Kimmage Lyrics And Chords
The Dubliners Irish Song Lyrics And Chords A traditional song that was recorded by Delia Murphy and later by Patsy Watchhorn formally of The Dublin City Ramblers. Kimmage is an area on the south side of Dublin. The Dubliners play this song in the key of G with Ronnie Drew doing the singing. Three lovely lassies from Kimmage sheet music lyrics and chords included.
Kimmage is a suburban area located in the South East of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated approximately 5 kilometers from the city center and is bordered by the neighborhoods of Crumlin, Walkinstown, and Terenure. The area has a rich history, vibrant culture, and a strong sense of community, making it a unique and desirable place to live.
The name Kimmage comes from the Irish word “Ceimig,” meaning a level place, which is a fitting description for this flat and open area. It was once a rural village, mainly known for its farming and market gardens. However, with the development of Dublin city and the expansion of the city's population, Kimmage has transformed into a bustling suburb.
One of the significant turning points in Kimmage's history was the arrival of the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway in the late 1800s. This tramline connected Kimmage to the city center and other suburban areas, making it more accessible for people to live and commute to work. As a result, the population of Kimmage began to grow, and new houses and amenities were built to accommodate this growth.
Kimmage's growth continued into the 20th century, and by the 1950s, it had become a popular residential area for working-class families, with many new housing estates being developed. Kimmage Manor, Kimmage Grove, and Kimmage Road West are some of the notable estates that were built during this time. These estates were well-designed, with green spaces and community facilities, creating a sense of pride and belonging among the residents.
Kimmage's community spirit has always been a defining characteristic of the area. This is evident in the numerous community organizations and groups that have been established over the years. The Kimmage Development Studies Centre, established in 1971, is a testament to the community's dedication to education and social justice. This center offers a wide range of educational programs, training courses, and community initiatives aimed at empowering and improving the lives of the residents.
Another significant aspect of Kimmage's community is its strong sporting culture. The area is home to several sports clubs, including Kimmage Cricket Club, Kimmage Manor Lawn Tennis Club, and Kimmage DSC Football Club. These clubs not only provide opportunities for people to engage in sports but also act as a social hub for the community.
Kimmage is also known for its vibrant cultural scene. The Kimmage Players, a local amateur drama group, has been entertaining audiences for over 40 years with their productions. The Kimmage Arts and Cultural Centre hosts various events, including art exhibitions, music concerts, and theater performances. These cultural activities bring people together, promoting a sense of community and pride in the area.
Kimmage's location and amenities make it an ideal place to live. The area is well-connected to the city center and other suburban areas, with excellent public transport links and road networks. It is also home to several schools, both primary and secondary, making it a popular choice for families with children. Kimmage Shopping Centre provides residents with easy access to a range of shops and services, including a supermarket, pharmacy, post office, and cafes.
Despite its many positive attributes, Kimmage, like any other area, has faced challenges over the years. In the 1980s, there was a decline in the area's social and economic conditions, with high unemployment rates and social issues such as drug abuse and crime. However, the community came together to address these issues, and with the support of local authorities, significant improvements were made. Today, Kimmage is a thriving and diverse community that continues to grow and develop.
In conclusion, Kimmage is a unique and dynamic area that has evolved from a rural village to a bustling suburban neighborhood. Its rich history, strong sense of community, and vibrant culture make it a desirable place to live. With its excellent amenities, convenient location, and dedicated community, Kimmage is a testament to the resilience and spirit of the people of Dublin.
The name Kimmage comes from the Irish word “Ceimig,” meaning a level place, which is a fitting description for this flat and open area. It was once a rural village, mainly known for its farming and market gardens. However, with the development of Dublin city and the expansion of the city's population, Kimmage has transformed into a bustling suburb.
One of the significant turning points in Kimmage's history was the arrival of the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway in the late 1800s. This tramline connected Kimmage to the city center and other suburban areas, making it more accessible for people to live and commute to work. As a result, the population of Kimmage began to grow, and new houses and amenities were built to accommodate this growth.
Kimmage's growth continued into the 20th century, and by the 1950s, it had become a popular residential area for working-class families, with many new housing estates being developed. Kimmage Manor, Kimmage Grove, and Kimmage Road West are some of the notable estates that were built during this time. These estates were well-designed, with green spaces and community facilities, creating a sense of pride and belonging among the residents.
Kimmage's community spirit has always been a defining characteristic of the area. This is evident in the numerous community organizations and groups that have been established over the years. The Kimmage Development Studies Centre, established in 1971, is a testament to the community's dedication to education and social justice. This center offers a wide range of educational programs, training courses, and community initiatives aimed at empowering and improving the lives of the residents.
Another significant aspect of Kimmage's community is its strong sporting culture. The area is home to several sports clubs, including Kimmage Cricket Club, Kimmage Manor Lawn Tennis Club, and Kimmage DSC Football Club. These clubs not only provide opportunities for people to engage in sports but also act as a social hub for the community.
Kimmage is also known for its vibrant cultural scene. The Kimmage Players, a local amateur drama group, has been entertaining audiences for over 40 years with their productions. The Kimmage Arts and Cultural Centre hosts various events, including art exhibitions, music concerts, and theater performances. These cultural activities bring people together, promoting a sense of community and pride in the area.
Kimmage's location and amenities make it an ideal place to live. The area is well-connected to the city center and other suburban areas, with excellent public transport links and road networks. It is also home to several schools, both primary and secondary, making it a popular choice for families with children. Kimmage Shopping Centre provides residents with easy access to a range of shops and services, including a supermarket, pharmacy, post office, and cafes.
Despite its many positive attributes, Kimmage, like any other area, has faced challenges over the years. In the 1980s, there was a decline in the area's social and economic conditions, with high unemployment rates and social issues such as drug abuse and crime. However, the community came together to address these issues, and with the support of local authorities, significant improvements were made. Today, Kimmage is a thriving and diverse community that continues to grow and develop.
