Obit of the Day

Obit of the Day: The Last of The Dubliners

Barney McKenna, the last of the original foursome who composed one of the most influential Irish folk bands, passed away on April 5, 2012. He was 72 years old. McKenna performed his last concert with the Dubliners the night before his death.

The group, originally called The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, began with McKenna on banjo and mandolin, Ronnie Drew as lead singer and guitar, Ciarán Bourke on guitar, tin whistle and harmonica, and Luke Kelly on banjo and vocals. They formed up in 1962 to play at O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin.

The band changed their name because Drew was uncomfortable with the original group name and Luke Kelly was reading James Joyce’s classic collection of short stories, Dubliners.

Luke Kelly died in 1984. Ciarán Bourke died in 1988. Ronnie Drew died in 2008.

This was the 50th anniversary of the group’s founding. (Coincidentally, Marshall amp inventor, Jim Marshall, who also died on April 5th, was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his amps)

Additional source: wikipedia.org

(“Whiskey in the Jar” from The Very Best of The Dublinersis copyright of EMI Records, 2010.)