The Dubliners

The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962. Their most famous lead singers were Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew. The band was successful with their lively Irish folk songs, traditional street ballads and instrumentals.

The Dubliners
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Irish folk
Years active	1962–2012 2013–present (as "The Dublin Legends")
Labels	Columbia, Epic, Legacy, Major Minor, EMI, Transatlantic, Polydor, Stiff, CHYME, Lunar, Harmac, Baycourt
Members	Seán Cannon Gerry O'Connor Shay Kavanagh Paul Watchorn
Past member(s)	Ciarán Bourke Ronnie Drew Luke Kelly Barney McKenna Bob Lynch John Sheahan Jim McCann Eamonn Campbell Paddy Reilly Patsy Watchorn

They were one of the most influential Irish acts of the 20th century. They celebrated 50 years together in 2012, the year they retired.^[1]

Dominic Behan wrote songs for them including McAlpine's Fusiliers. ^[2]

History

In 1962, Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna, Ciaran Bourke and Luke Kelly formed an Irish-folk group in O' Donoghues Pub, Dublin called "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group" but soon renamed to "The Dubliners" as Luke Kelly was reading a book of that name by James Joyce. ^[3] From then on, fiddle-player John Sheahan joined and the original lineup of The Dubliners was formed. In 1962 they recorded a record titled "The Dubliners". In 1983, Luke Kelly died of a brain tumour and Sean Cannon replaced him.

Singers

• Ronnie Drew, 1962-1974, 1979-1995, 2002, 2006, Vocals, Guitar
• Barney McKenna, 1962-2012, Banjo, Mandolin, Vocals
• Luke Kelly, 1962-1983, Vocals, banjo
• John Sheahan 1964-2012, Fiddle, Mandolin, Vocals
• Bob Lynch, 1964-1965, Vocals, Guitar
• Ciaran Bourke, 1962-1974, Guitar, Tin Whistle, Vocals
• Jim McCann, 1974-1975, 2002, Vocals, Guitar
• Sean Cannon, 1983-2012, Vocals, Guitar
• Eamonn Campbell, 1987-2012, Vocals, Guitar
• Paddy Reilly, 1995-2006, Vocals Guitar
• Patsy Watchorn, 2006-2012, Vocals, banjo