In conclusion, Kimmage is a unique and dynamic area that has evolved from a rural village to a bustling suburban neighborhood. Its rich history, strong sense of community, and vibrant culture make it a desirable place to live. With its excellent amenities, convenient location, and dedicated community, Kimmage is a testament to the resilience and spirit of the people of Dublin.
Song Lyrics / Chords In D Major
There[D] were three lovely lasses from Kimmage
From[A7] Kimmage,from[D] Kimmage
And[D] when ever theres a bit of a scrimmage
Sure[G] I was the[A7] toughest of[D] all
[G]Sure[D] I was the[A7] toughest of[D] all
[2]
Now the cause of the row was Joe Cashin
Joe Cashin,Joe Cashin
For he told me he tought I looked smashing
At a dance in the Adelaide hall
At a dance in the Adelaide hall
[3]
When he gets a few jars he goes frantic
Oh frantic,oh frantic
But he's tall and he's dark and romantic
And I love him in spite of it all
And I love him in spite of it all
[4]
Now the other two young ones were flippin
Were flippin,were flippin
When they saw me and Joe and me trippin
To the strains of the Tennessee waltz
To the strains of the Tennessee waltz
[5]
Now he told me he thought we should marry
Should marry,should marry
For he said I was foolish to tarry
So I lent him the price of the ring
So I lent him the price of the ring
[6]
Now me da said he'll give us a present
A present,a present
An oul'stool and a lovely stuffed pheasant
And a picture to hang on the wall
And a picture to hang on the wall
[7]
I went down to the tenancy section
The section,the section
The T.D. before the election
Said he'd get me a house near me ma
Said he'd get me a house near me ma
[8]
Well we're getting the house the man said
He said it,he said it
When I've five or six kids to me credit
In the meantime we'll live with me ma
In the meantime we'll live with me ma.
There[D] were three lovely lasses from Kimmage
From[A7] Kimmage,from[D] Kimmage
And[D] when ever theres a bit of a scrimmage
Sure[G] I was the[A7] toughest of[D] all
[G]Sure[D] I was the[A7] toughest of[D] all
[2]
Now the cause of the row was Joe Cashin
Joe Cashin,Joe Cashin
For he told me he tought I looked smashing
At a dance in the Adelaide hall
At a dance in the Adelaide hall
[3]
When he gets a few jars he goes frantic
Oh frantic,oh frantic
But he's tall and he's dark and romantic
And I love him in spite of it all
And I love him in spite of it all
[4]
Now the other two young ones were flippin
Were flippin,were flippin
When they saw me and Joe and me trippin
To the strains of the Tennessee waltz
To the strains of the Tennessee waltz
[5]
Now he told me he thought we should marry
Should marry,should marry
For he said I was foolish to tarry
So I lent him the price of the ring
So I lent him the price of the ring
[6]
Now me da said he'll give us a present
A present,a present
An oul'stool and a lovely stuffed pheasant
And a picture to hang on the wall
And a picture to hang on the wall
[7]
I went down to the tenancy section
The section,the section
The T.D. before the election
Said he'd get me a house near me ma
Said he'd get me a house near me ma
[8]
Well we're getting the house the man said
He said it,he said it
When I've five or six kids to me credit
In the meantime we'll live with me ma
In the meantime we'll live with me ma.
Alternative chords in the key of G
There[G] were three lovely lasses from Kimmage
From[D7] Kimmage,from[G] Kimmage
And[G] when ever theres a bit of a scrimmage
Sure[C] I was the[D7] toughest of[G] all
[C]Sure[G] I was the[D7] toughest of[G] all
There[G] were three lovely lasses from Kimmage
From[D7] Kimmage,from[G] Kimmage
And[G] when ever theres a bit of a scrimmage
Sure[C] I was the[D7] toughest of[G] all
[C]Sure[G] I was the[D7] toughest of[G] all
Three lovely lassies from Kimmage sheet music lyrics and chords
Miriam O'Callahan interview with Barney McKenna and John Sheehan of The Dubliners in 2009
Miriam meets on rté raidió one with Miriam O'Callahan the late Barney McKenna was one of the founding members of the Dublin OOTS a band formed fifty years ago this year legend is a word that sometimes overused but in Barney's case it's the only word to describe a man who made such a contribution to Irish music over the past half-century Barney was laid to rest this week mourned by his partner Tina his family his friends and his many many fans to mark his life and with their blessing were bringing you a chance to listen again to a program first broadcast in November 2009 when I'm asked Barney in a company of John Sheehan another longtime member of The Dubliners both men had turned 70 that year a significant landmark birthday we had a great chat that morning and I began by asking brony about how long he'd known John Sheehan and hadn't they grown up near each other that's right John was telling me no and I was growed and Danny Kenny not just of the myeloid road about a mile and a half from where John was proposed was up and did you know each other growing up Justin in in our solving our teenagers to the music used to meeting in them the Paris Club John was no swipers club and the Fiddler's Grove in Short Street we knew generate a kind of a slight distance but New Egypt played Jones together and met occasionally at places like that and the purpose was on Saturday night and and in
the wardrobe called Fiddler's from and chirchi that was Wednesdays and that John used the pastor and the boy genuine well I said it Bernie was the most dedicated musician in those days marry him before they had before tape recorders were common you know you'd meet an old musician maybe learn the first half of a tune this week and you'd have to come back to following Bates learning the second half of the chill maybe but I cried I remember I was ready partially the boys felt it to get home with myself in the fiddle but I remember passing Bernie somewhere around Marino green and the early hours of the morning you trotted away with the old banjo world away from short story dr. Donna Karen E Thomas T or Thomas Reid well it's only morning Eretz I was born on the end of me she's right in in in in the indie all come my father's can't account he made man my mother County Dublin at the time and there we need outside to kill Madonna spent a lot of my childhood in in County Meath from each street the county made around killed our cue dog for Atlanta music that's a trim and you were one of seven were you only original it was yeah two boys died twins and then and through girls after so just rivers left okay so and then some with the children tight when they were quite young Barney today we're yeah I don't door only infants my father used to play there the smile squeeze Baxter melodeon
