in the Jar' (later played by metal bands Thin Lizzy and Metallica), 'Home Boys Home'; but also Phil Coulter's 'The Town I Loved So Well', Ewan McColl's 'Dirty Old Town' also recorded by The Pogues and 'Raglan Road', written by the famous Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh. Kavanagh met Kelly in a pub, and asked him to sing the song. It was later recorded by artists like Mark Knopfler, Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor and many others. In 1980, Luke Kelly was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Though first the chemotherapy seemed to work, after a while things started getting worse again. Knowing his time would not be long, the band took on a replacement in 1982, Sean Cannon. Sometimes Kelly was too ill to sing, sometimes he joined the band for a few songs, and sometimes he collapsed on stage, but he didn't stop touring with the band until 2 months before his death. One of the last concerts he took part in was recorded and released: 'Live in Carré' (Amsterdam, Holland), released in 1983. John Sheahan introduces him when he comes on, and explains that he went for a walk and got lost, but obviously that wasn't the real reason he was late. In November 2004, the Dublin city council voted unanimously to erect a bronze statue of Luke Kelly. Kelly is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Ciaran Bourke was a singer, but he also played the guitar, tin whistle and harmonica. He sang many songs in Gaelic ('Peggy Lettermore'; 'Preab san ol'). In 1974 disaster struck for Ciaran Bourke: he collapsed on stage after having a brain hemorrhage. First he made a miraculous recovery, but then he collapsed again, this time paralyzed on his left side. Bourke died in 1988. The band always kept hoping for his return; they never officially took on an official fifth member before his death, and they never stopped paying him.

Barney McKenna is a talented tenor banjo and mandolin player. In the Dubliners' stage shows he sings sea shanties and love songs to minimal instrumental accompaniment. He is also well known amongst friends, colleagues and fans as a great teller of tall stories and jokes.

John Sheahan and Bobby Lynch joined the band in 1964. They had been playing during the interval at concerts, and usually stayed on for the second half of the show. When Luke Kelly moved to England in 1964, Lynch was taken on as his temporary replacement. According to Sheahan, he was never (and still has not) ever officially been asked to join the band. Sheahan is the only member to have had a musical education.

Instrumentals

They also played many instrumental tunes, mostly traditional reels, jigs and hornpipes. In the early days when they played at O'Donoghue's Pub, Bobby Lynch and fiddle/tin whistle player John Sheahan would play during the breaks, and sometimes they stayed on stage after the interval. When Luke Kelly left for England in 1964, they were asked to join the group. During this period without Luke Kelly, their 1965 CD 'In Concert' was recorded; Lynch can be heard singing 'Roddy MacCorley' (with Ciaran Bourke), Dominic Behan's 'Patriot Game', 'The Kerry Recruit' and 'The Leaving of Liverpool' (with Ronnie). When Kelly returned, Lynch left the band and Sheahan stayed. Bobby Lynch eventually died in 1982.

Popularity

The Dubliners became very well known, not just in Ireland; they were also pioneers for Irish folk in Europe and also (though less successful) in the United States. Their 1967 recordings of 'Seven Drunken Nights' and 'The Black Velvet Band' were released on the fledgling Major Minor label, and were heavily promoted on pirate station Radio Caroline. The result was that both records reached the UK pop charts.

The Dubliners spent the late sixties and early seventies touring, playing, but mostly and most importantly: drinking. Then in 1974 disaster struck for Ciaran Bourke: he collapsed on stage after having a brain hemorrhage. First he made a miraculous recovery, but then he collapsed again, this time paralyzed on his left side. Bourke died in 1988. The band always kept hoping for his return; they never officially took on a fifth member before his death, and they never stopped paying him.

Also in 1974, Ronnie Drew decided to quit the band, to spend more time with his family. He was replaced with Jim McCann. Before joining the band McCann had a TV show in the early seventies called 'The McCann man'. He is best known for his incarnations of 'Carrickfergus', Makem's 'Four Green Fields', and 'Lord of the Dance'. He stayed with the band until 1979 to start a solo career; then Ronnie Drew rejoined the band.

25th anniversary

In 1987, the Dubliners celebrated their 25th anniversary. They recorded a double CD, produced by Eamonn Campbell, long time friend and guest musician. He introduced them to The Pogues, and their collaboration resulted in a hit with "The Irish Rover". Christy Moore, Paddy Reilly and Jim McCann also featured on the CD; Moore sings a tribute to Luke Kelly, and McCann sings the song "I Loved the Ground She Walked Upon", written by Phil Coulter and Ralph McTell. The following year, to coincide with Dublin's millenial celebrations, Radio Telefís Éireann produced an hour long special on the band and the city's influence on their music, titled The Dubliner's Dublin.

In 1996 Ronnie Drew quit the band, and Paddy Reilly came on to replace him. Reilly, a long time friend of the group, toured with them before on several occasions; he was already a successful solo artist in Ireland, scoring hits with "The Fields of Athenry" and "The Town I Loved So Well" In 2002, they temporarily reunited with Ronnie Drew and Jim McCann, for their 40th anniversary tour. During this tour, they recorded their first DVD. Sadly, Jim McCann was diagnosed with throat cancer after the tour, and though he fully recovered his voice was severely damaged, and he has not been able to sing since his illness. Despite this, Jim regularly acts as MC at folk gigs, notably at Dubliners reunion shows and at the 2006 'Legends of Irish Folk' shows (where he also played guitar in the finale). In 2005 Paddy Reilly decided to move to the United States, and Patsy Watchorn joined the group. Watchorn made name for himself with The Dublin City Ramblers; like Luke Kelly, he accompanies his songs on the 5 string banjo.

After 43 years, the band still tours Europe every year, though instrumentalists Barney McKenna and John Sheahan are the only original members left in the band.

Discography (unfinished)

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