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The Dubliners
The Dubliners circa 2005. From left to right: Eamonn Campbell, John Sheahan, Barney McKenna, Seán Cannon and Patsy Watchorn.
Background information
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Irish folk
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Columbia, Epic, Legacy, Major Minor, EMI, Transatlantic, Polydor, CHYME, Lunar, Harmac, Baycourt, Celtic Collections
Members
John Sheahan Seán Cannon Eamonn Campbell Patsy Watchorn
Past members
Barney McKenna Luke Kelly Ronnie Drew Ciarán Bourke Bobby Lynch Jim McCann Paddy Reilly

The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962. First led by Luke Kelly and later by Ronnie Drew, they brought Irish folk music to a worldwide audience and made traditional Irish songs globally popular. They are one of Ireland's longest surviving musical acts and are considered as one of the most influential Irish bands of the 20th century.

Formation and history [link]

The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin. The change of name came about because of Drew's unhappiness with it, together with the fact that Kelly was reading Dubliners by James Joyce at the time.^[1] Founding members were Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna.^[2]

Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna and Thomas Whelan had originally teamed up for a fundraising concert ^[3] and then went on to work in a revue with the Irish comedian John Molloy at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. They used to sing songs between acts.

Before joining the Dubliners full time, Luke Kelly had spent some time playing at English folk clubs such as the Jug o'Punch in Birmingham, run by the folk singer Ian Campbell.

The group played at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963 and that led to them being featured on a BBC programme called Hootenanny. The extra exposure helped them to win a contract with Transatlantic Records, with whom they recorded their first album, called simply The Dubliners. They also recorded their first single featuring Rocky Road to Dublin and The Wild Rover.

Barney McKenna was a renowned tenor banjo and mandolin player. In The Dubliners' stage shows he sang sea shanties and love songs to minimal instrumental accompaniment. He died, unexpectedly, on 5 April 2012 after collapsing in the kitchen of his home in Howth, Co. Dublin. He was buried at St Loman’s Cemetery in Trim, County Meath, on 9 April 2012. As Bourke, Drew, and Kelly had all died previously, McKenna was the last surviving original member of the band prior to his death.

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.^[1] Drew left the band in 1974 to spend more time with his family, and was replaced by Jim McCann. He returned to The Dubliners five years later, but left the group again in 1995.^[1] Ronnie Drew died at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Dublin on 16 August 2008 after a long illness.^[4] Paddy Reilly took Drew's place in 1995. Some of Drew's 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 traditional songs like "The Black Velvet Band", "Whiskey in the Jar", "Home Boys Home"; but also Phil Coulter's "The Town I Loved So Well", Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town", "The Wild Rover", and "Raglan Road", written by the famous Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh. Kavanagh met Kelly in a pub, and asked him to sing the song.^{[citation needed]} In 1980, Luke Kelly was diagnosed with a brain tumour.^[5] Occasionally Kelly was too ill to sing though he was sometimes able to join the band for a few songs. While on tour in Germany he collapsed on stage. When Kelly was too ill to play, he was replaced by Seán Cannon.^{[citation needed]} He continued to tour with the band until two months before his death. Kelly died on January 30, 1984.^[6] One of the last concerts in which he took part was recorded and released: Live in Carré, recorded in Amsterdam, Netherlands, released in 1983. In November 2004, the Dublin city council voted unanimously to erect a bronze statue of Luke Kelly.^[7] Kelly is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Ciarán Bourke was a singer, but he also played the guitar, tin whistle and harmonica. He sang many songs in Irish ("Peggy Lettermore", "Preab san Ól"). In 1974 he collapsed on stage after suffering a brain hemorrhage. A second hemorrhage left him paralyzed on his left side.^[8] Bourke died in 1988.^[9] The band did not officially replace him until his death.^{[citation needed]}

The Dubliners performing in Luxembourg, 11 October 2008.

John Sheahan and Bobby Lynch joined the band in 1964.^[2] They had been playing during the interval at concerts, and usually stayed on for the second half of the show.^[10] When Luke Kelly moved to England in 1964, Lynch was taken on as his temporary replacement. When Kelly returned in 1965, Lynch left the band and Sheahan stayed. According to Sheahan, he was never (and still has not been) ever officially asked to join the band.^{[citation needed]} Sheahan is the only member to have had a musical education.^{[citation needed]} Lynch committed suicide in Dublin in 1982.^[11]

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 2005, Paddy Reilly moved to the United States, and Patsy Watchorn joined the group. Watchorn made a name for himself with The Dublin City Ramblers; like Kelly, he accompanies his songs on the five-string banjo.

The band toured Europe every year. A planned tour of Denmark two weeks after the death of McKenna on 5 April 2012 went ahead as planned. From the first show in Copenhagen on 18 April onwards he was replaced by the Irish banjo player Gerry O´Connor.

Reunions [link]

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25th anniversary [link]

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". It reached number 8 in the singles charts. In 1990 their final hit single was "Jack's Heroes/Whiskey in the Jar", again with The Pogues, which reached number 63. Campbell, who plays the guitar on stage, has been touring with the band ever since. 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 millennial 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.

40th anniversary [link]

In 2002, they temporarily reunited with Ronnie Drew and Jim McCann, for their 40th anniversary tour. They made a string of appearances on Irish television throughout this time, including a memorable appearance with Phil Coulter and George Murphy on RTÉ 1.

After the tour, Jim McCann was diagnosed with throat cancer and, though he fully recovered, his voice was severely damaged, and he has not been able to sing since his illness. Despite this, he 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).