and his uncle the contrary one uncle Jim he's very good mandolin player so we need to enter in the bundle of fun he played a band of his uncle Barney at my yen uncle paddy and so there's no music usually found on yourself John was the music in your phone yeah I grew up in Moreno as Barney mentioned there and I mean modern father were we're musical didn't play any instruments as such but I did hear rumors that my father used to play the concertina years before that I mean what a good scrape out a bit of a tune on the fiddle but my first kind of musical influences was was at the Christian Brothers Kuhn Moreno there was a brother McCaffrey there and he used to teach us you know we heard him for weekly singing lessons and we learned Teutonic self and the whole out there and he brought into Tin Whistle one day and played a tune for us and we're all mesmerized by this little instrument and he said well anybody like to learn the course or sorcerer although the other hands went up about forty them and he said well I'll have to ask the principal now things were fairly strict it wasn't on D the official curriculum so he came back the next day and said well I asked a principal and he said it's okay for Annie the boys that are willing to stay back after school so there's a nice way weeding it down to about nine or ten you know paddy Moloney was in the same class but away paddy Moloney achievements yeah talk to me we went to
school together and there was somebody DeRosa Mosley oriolesman sons Liam and Leon and the Royal is destroyed man you won't know who yeah ultimately County by the way Tony kinda great place you Wendy yeah that's right yeah and just before I get too high in math and ended up in The Dubliners you're both 70 this year aren't you that's right nervous he's gone he's six months older oh yeah she's a lot older than seven oh yeah I was empty in Mayberry his birthday's coming up in December and you weren't born weren't you Barney on Beethoven's birthday you're very happy about the 16th of December yeah not the same year but the same one of the days yeah but you Barney didn't you just to explain you had a stroke about nine years ago didn't you I mean you've recovered it was about eight years ago yeah either mine and strong and that well I'm just coming about now yeah you have to say again yeah about the hundred nineteen ninety-seven percent would have uhm yeah I I remember going in to visit Bernie and the matter private at the time to Mater Hospital and and they had various little items to exercise two fingers and that you know these these little rubber squeegee things but Bernie discovered his own perfect therapy he had somebody bring him in the banjo so he's playing the banjo every day and sure it was like a concert every day all the nurses used to poking into Barney's word to hear this impromptu session on banjo well it was never to play Bernie's
therapy were playing for and they were all they were all the lawyers with anyway but you've never lost your voice Barney because all I never sang with the group I know but you were singing for me earlier and I'm gonna ask you to do it I was never that because you're great singers in the group I was just a Mentalist which is Jay now don't you when you go sing a little but yeah I could a smaller Jack that song don't you love it I wish I had someone to love me didn't your grandmother saying that he has a lotta buy my own little Bobby Tolan little dark your old I don't think not a bit listen on this Sunday morning I'd like to ask you to sing that now you have your fiddle there how many times I have me fiddled here Miriam well I'll give you like give him a little intro maybe just get the pitch there isn't one x hair it's just go first it's in b-flat I think for sure you won't know that the signature will be a beard yeah yeah here we go well I wish I had someone to love me someone to call me her own someone to sleep with me night I may be up sleeping alone you need me deceive me by my light needs me tonight all alone I have a sad story
to tell you I'm handing it under the moon when I wish I had someone to learn someone to call me her own someone to sleep with me night of sleeping alone I'm really of CP no no mmm fantastic thanks both for Doom Authority in the morning hey no you thought no props or no amplifiers or gadgets and you do those on tour at the moment don't you cuz you're both still touring that's right yeah opening actually we did it just last week and in the Opera House in Frankfurt about two and a half thousand people and y'all sing in that course along with Bernie's just magical magical moment in the show where did you both end up joining the dope owners like we are both in O'Donnell who's at the same time how did that happen well to be truthful now I'm a late comer that the group was 47 years in existence this year but I'm only with the group but 45 and a half years because you're blowing at the original and blowin the original group was Barney Ronnie me and Luke Kelly so I think bernie is probably best able to to paint the original picture well
yeah running with heard of each other running him back from Spain he's been this way for three or four years and he was generous British singing him down Dublin around and usually little bit theatrical stuff with John malai on the small on the little gate near the gate yeah Parnell square at the time I was doing it little gig hidden there on the tenor banjo because it was very unusual to everybody playing solo you know our plane today slurred experience Camden on the banjo you see Lord rest Brandon or dill he gave me a little gig brought me down to Wexford and played very well attended sorry about the hurt your mother yeah I do yeah gone yeah he called a Brandon call up to the house and Denis Kearney and monitors chants terrorists channel of the tsunami so I said Ian de Dicky bow on us no beard and had to be at the time and Ben call up the house and hit new Volkswagen thought so I can beat let me horse that was like a row a rolls-royce at the time he said I would bear it Oh magic on a band that's my band the Cardinal branding you know that's my banner this is your mother you look like am I paying down Alexis oh thanks for the goddamn what we'll do well we're playing some festive
along anyway oh she's like that under will you do me a favor know what summers McKenna when they keep away from them beatnik she's gone now but is he this Basin expand Luke and Iran unruly with the beers well you don't know these guys no I don't know what is right right right way to go on are like you know because of that time you could wear a beard if you were elderly but it was 3d excetera most young people you know because wrong that time um was it in was it in Adana who's Barney that finally you all kind of got together we think it was like a lot of people asked to speared say well what something but the beers the jugs are gonna be tabling no wasn't of amazing a body very easy that's pretty good beard appeared mean around the bar but anyway anyway yeah now did happen I waivers are purity would be accidental and incidental I don't know which word handsome just lucky an organic oh yeah we anyway originally it was reading you and Ronnie start to do in cakes together wasn't yeah we got a couple of gigs here Darren and I could play the month and it's Weiland and John what we're okay to cure things were waiting there Miriam for Luke and cure Dante entered the picture but I'm still waiting meself but listen you actually gave up a sensible job John didn't you in the ESB did I die many nearly had a heart attack
