Tuesday, January 31, 1984
Luke Kelly, dead
Ballad singer Luke Kelly, a member of the well-known Dubliners group, died in a Dublin hospital last night. The bearded balladeer, who was 44. had been in a critical condition following a brain tumour operation.
Four years ago, Mr. Kelly had the first of several major operations' alter collapsing in Cork. In April. 1981 he collapsed again during a performance at the Embankment in Tallaght, Dublin,
Ronnie Drew and Barney McKenna, two other members, of tie Dubliners, were with Luke Kelly when he died.
Ronnie said early today; "We will all miss him terribly. I think he was the best we ever had. God rest him. You cannot measure how much we will miss him. We were all very close."
Tuesday, January 31, 1984
Luke Kelly, balladeer of world acclaimBy TRACY HOGAN and LIAM RYAN
LUKE KELLY of The Dubliners, who died last night, was regarded as one of the greatest ballad singers in Ireland.
His raspy Dublin voice was synonymous with the unmistakably raucous sound of the legendary balladeers, The Dubliners, as they won world acclaim and a place la Irish folk music history.
Although he had undergone a number of major operations following a brain tumour, Luke had made a courageous return to the group, now almost a national institution.
A keen footballer, Luke played for Home Farm and a chance offer at the club led to him getting a. job
as an apprentice painter. Although he lasted long enough to do some painting at Arus an Uachtarain, he was soon laid off.
A member of the Dubliners since the formation of the group in 1963, he shared their hard times and successes and always remained a rebel with left-wing views of the injustices in our society.
His craggy face, framed by a shock of red curls and a goatee beard, was a much-loved feature of the Irish and international music scene.
Born 44 years ago in the North Wall area of Dublin, Luke Kelly never had it easy. Educated at Laurence O'Tooles in Seville Place, he left school at 13 to ride a messenger boy's bicycle. And in the footsteps of his father, his mother and the rest of the family he went to work in Jacobs when he was 14.
He then worked for a while as a docker, a builder. a drain digger and furniture remover before leaving for England in 1957. At that time he had no thoughts of becoming a folk singer, but while selling vacuum cleaners in Newcastle - the town was no cleaner for all the vacuum cleaners I sold" - he soon
developed an interest in music.
In London, he met Dominic Behan who introduced Luke to the folk music of Northern England and Scotland.
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| Luke Kelly, on right, with his "Dubliners" colleagues, from left. Ciaran Burke, John Sheehan, Ronnie Drew and Barney MacKenna |
Arriving back in Dublin in 1962, he frequented O'Donoghue's pub on Merrion Row, which was known as a good outlet for a folk singer. There he met Barney McKenna, and other musicians, who shared in the growing interest in folk music.
After he had appeared on a show with other individual members of the Dubliners, the suggestion was made by Ronnie Drew, who was already well-known at the time, that they should form a group.
Among the numbers Luke's fans loved to hear were his gutsy versions of "The Town I Loved So Well," "Dirty Old Town" and "The Molly Maguires."
After they established a secure base in Dublin, in places like the Abbey Tavern in Howth, Luke and the Dubliners made a record, which was released in England, boosting their popularity and creating a demand for them elsewhere in the world.
Very shortly they were touring the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.
The heady mixture of instrumental from john Sheehan on fiddle, banjoists Luke and Barney McKenna, whistle player Ciaran Bourke, along with Ronnie Drew's nasal poetry and Luke's gravel-voiced singing soon put the Dubliners to the forefront of the international folk and ballad circuit.
Since the mid-60s, the group has made many best-selling records and toured extensively.
Throughout this time Luke diversified his interests and found time to act and write poetry. One of his best-known performances was in Brendan Behan's play, "Richard's Cork Leg", and at one stage he spent 10-minute periods each day writing verse.
Tragedy struck 10 minutes into The Dubliners' act at the Opera House in Cork, on June 30, 1980, where Luke Kelly came face to face with the reality of his illness.
He later recalled in an interview: " There I was then, in front of 2,000 people in the middle of ‘The Town I Loved So Well' when it started. I felt the warning signs in my head, my left side began to shake and my fingers would not pick the chords."
The tousle-haired singer, was suffering from a brain tumour and had to undergo major brain surgery. Although he was able to rejoin the group after a period of convalescence at his home in Dartmouth Square, Dublin, Luke Kelly collapsed again at the Embankment in Tallaght on April 15, 1981, and shortly afterwards he fell ill while in Switzerland.
In March last year he underwent a second operation at the Richmond hospital and bravely he fought back to take the stage yet again.
One of his favorite stories about the Dubliners was how one night they played before 3,000 people in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall and were afterwards entertained by flautist lames Galway. The following night they were back in Ireland playing a marquee dance in Ballyhaunis. "Jesus, think of it." he would exclaim. "From Berlin to Ballyhaunis in 24 hours. What a way to treat a man's ego."
Luke Kelly was known as a deep thinking and sensitive person. Interviewed in 1980 while recuperating from the first operation, he said:
"If people with a brain tumour find some comfort from my experience, then this has been worthwhile. Maybe, there is also a lesson in that I should have gone to a doctor earlier. A bill from a hospital is the only evidence that I once collapsed and suffered a blackout."
"Unfortunately, too many people like me set themselves up like a god and pretend that a crippling illness could not happen to them."
Luke Kelly leaves his widow Deirdre O'Connell. And he also leaves countless thousands of friends - many of whom only know him through concert or record - who have followed his career with the Dubliners for over 20 years.
