[url]https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/remembering-ronnie-2431-237606881[/url]

[b]Remembering The Dubliners Ronnie Drew on his anniversary[/b]
Niall O'Dowd @niallodowd August 16, 2017 09:51 AM

They will be singing the Ronnie Drew songs long after the techno beat and disco din are consigned to history. He was one of a kind

Today, on August 16 in 2008, the renowned and beloved Irish singer, frontman of The Dubliners, Ronnie Drew passed away. Here IrishCentral's Founder Niall O'Dowd recalls his encounter with the singer, remembered as a character with rare real voice and piercing blue eyes.

I met Ronnie Drew once in the meeting room of the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. In person, he looked a lot worse than the photographs.

Clearly, he had been drinking and was falling asleep in the corner when a friend brought me over. He was very courteous and kind, spending about 10 minutes inquiring about friends in America and calling up memories of the many riotous trips they took to the U.S. when his band, the Dubliners, was at its height.

Ronnie Drew was Shane MacGowan for a previous generation, a once in a lifetime character who filled his songs with emotion and often ribaldry, most notably "Seven Drunken Nights." He was one of Dublin's greatest characters who could easily have stepped out of a James Joyce or James Plunkett novel.

It was a rare thrill to meet him. Like many Irish of my generation I grew up on the Dubliners and Ronnie Drew, not to mention band mate Luke Kelly, whose voice was harsh as cut glass but it touched you to the bone.

I saw Kelly once, very early one morning on Leeson Street near the famous canal. It was about 7.a.m. I was out walking and he was clearly coming home from a party.

He looked as rough as his marvelous voice and he was clearly in no mood for talking. I treasure the memory though.

I still cannot hear Kelly's "Raglan Road" or Drew's "Rare Old Times" without being transported back to a time and place in the 1970s right before modernity came crashing in on Ireland's capital city.

As Drew sang, "Dublin keeps on changing and nothing seems the same/as the gray unyielding concrete makes a city of my town," he is speaking of the Dublin of little streets, jam packed pubs and singsongs that lasted all night that he was saying goodbye to.

Drew and Kelly were the embodiment of the city that I spent many happy years in long before there was a Celtic Tiger, a gritty place that was not the city of the middle and upper classes, or the world class headquarters that it has become. Drew sang about the Dublin characters and the working class quarters where life was rough and tough.

Then there was the voice. Not the greatest in the world, but with that gravelly quality that made it completely unique.

When he launched into "The Old Triangle" Brendan Behan's Dublin came alive. When he sang "Nora," a beautiful and wistful love song, he could stop a passing train.

No less a performer than Bono, who was influenced by the Dubliners, paid a special tribute to him on Monday.

"Ronnie has left his earthly tour for one of the heavens ... they need him up there ... it's a little too quiet and pious," wrote the U2 front man.

"God is lonely for a voice louder than His own. Weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs... that's what I loved about Ronnie Drew's voice and spirit. Music to inspire, to console ... an optimism that was contagious ... that's what U2 took from the Dubliners."

All that and more. No doubt Dublin is quieter and more regimented now that the Dubliners have gone. But they will be sadly missed by a generation who were feeling their way towards adulthood at the time they exploded on the scene.

They sang about a Dublin we could all fall in love with, full of characters and craic, full of fun and fantasy and rebel nights.

Can we say the same nowadays about that capital city where Celtic Tiger clones populate every bar, and the city nightlife is sometimes indistinguishable from Los Angeles or another worldwide hot spot?

One thing for sure, they will be singing the Ronnie Drew songs long after the techno beat and disco din are consigned to history. He was one of a kind, and Dublin will deeply miss him.


[i]* Article originally published in 2008.[/i]

Any word on what the Dubs thought of the Thin Lizzy 'Whiskey in the Jar?'

yeah good luck to Eamonn, hell of a charecter met him at a few Welsh folk festivals over a few years.
Cheers
Aled

Best wishes to Eamonn Campbell who has had an operation for Lung Cancer recently.

He is scheduled to appear with the newly named group 'The Dublin Legends' on the UK tour starting later this month. (Sean Cannon, Eamonn Campbell, Patsy Watchorn, Gerry O'Connor)

Good luck to them, keeping The Dubliners spirit alive!

Hey, am I the only one who hadn't heard? Looks like The Dubliners have packed it in:

http://www.thedubliners.org/retirement.html


Official note from John Sheahan
Dear friends,
We are celebrating 50 years on the road this year.
However, our celebrations have been tinged with great sadness with the recent death of our dear friend and colleague, Barney Mc Kenna.

Barney was a founding member of the group, sadly missed by all who knew and loved him. A virtuoso banjo player, a great story teller, he took great pleasure in distorting and twisting the English language with his ›Barneyisms‹. There was never a dull moment when you were with Barney.

50 years on the road is a significant landmark in the band’s career. There are times in life when things reach a natural finishing point. Barney and I had spoken about this, and it was his feeling that we should take a break from touring at the end of this year.

It is with a great sense of nostalgia that I have to tell you that this will be the last Dubliners concert tour of Germany.

I will cherish fond memories of our times in Germany. I will miss the camaraderie, the parties and the late nights shared with so many wonderful people. I would like to thank our promoter Karsten Jahnke and all our loyal fans who have supported us over our long career.

With warm wishes,
John Sheahan.
The Dubliners

[quote="Lade"]One of the most overpriced records I have seen.[/quote]

Possible it's supposed to be 9.99, i've seen a few of those over the years. Actually messaged the vendor one time, as i was after the album, and it was in fact a mistake.

One of the most overpriced records I have seen.

[img]
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B0002BGPOW/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=229816&s=music
How much? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0002BGPOW/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Why ?

It seems the Dubliners are no more. 'The Spirit of the Dubliners' featuring Sean Cannon, Patsy Watchorn, Eamon Campbell and Gerry O'Connor are touring the UK in March next year. Still, after 48 years i guess John deserves a rest!

[img]http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/images/2012/0224/1224312311651_1.jpg?ts=1330205322[/img]

[url]http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0224/1224312311651.html[/url]

The Dubliners were in the studio yesterday (thurs) recording with Damien Dempsey. They have rewritten, with the help of Today FM radio listeners, The Rocky Road To Dublin as The Rocky Road To Poland for the Euro Football Championships in June. It'll be released to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society and someone else.

[i]In the merry month of june........
[/i]
You get the idea.

.

Excellent documentary on them:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01blk01

Good stuff. Looking forward to seeing them at the RAH, next month.

Ah yes. got me numbers the wrong way around, meant to put 2h24m when Ralph McTell comes on to deliver a tribute that's well worth listening to.