didn't you cuz oh they kind of had a round broke up with you yeah you wouldn't believe it was 1965 I had been doing the occasional gigs with the lads but I'm still working on the E.S.B in the daytime as a draftsman or had served me to him previously to the electrical trade you see and it came to the stage where most of my annual leave was used up and I was beginning to eat into sick leave you see and we're playing up and you're falling asleep some days I was found asleep after coming home late tonight before rocket fara number seven I kinda tain yeah but there was this night we were playing and the Ulster Hall in Belfast and it was a big write-up and the Irish Times about it the next day but I I had I wasn't expecting this and I got my brother to ring up and say John is sick person to come in the next day said I have sick where you like we read about this great concert you gave with the lads of the Ulster Hall so that was a kind of a signal that's time to think about this seriously so I eventually gave up my good pensionable job in 1965 and I met up with the lads and we won't have a serious discussion about the future and make plans and all that kind of thing so we met in Dona Nesbit's and there was a good few pints there was no minutes for the meeting or anything like this we had a good few pints and somebody kicked somebody else under the table accidentally undone the shin no Ronnie get me an in an accidental kick well yes accidentally on
purpose so eventually it was pints built and tables overturned and well to hell with you and to hell with you and this is the end of the group so I was driving home I said what am i after doing me good pensionable job is gone I've given in me notice today the group I it came to join has broken up the next day I had a ring from Ronnie Drew and he says John are you okay for Friday there's a gig down in tolis and I said what Ronnie I talked to the group broke up last night that I don't take any notice of that that happens every week so after that I felt kinda reassured that this is likely to last and people were saying you know at the time I give it two or three years and sure you can always get your job back and there was 65 how long ago was not a cookie years ago like seven drunken nights was a big moment for the Dublin's we're going to take that bet amuse no actually I think we'll take the piece of music and then you can tell me about it okay mmm-hmm let's listen now to seven drunken nights ladies get mama gonna sing a song which has seven baths we don't even ever sing five of them odd I went home on a Monday night as Tom Cullen could be I saw horse outside it over where my own horse to be well I call me wife and I said to her when you kindly turn to me who owns that horse outside the door firmly our harsh seven drunken nights there of course there's only five drunken nights there weren't the Barney that one undone the
English person English move it yeah it's not the one you signed on Top of the Pops I just wondered that's Ronnie, Ronnie saying we only sang the five versions of them under my harmless but they still they got banned hiccup and climbed in the back and read off the altar Donen and there there was another thing but Joe Haney yeah Johnny Joe Haney yeah Joe any and that's where we learnt it from a most unlikely source for a song to end open Top of the Pops afterwards you know was a kind of a big moment for you as a group or was this well commercially it was because up to Dan we'd been playing in small clubs and little concert halls and after after that was blasted off the air on radio Caroline at the time the popularity kind of escalated overnight and we were suddenly playing the Albert Hall and places like that you know so it made a huge difference commercially but we kind of took it in her stride you know people sent a wonderful year in on Top of the Pops and Ronnie was kind of saying it's not a good thing or a bad thing oh maybe we didn't take it too seriously I'm actually since you were we're talking and Ronnie obviously was just singing there you write poetry now John and you have a poem though don't you - yeah war on each one say better poetry is a kind of a late vocation I only started a few years ago but today after Ronnie's funeral last year I woke up thinking about him naturally enough as we as we all where I suppose and I wondered in a quizzical kind of a way what kind of a heaven is Ronnie in now and whether this heaven would meet with
his expectations because he could be quite grumpy at times yep contrary wouldn't be that easy to please so I wrote this this little humorous poem cabinet affairs to Patrick Kavanagh course himself and Ronnie Burt or very good pals and another poet who's mentioned here is Joe or Brent he was also a good poet character who was knocking around the 60s but he never kind of got the recognition that he thought he deserved himself if you known him in but a cleaner and fail him Ronnie's daughter and son they actually used one of Jordans poems at the end of Ronnie's mass funeral mass and finally Deirdre as Ronnie's wife who sadly died a little over a year before him but it's not too serious I'll give it you anyway sure Ronnie's heaven what's it like Ronnie your new life is it away the old masters painted it floating on a damp cloud and a company of winged creatures listening to non-stop harp music I could paint you in but not your expectations what somebody for Christ's sake get me down from here and show me the fountain a champagne a tortoise was meant to be a celebration I'll paint a different picture instead I see your spirit freed at last from earthly shackles soaring to a new consciousness communicating with kavanagh without the encumbrance of words without the embarrassment of being
barred from for Baggot Street pubs all is clear now Yuda says simpler than the Lord's Prayer Beckett no longer waiting for Godoh and Joe Prince idling over with Nimbus grin how you Ronnie you brought me fame at last I heard cleaner and fail and picked me palm for the Andy airmass but he'd need enough hurried there's no clothes and time up here just one continuous holy hour now Deirdre comes into focus bridging and healing a painful absence unhindered by bodies your spirits embrace and untwine in a never-ending spiral of joy leaving behind three great imponderables two tortured you what is life what is art and where the is Barney do you miss him how we do a course here we missed them all I mean when you're together with a group musicians like that it becomes like an extended family you know did you fight a lot or not between yourselves not a lot but occasionally yeah occasionally the b2b rails about different things usually abyss where the where the next drink was coming from or something like that but no just it was never any series Falling able to search but the B boards used on names called in that kind of thing but that's not be not have enough and Kapler didn't you mention a note he didn't interview didn't he with Ronny ones oh he did he interviewed Ronny for deed I
