SNIPPET: One of Ireland's greatest troubadours passed away last August. Ronnie DREW, who founded 'The Dubliners" ballad group, was known far and wide for his gravel-voiced renditions of many popular ballads such as Finnegans Wake and Dicey Riley. The Dubliners were composed of Luke Clancy, Barney McKenna, John Sheehan, Ciaran Burke and Ronnie, and were described by a leading American music writer as "the spiritual godfathers" of today's Irish music groups. In 1999, Ronnie Drew performed in O'Donoghue's famous ballad pub in Merrion Row, Dublin, for then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern. Tributes were paid to Ronnie by many, led by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, and the funeral ceremony was one of the biggest, and most emotional, witnessed in Dublin for some time. "The Dubliners" biggest commercial hit was Seven Drunken Nights, sung by Ronnie, which topped the British charts. For some time, Ronnie had been ill with cancer, and early this year a group of top Irish folk and rock singers - including Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Shane McGowan, Sinead O'Connor, Bono, Glen Hansard and Mary Coughlan - recorded a tribute song for him, The Ballad of Ronnie Drew. The last two lines are: "Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore: Like coals from a coal buck scraping the floor." In a statement on U2's web site, Bono said that Ronnie "has left his earthly tour for one of the heavens," adding: "They need him up there. It's a little too quiet and pious." Earlier Bono was quoted as saying: "You can take the hardest rock band on the earth and they sound like a bunch of girls next to the Dubliners." The New York Times said in their obituary notice on Ronnie: "The Dubliners became widely known in Europe, as well as the United States, for bold versions of traditional folk songs." Ronnie Drew was 73. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam - "May his soul be on God's right side."

Addendum: Received the following comment from Cyril, at Lough Garman. Would that be Co. Wexford? Thanks for your note, Cyril. The information I sent to the list was found in the latest issue of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine. Do you have a favorite album or song the group recorded? Something interesting to share about your part of the country? (Hope so!) Jean Hi Jean, I think you need to amend your posting re: Farewell, Ronnie DREW (73) - Founder,"The Dubliners" ballad group The Dubliners were originally composed of the late Luke Kelly (1940-84) not Clancy! Barney McKenna (1939- ), John Sheehan (1939- ), the late Ciaran Burke (1935-1988) and now the late Ronnie Drew (1934-2008). Other former members include the late Bobby Lynch (replaced Luke Kelly for a year back in the 60's) Jim McCann and Paddy Reilly... slan Cyril Newsome Loch Garman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IRISH-AMERICAN-L@rootsweb.com> Cc: <IRISH-IN-UK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 1:24 PM Subject: [IRISH-AMER] Farewell, Ronnie DREW (73) - Founder,"The Dubliners" ballad group > SNIPPET: One of Ireland's greatest troubadours passed away last August. > Ronnie DREW, who founded 'The Dubliners" ballad group, was known far and > wide for his gravel-voiced renditions of many popular ballads such as > Finnegans Wake and Dicey Riley. <snip>