Tag: Ciaran Bourke

#OTD in 1939 – Birth of musician and composer, John Sheahan, who was a member of The Dubliners.

19/05/2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

John Sheahan was the quiet one in The Dubliners. In that cast of beardy and hairy rogues and rascals, Sheahan stood out by not standing out. Brought in to stand shoulder to shoulder with founder members Luke Kelly, Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna and Ciarán Bourke, Sheahan’s playing brought a touch of elegant class to that […]

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#OTD in 1988 – Death of musician, Ciarán Bourke.

10/05/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

He was one of the original founding members of the Irish folk band The Dubliners; he played tin whistle, mouth organ and guitar, as well as singing. Ciarán was responsible for bringing a Gaelic element to The Dubliners’ music with songs such as “Peggy Lettermore” and “Sé Fáth Mo Bhuartha” being performed in the Irish […]

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#OTD in Irish History | 10 May:

10/05/2023.Reading time 18 minutes.

1318 – Richard de Clare, Lord of Thomond, a descendant of Strongbow, is killed while commanding his forces at the Battle of Dysert O’Dea. According to legend, the day before his death, Richard de Clare beheld a woman dressed in white on the river’s edge washing bloody clothing and armour. When he asked whose clothes […]

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#OTD in 2012 – Death of Bernard Noël “Banjo Barney” McKenna.

05/04/2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

Barney McKenna was the last surviving founding member of the Irish folk group the Dubliners. With Luke Kelly’s powerful voice and force of nature on stage, Ronnie Drew’s gravelly memorable vocal sound, it was McKenna’s playing of the tenor banjo, coupled with John Sheahan’s fiddle, that gave the Dubliners their original instrumental quality. In the […]

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#OTD in 1944 – Birth of entertainer and folk musician, Jim McCann.

05/03/2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

As a young man, McCann attended University College Dublin as a student of medicine, but became interested in folk music during a summer holiday in Birmingham in 1964. He began to perform in folk clubs in the area, and, upon his return to Dublin, he joined a group called the Ludlow Trio in 1965. In […]

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#OTD in 1935 – Birth of musician, Ciarán Bourke, in Dublin. He was one of the original founding members of The Dubliners.

18/02/2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Ciarán Bourke was one of the original members of The Dubliners, his versatility was his hallmark which included the playing of the tin whistle, harmonica, and guitar, as well as singing. He was the only member of the group to receive a university education and was also fluent in Irish. Bourke collapsed on stage from […]

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#OTD in 1984 – Singer and musician, Luke Kelly, was laid to rest at Glasnevin Cemetery.

01/02/2023.Reading time 1 minute.

‘His legacy was putting his own stamp on a song such that it became the definitive version of a song for others to come along and emulate.’ –John Sheahan. The mass was celebrated by Fr Michael Cleary at the Church of the Holy Child in Whitehall and The Dubliners performed during the ceremony. Kelly’s brothers, […]

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#OTD in 1984 – Death of Luke Kelly, lead vocalist and 5-string banjo member of the Dubliners.

30/01/2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

Luke Kelly was a singer and folk musician from Dublin, most famous as a member of the band ‘The Dubliners’. Indeed, while Luke often sang of the poor, the oppressed, the worker, the lover or the rebel –the realities of his own life and upbringing enlivened and gave weight to his songs and the emotional […]

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