think was known as the RTV guy at the time he did an interview with Ronny and during the course of the interview Ronny said this you know he was really more of a story teller than a singer he didn't have that much of a voice and and with regard to playing the guitar he could just enough to accompany a song so apparently Patrick Cavanagh was very honest and in in is there in a story in the our TV Guide he said Ronnie tree was failing the people by his own admission he can neither sing nor play the guitar but there but there were good pals too to the met one day on Baggot Street Bridge and it was forward pubs in the vicinity I mentioned in the poem and the poem there and there was Moniz and crooked Bobby and Syrians and the Waterloo Waterloo house so Patrick said how are you Ronnie but would you like a drink and Ronnie said yeah we went to Moniz paddy kavanagh said I can't come in two moons I'm buried from there what a bit of crooked Barbie and Ronnie said I can't go there I'm buried from there I put a bit serious ins and cabinets I'm buried friends here since what about the water do house Ronnie so I'm Barrett from the Walter do you have no good look so Ron you see again enough he saunter and that was the end of it haha there was a lot of drinking though wasn't there I mean this isn't to make a serious moral point would you think there with too much drinkin Barney with a too much drink involved atones what we never I don't think we ever last a gig over us hmm you know it was part of the imagery
suppose and no jokes at the time there was no way it wasn't in you yet there was not not if the marijuana our dad delayed stuffers decanas you never heard of it at the time it but you think I would have taken a toll on your help I'm just I'm wondering maybe not I mean I'm just wondering on all of it yeah I did I'm sure it did I did it all I mean you had to wear a G with poor Luke hunting blue had enough you know the sheets to drinking is history's really yeah blood the drive in him as the cars but a kakera Kieran had a lovely kind of an attitude to drink he didn't drink to get drunk or such you know I can remember an early days touring around Europe he'd be under they would look out for drinks he hadn't seen before unfamiliar drinks like naps us and the cures and I was he'd he'd pour air to drink and hold her up to the light and admired a light filtering true to different colors you know I was with him in a pub in in France one night with a night off and I said here why would you have fancied a drink and he had he I had this line of collared liquors across the top shelf and he says to me I think we start over on the left hand side they were man days of course but John you didn't drink you were about 29 did not late I was a late starter Miriam yeah I used to drink guns a coca-cola at the time but eventually I joined the gang and I start drinking the odd glass of
wine but I kept it in moderation and was I still I still take a few glasses of wine but a meal and enjoy it inside the smoke at 34 I can remember more than day can we not go in average we're gonna take another piece amazing now it's come with us between the two of you fiddle and banjo oh yeah yeah justice from our 25 year album actually it's a set of reals coolies real the dawn and the manga races okay let's have a listen to that night yeah and that was John Sheehan and the late Barney McKenna playing a set of reals 25 years ago the original lineup of The Dubliners included Lou Kelly Ronnie Drew and Kieran Burke all of whom had died by the time of our interview I asked John about the deaths of Luke and Kieran well I suppose you find it when you are together that long you know singing and living out of each other's pockets for four years you become it becomes like an extended family ready and and when somebody dies like that it's like losing a member of her family's like losing a brother really you know and that was the case and all in all three situations would clear on and Lucan and then run it mm-hmm yeah aneesa's this might sound a bit odd but I suppose Luke and Ronnie were so well known did you ever both mind we every jealous that those two in a sense maybe got more well known were bigger stars with the public than you or did you never think like that no I don't think it ever bothered us we
it was obvious all right I think to this day you know you get such strong personalities and unique voices to see a little new Luca great with the industrial ballets and I'm not evil to Dublin sound on Karen next and figure of the earliest language around any great artists you seem to gain something it was so unique jean-michel doing the instrumental music then yet Kieran Dundee artists Luke and the under and the balances and and Ronnie I mean did you turn to naturally pair off you know the way in a family sometimes together closer like would you two have been well using testing a very interesting question when we were on tour we be tended to pay it off but not all was the same paired everyday I could be around his power for a couple of days and we go off to Spanish restaurants and I cut it in London the next day I could be but barely gone off to traditional sessions I could be with Kieran on another day and these these relationships kept crossing over each other and and I think I was a very good thing in a way you know do it there was no cliques formed and such you know I never socialized that woman on stage never socialized together no because we've found there were a lot of groups that don't last a month did they meet up two of the one on tour and then you get the personality clash yeah that's interesting yeah see pretty good we could Yuri yeah we could pray from maybe two or three weeks and to be no contact at all after the next two or a month and when we'd
made at the airport there was a whole freshness to the relationship and the interrelation every month that was differently oh yeah I mean laughs it's amazing how never the reason odd pad here something we might be wouldn't be senders don't see in our next such such a place but you're still going strong I mean even though did you ever think maybe just let it go how'd you keep going or why Tiki no actually us parented that question couple years ago is then Barrentine over 45 years gone now how long more do you want to keep going and Baron he says to me ah too late to stop now so hood the most positive thing we could say is - we've no plans to stop and you still enjoy it oh absolutely yeah do you binding do you still enjoy yeah I think good music is one of these things you can't you can't fake it really if you stop enjoying a tennis time to pack it up you know your feeling if you're playing well and you feel good about the thing it's great yeah you know and we still do and you love with Barney isms don't you you really want to talk about the Barney it's not Oreo tell me why not well Barney won't mind me saying that he has a unique way of abusing the English language in a very artistic beautiful way and the only way to describe data as opposed is to give you a couple of examples last year our different men we've been the year before we did a spate of charity gigs group group boys and individually and we were doing a gig
this night honey went to concert hall and Seamus Halsey was introducing us as matter of fact as a John be keen commemoration gig and it was Travis on Michael Howard barony myself and Seamus introduced us big round of applause and Barney wasn't sure whether this gig was a paying one or not the financial status of the gig as such and on the way over to the microphone Barney leans to me said but hey John is this another charity gig or is it feasible that's a typical Bernie ISM another time in the concert hall hey we had a guest with us Nigel born green in a brilliant cellist and I was introduced in the piece that I'd written called the prodigal son and I said Nigel is going to add a nice classical touch with the cello and barony he wasn't meant to be involved in the arrangement at all had a mandolin as handy pulls the mandolin and his chair over to the mic said I classified with the mandolin when another one came in to me had we were on a flight to London in the late 60s and was in those days when there was tree seats opposite 3do member or iteration and at a table between it was parent irani and meself on one side and who sat down on the opposite side only dr. Sims two Protestant Arabic Archbishop of Dublin and Ronnie recognized him a course from the his photographs in the Irish times and that is a good morning
