Luke Kelly
… in Tribute
LUKE KELLY — the soul of the Dubliners
Balladeer Luke Kelly the "soul" of the Dubliners group, has died in Dublin's Richmond Hospital to which he was admitted at the weekend. He was 44.
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| THE DUBLINERS … Luke Kelly with (from left) Banney McKenna, Ronnie Drew and John Sheahan. |
Mr. Kelly was one of the original members of The Dubliners. In recent years he bad undergone two serious operations following a brain tumour.
He leaves his widow, Deirdre O'Connell, and many thousands of fans, at home and abroad, who followed the careers of The Dubliners since they formed in 1963.
Luke Kelly was born in the North Wall, Dublin, in 1940, one of six children in a working class family. He was educated at St. Laurence O'Toole's in Seville Place and left school at 13 to work as a messenger. Six months later he got a job in Jacobs biscuit factory.
A dedicated football fan, like his father before him, he played for Home Farm, and through contacts in another club got a job as an apprentice painter and even painted for a while in Aras an Uachtarain.
He was later laid off and set out on the road as a travelling singer. Like the other famous founder-member of the Dubliners, Ronnie Drew, be caught the emigrant boat from the North Wall to England, to sell vacuum cleaners in Newcastle.
It was in England that he was converted to the life of a singer and musician. For the next few years he worked in England improving his playing and singing talents. He spent two years playing banjo in Paris before returning to Dublin in 1962.
It was the appearance on a show put together by John Molloy that prompted Ronnie Drew to suggest the individuals form a group, and just in time for the folk music boom. After establishing a substantial base in Dublin they recorded a song and released it in Britain as well as their first step to international acclaim.
The Dubliners celebrated 25 years together last year.
Since the mid 60s they have toured the world extensively and often packing in full houses wherever they appeared.
Luke's colourful life extended into the showbiz world, when, for example, in October 1971 the band had two concerts cancelled in Lancashire 'because of the number of rebel songs in their repertoire.
The line-up of the Dubliners has changed in recent years, with both Ronnie Drew and his replacement Jim McCann pursuing successful solo careers, but never failing to attract huge crowds wherever they played.
Ciaran Burke left the group several years ago having been virtually, immobilised by a brain ailment.
Luke Kelly underwent his first brain tumour operation in Cork in 1980 when he was taken ill at a performance in the Cork Opera House on July 2.
On April 15. 1981, he collapsed at the Embankment in Tallaght but was discharged from the Richmond hospital two days later. A few weeks later he was taken ill again in Switzerland, and did not resume touring with the group again until October.
Last March he underwent his second brain tumour operation in the Richmond Hospital and was back playing with the group during the summer.
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