Popularity [link]

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The Dubliners became well known, not just in Ireland but also as 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 radio station Radio Caroline. The result was that both records reached the top 20 in the UK pop charts. A third single, "Maids, When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" reached number 43 in December 1967. It was their last UK hit single till they recorded with The Pogues in 1987.

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. First Ronnie went to Norway to record two songs in the Norwegian language with the Norwegian band Bergeners.

The Dubliners also gained popularity amongst famous musicians such as Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason, who were all self-proclaimed Dubliners fans.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1960s, The Dubliners sang rebel songs such as "The Old Alarm Clock", "The Foggy Dew" and "Off to Dublin in the Green". However, the conflict in Northern Ireland from 1969 onwards led them to drop most of these from their repertoire. They have begun to perform songs such as these occasionally again only in recent years.

On 8 February 2012, The Dubliners received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Members [link]

Current members

• John Sheahan - fiddle, mandolin, tin whistle, concertina (1964–present)
• Seán Cannon - vocals, guitar (1982–present)
• Eamonn Campbell - guitar, mandolin (1984, 1987–present)
• Patsy Watchorn - vocals, banjo, bodhrán, spoons (2005–present)

Former members

• Barney McKenna - Irish tenor banjo, mandolin, melodeon, vocals (1962–2012; died 2012)
• Luke Kelly - vocals, banjo (1962–84; died 1984)
• Ronnie Drew - vocals, guitar (1962–74, 1979–95, 2002; died 2008)
• Ciaran Bourke - vocals, guitar, tin whistle, harmonica (1962–74; guest appearance - 1988; died 1988)
• Bobby Lynch - vocals, guitar (1964–65; died 1982)
• Jim McCann - vocals, guitar (1974–79, 1984, 1987, 2002)
• Paddy Reilly - vocals, guitar (1984, 1995–2005)

Line-ups [link]

Discography [link]

Note: This discography is incomplete.

Original albums [link]

• 1964 The Dubliners with Luke Kelly
• 1965 In Concert (Live)
• 1966 Finnegan Wakes (Live)
• 1967 A Drop of the Hard Stuff (a.k.a. Seven Drunken Nights)
• 1967 More of the Hard Stuff
• 1968 Drinkin' and Courtin' (a.k.a. I Know My Love)
• 1968 At It Again (a.k.a. Seven Deadly Sins)
• 1969 Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Live)
• 1969 At Home with The Dubliners
• 1970 Revolution
• 1972 Hometown (Live)
• 1972 Double Dubliners (a.k.a. Alive And Well)
• 1973 Plain and Simple
• 1974 Live (Live)
• 1975 Now
• 1976 A Parcel of Rogues
• 1977 Live at Montreux (Live)
• 1977 15 Years On
• 1979 Together Again
• 1983 21 Years On (Live)
• 1983 Prodigal Sons
• 1985 Live In Carré (Live)
• 1987 25 Years Celebration
• 1988 Dubliner's Dublin
• 1992 30 Years A-Greying
• 1996 Further Along
• 1997 Alive Alive-O (Live)
• 2002 40 Years (features old and new songs)
• 2002 Live From The Gaiety (Live)
• 2006 Live At Vicar Street (Live)
• 2009 A Time to Remember (Live)

Compilation albums [link]

• 1967 The best of The Dubliners (Transatlantic TRA 158)
• 1969 It's The Dubliners
• 1969 A Drop Of The Dubliners
• 1977 Home, Boys, Home
• 1978 20 Original Greatest Hits
• 1979 The Dubliners Collection
• 1981 20 Original Greatest Hits Volume 2
• 1981 18 Original Greatest Hits Volume 3
• 1992 Off to Dublin Green
• 1993 Original Dubliners
• 1995 Milestones
• 1997 The Definitive Transatlantic Collection
• 1998 At their best
• 1998 Ageless Classics - The Transatlantic Years Revisited
• 2000 Collection (reassembling)
• 2000 Definitive Dubliners
• 2002 The best of The Dubliners
• 2002 The Transatlantic Anthology
• 2003 Spirit of the Irish
• 2005 Wild Irish Rovers^[12]
• 2006 The Dubliners Collection (reassembling)
• 2006 Too Late To Stop Now: The Very Best Of The Dubliners
• 2009 The Very Best Of: The Dubliners
• 2010 The Very Best Of The Original Dubliners

Irish Chart singles [link]

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• 1966 "Nelson's Farewell" (#6)^[13]
• 1967 "Black Velvet Band" (#4)^[13]
• 1967 "All for Me Grog" (#10)^[13]
• 1967 "Seven Drunken Nights" (#1)^[13]
• 1968 "Never Wed an Old Man" (#11)^[14]
• 1968 "Dirty Old Town" (#10)^[14]
• 1971 "Hand Me Down my Bible" (#7)^[14]
• 1971 "Free the People" (#7)^[14]
• 1986 "Raglan Road" (#30)^[14]
• 1987 "Don't Get Married" (#24)^[15]
• 1987 "The Irish Rover" (#1)^[15]
• 1990 "Jack's Heroes" (#4) (with The Pogues)^[15]
• 1991 "The Rose" (#2) (Including Hothouse Flowers)^[15]
• 1994 "Red Roses for Me" (#13) ^[15]

References [link]

External links [link]

• Patsy Watchorn (Dubliners Homepage)
• TheDubliners.org (Another Dubliners Homepage)
• Discography
• History and Discographies at theBalladeers
• Tribute CD to Ronnie Drew
• https://www.irishmusicforever.com/bands/dubliners