doctor but barony didn't take any heed to this and Barron he was telling them yarns able to tell you this one fatter and fatter here in fat or dare so dr. Sims want a toilet anyway and Ronnie leans over said Barney you should address him as doctor he's dr. Sims the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin so anyway when Ernie took this on board and when dr. Sims came back and sat down Barney leans over and shake hands she shakes hands with him and said by the way doctor I'm sorry for calling you Father I thought you were a priest Ted of anything for that yeah yeah do you still enjoy it as much Barney do you've any regrets going back would you have drunk glass would you have done anything differently in your life or with the band I think whatever that takes too much drink but I wasn't drinking like you every night if you know what I mean but you don't just drink too much Guinness and ever drink anything else and that double buoyant but that was hardly never under spirits and you very very poor sighs haven't you Barney well they always had yeah we so from a very early
age was yeah would you say impaired yeah but doesn't stop you getting around no I guess you'd say well a little bit I got I got a little belated Toria penis and I lost the right eye do you enjoy life as much as you always did ah well I'd like to start when I was about 50 just for the four or five years and then go back which I wouldn't stop it statement made now you know only when you're around 50-year syndrome Liana hmm you know and okay we're 70 now like what do you and sure what else would you have done if you stopped that's right full-time fishing right yeah he can dream you John Levi's poetry now music a lot don't you I did I do yeah well I was always doubling at L churns mailed composing pieces of music but the poetry is a kind of a late vocation and there's one poem in particular you're gonna yeah I have a little piece here which are called signatures and I was thinking one day about the fact that we all like to leave some sort of America after us you know what hurts the sculptor leaves his American stone or a narrative stone paint or whatever and I was thinking about what America might leave myself and I give it you you know he's called signatures the plow man leaves his trace on field and furrow the sculptors
America's etched in chiseled stone with sheaves of gold the Thatcher's name is written in rings of clay the Potter's name is known when day is done and evening firelight beckons when tradesmen all are free from toil and care I linger in the shadows with my fiddle and softly leave my signature in air it's really hoping mmm do you like his poetry Barney no I'm thinking you know when you try how do you sign things in the air so I was drinking people music is good let's do it because it's an act of the present and you see tomorrow present will be history oh we can't learn anything only from buzz were saying L which is present but tomorrow and to see that this will be history she really can only learn from history when you only think of it you know man yeah music I think yeah we often spoke with despair any music it's a this transient kind of a thing you do a concert and you make sounds and the sounds are left hanging in the air and and disappeared but people people's minds hearts are changed to go home different people from the people that arrived to to begin with you know it's one of these magical spiritual kind of communications I think it's a matter of the present but he had like you still go through the museum perspires can go to a museum and you can look at remnant manga and enjoy I enjoy
it but you can't do it music that's in jail equates untrained listen okay you make recordings and you can hear them down the tapes but not quite the same as yeah yes lemons to be there when it's happening yeah something special I think yeah we're going to end up this morning on a piece of music you've written recently aren't we John yeah actually it's a while ago Miriam but I came across this recording beastly it's a piece I wrote called Ottoman Paris a romantic kind of a waltz fading to it and it was used about 22 years ago on music for middle browse in here des QIOs program and a short while after I heard DDR castration which was done by Johnny Devlin one of the old-timers in the music business he just died there recently he he came from the big band here and he was just a wonderful arranger and and de beauté he did took out of a simple tune I was just in trolled by the whole thing and I got an orchestra together in the studio one day and unrecorded written I was just totally enthralled by the finished result I was gone home saying did I really write this piece of music you know but it was the wonderful arrangement and the counterpoints and little bits of harmony that he put in which is another talent in its own and now on Reuter all together you know okay well no in Paris we're going to listen to that now with Ottoman Paris
and that was my conversation with the late Barney McKenna and his fellow Donna John Sheehan our thoughts are with Barney's partner Tina his family and his many friends Barney as well as being a gentleman was a virtuoso musician and all those banja was at the heart of the Dublin whose sound it was rare enough that he got to take center stage so is our tribute to him here is the late Barney with the double nose playing the traditional air the Mason's apron arranged for fiddle and his beloved banjo Miriam meets on rté raidió one with Miriam O'Callaghan
Miriam meets on rté raidió one with Miriam O'Callahan the late Barney McKenna was one of the founding members of the Dublin OOTS a band formed fifty years ago this year legend is a word that sometimes overused but in Barney's case it's the only word to describe a man who made such a contribution to Irish music over the past half-century Barney was laid to rest this week mourned by his partner Tina his family his friends and his many many fans to mark his life and with their blessing were bringing you a chance to listen again to a program first broadcast in November 2009 when I'm asked Barney in a company of John Sheehan another longtime member of The Dubliners both men had turned 70 that year a significant landmark birthday we had a great chat that morning and I began by asking brony about how long he'd known John Sheehan and hadn't they grown up near each other that's right John was telling me no and I was growed and Danny Kenny not just of the myeloid road about a mile and a half from where John was proposed was up and did you know each other growing up Justin in in our solving our teenagers to the music used to meeting in them the Paris Club John was no swipers club and the Fiddler's Grove in Short Street we knew generate a kind of a slight distance but New Egypt played Jones together and met occasionally at places like that and the purpose was on Saturday night and and in
the wardrobe called Fiddler's from and chirchi that was Wednesdays and that John used the pastor and the boy genuine well I said it Bernie was the most dedicated musician in those days marry him before they had before tape recorders were common you know you'd meet an old musician maybe learn the first half of a tune this week and you'd have to come back to following Bates learning the second half of the chill maybe but I cried I remember I was ready partially the boys felt it to get home with myself in the fiddle but I remember passing Bernie somewhere around Marino green and the early hours of the morning you trotted away with the old banjo world away from short story dr. Donna Karen E Thomas T or Thomas Reid well it's only morning Eretz I was born on the end of me she's right in in in in the indie all come my father's can't account he made man my mother County Dublin at the time and there we need outside to kill Madonna spent a lot of my childhood in in County Meath from each street the county made around killed our cue dog for Atlanta music that's a trim and you were one of seven were you only original it was yeah two boys died twins and then and through girls after so just rivers left okay so and then some with the children tight when they were quite young Barney today we're yeah I don't door only infants my father used to play there the smile squeeze Baxter melodeon
and his uncle the contrary one uncle Jim he's very good mandolin player so we need to enter in the bundle of fun he played a band of his uncle Barney at my yen uncle paddy and so there's no music usually found on yourself John was the music in your phone yeah I grew up in Moreno as Barney mentioned there and I mean modern father were we're musical didn't play any instruments as such but I did hear rumors that my father used to play the concertina years before that I mean what a good scrape out a bit of a tune on the fiddle but my first kind of musical influences was was at the Christian Brothers Kuhn Moreno there was a brother McCaffrey there and he used to teach us you know we heard him for weekly singing lessons and we learned Teutonic self and the whole out there and he brought into Tin Whistle one day and played a tune for us and we're all mesmerized by this little instrument and he said well anybody like to learn the course or sorcerer although the other hands went up about forty them and he said well I'll have to ask the principal now things were fairly strict it wasn't on D the official curriculum so he came back the next day and said well I asked a principal and he said it's okay for Annie the boys that are willing to stay back after school so there's a nice way weeding it down to about nine or ten you know paddy Moloney was in the same class but away paddy Moloney achievements yeah talk to me we went to
school together and there was somebody DeRosa Mosley oriolesman sons Liam and Leon and the Royal is destroyed man you won't know who yeah ultimately County by the way Tony kinda great place you Wendy yeah that's right yeah and just before I get too high in math and ended up in The Dubliners you're both 70 this year aren't you that's right nervous he's gone he's six months older oh yeah she's a lot older than seven oh yeah I was empty in Mayberry his birthday's coming up in December and you weren't born weren't you Barney on Beethoven's birthday you're very happy about the 16th of December yeah not the same year but the same one of the days yeah but you Barney didn't you just to explain you had a stroke about nine years ago didn't you I mean you've recovered it was about eight years ago yeah either mine and strong and that well I'm just coming about now yeah you have to say again yeah about the hundred nineteen ninety-seven percent would have uhm yeah I I remember going in to visit Bernie and the matter private at the time to Mater Hospital and and they had various little items to exercise two fingers and that you know these these little rubber squeegee things but Bernie discovered his own perfect therapy he had somebody bring him in the banjo so he's playing the banjo every day and sure it was like a concert every day all the nurses used to poking into Barney's word to hear this impromptu session on banjo well it was never to play Bernie's
therapy were playing for and they were all they were all the lawyers with anyway but you've never lost your voice Barney because all I never sang with the group I know but you were singing for me earlier and I'm gonna ask you to do it I was never that because you're great singers in the group I was just a Mentalist which is Jay now don't you when you go sing a little but yeah I could a smaller Jack that song don't you love it I wish I had someone to love me didn't your grandmother saying that he has a lotta buy my own little Bobby Tolan little dark your old I don't think not a bit listen on this Sunday morning I'd like to ask you to sing that now you have your fiddle there how many times I have me fiddled here Miriam well I'll give you like give him a little intro maybe just get the pitch there isn't one x hair it's just go first it's in b-flat I think for sure you won't know that the signature will be a beard yeah yeah here we go well I wish I had someone to love me someone to call me her own someone to sleep with me night I may be up sleeping alone you need me deceive me by my light needs me tonight all alone I have a sad story
to tell you I'm handing it under the moon when I wish I had someone to learn someone to call me her own someone to sleep with me night of sleeping alone I'm really of CP no no mmm fantastic thanks both for Doom Authority in the morning hey no you thought no props or no amplifiers or gadgets and you do those on tour at the moment don't you cuz you're both still touring that's right yeah opening actually we did it just last week and in the Opera House in Frankfurt about two and a half thousand people and y'all sing in that course along with Bernie's just magical magical moment in the show where did you both end up joining the dope owners like we are both in O'Donnell who's at the same time how did that happen well to be truthful now I'm a late comer that the group was 47 years in existence this year but I'm only with the group but 45 and a half years because you're blowing at the original and blowin the original group was Barney Ronnie me and Luke Kelly so I think bernie is probably best able to to paint the original picture well
yeah running with heard of each other running him back from Spain he's been this way for three or four years and he was generous British singing him down Dublin around and usually little bit theatrical stuff with John malai on the small on the little gate near the gate yeah Parnell square at the time I was doing it little gig hidden there on the tenor banjo because it was very unusual to everybody playing solo you know our plane today slurred experience Camden on the banjo you see Lord rest Brandon or dill he gave me a little gig brought me down to Wexford and played very well attended sorry about the hurt your mother yeah I do yeah gone yeah he called a Brandon call up to the house and Denis Kearney and monitors chants terrorists channel of the tsunami so I said Ian de Dicky bow on us no beard and had to be at the time and Ben call up the house and hit new Volkswagen thought so I can beat let me horse that was like a row a rolls-royce at the time he said I would bear it Oh magic on a band that's my band the Cardinal branding you know that's my banner this is your mother you look like am I paying down Alexis oh thanks for the goddamn what we'll do well we're playing some festive
along anyway oh she's like that under will you do me a favor know what summers McKenna when they keep away from them beatnik she's gone now but is he this Basin expand Luke and Iran unruly with the beers well you don't know these guys no I don't know what is right right right way to go on are like you know because of that time you could wear a beard if you were elderly but it was 3d excetera most young people you know because wrong that time um was it in was it in Adana who's Barney that finally you all kind of got together we think it was like a lot of people asked to speared say well what something but the beers the jugs are gonna be tabling no wasn't of amazing a body very easy that's pretty good beard appeared mean around the bar but anyway anyway yeah now did happen I waivers are purity would be accidental and incidental I don't know which word handsome just lucky an organic oh yeah we anyway originally it was reading you and Ronnie start to do in cakes together wasn't yeah we got a couple of gigs here Darren and I could play the month and it's Weiland and John what we're okay to cure things were waiting there Miriam for Luke and cure Dante entered the picture but I'm still waiting meself but listen you actually gave up a sensible job John didn't you in the ESB did I die many nearly had a heart attack
didn't you cuz oh they kind of had a round broke up with you yeah you wouldn't believe it was 1965 I had been doing the occasional gigs with the lads but I'm still working on the E.S.B in the daytime as a draftsman or had served me to him previously to the electrical trade you see and it came to the stage where most of my annual leave was used up and I was beginning to eat into sick leave you see and we're playing up and you're falling asleep some days I was found asleep after coming home late tonight before rocket fara number seven I kinda tain yeah but there was this night we were playing and the Ulster Hall in Belfast and it was a big write-up and the Irish Times about it the next day but I I had I wasn't expecting this and I got my brother to ring up and say John is sick person to come in the next day said I have sick where you like we read about this great concert you gave with the lads of the Ulster Hall so that was a kind of a signal that's time to think about this seriously so I eventually gave up my good pensionable job in 1965 and I met up with the lads and we won't have a serious discussion about the future and make plans and all that kind of thing so we met in Dona Nesbit's and there was a good few pints there was no minutes for the meeting or anything like this we had a good few pints and somebody kicked somebody else under the table accidentally undone the shin no Ronnie get me an in an accidental kick well yes accidentally on
purpose so eventually it was pints built and tables overturned and well to hell with you and to hell with you and this is the end of the group so I was driving home I said what am i after doing me good pensionable job is gone I've given in me notice today the group I it came to join has broken up the next day I had a ring from Ronnie Drew and he says John are you okay for Friday there's a gig down in tolis and I said what Ronnie I talked to the group broke up last night that I don't take any notice of that that happens every week so after that I felt kinda reassured that this is likely to last and people were saying you know at the time I give it two or three years and sure you can always get your job back and there was 65 how long ago was not a cookie years ago like seven drunken nights was a big moment for the Dublin's we're going to take that bet amuse no actually I think we'll take the piece of music and then you can tell me about it okay mmm-hmm let's listen now to seven drunken nights ladies get mama gonna sing a song which has seven baths we don't even ever sing five of them odd I went home on a Monday night as Tom Cullen could be I saw horse outside it over where my own horse to be well I call me wife and I said to her when you kindly turn to me who owns that horse outside the door firmly our harsh seven drunken nights there of course there's only five drunken nights there weren't the Barney that one undone the
English person English move it yeah it's not the one you signed on Top of the Pops I just wondered that's Ronnie, Ronnie saying we only sang the five versions of them under my harmless but they still they got banned hiccup and climbed in the back and read off the altar Donen and there there was another thing but Joe Haney yeah Johnny Joe Haney yeah Joe any and that's where we learnt it from a most unlikely source for a song to end open Top of the Pops afterwards you know was a kind of a big moment for you as a group or was this well commercially it was because up to Dan we'd been playing in small clubs and little concert halls and after after that was blasted off the air on radio Caroline at the time the popularity kind of escalated overnight and we were suddenly playing the Albert Hall and places like that you know so it made a huge difference commercially but we kind of took it in her stride you know people sent a wonderful year in on Top of the Pops and Ronnie was kind of saying it's not a good thing or a bad thing oh maybe we didn't take it too seriously I'm actually since you were we're talking and Ronnie obviously was just singing there you write poetry now John and you have a poem though don't you - yeah war on each one say better poetry is a kind of a late vocation I only started a few years ago but today after Ronnie's funeral last year I woke up thinking about him naturally enough as we as we all where I suppose and I wondered in a quizzical kind of a way what kind of a heaven is Ronnie in now and whether this heaven would meet with
his expectations because he could be quite grumpy at times yep contrary wouldn't be that easy to please so I wrote this this little humorous poem cabinet affairs to Patrick Kavanagh course himself and Ronnie Burt or very good pals and another poet who's mentioned here is Joe or Brent he was also a good poet character who was knocking around the 60s but he never kind of got the recognition that he thought he deserved himself if you known him in but a cleaner and fail him Ronnie's daughter and son they actually used one of Jordans poems at the end of Ronnie's mass funeral mass and finally Deirdre as Ronnie's wife who sadly died a little over a year before him but it's not too serious I'll give it you anyway sure Ronnie's heaven what's it like Ronnie your new life is it away the old masters painted it floating on a damp cloud and a company of winged creatures listening to non-stop harp music I could paint you in but not your expectations what somebody for Christ's sake get me down from here and show me the fountain a champagne a tortoise was meant to be a celebration I'll paint a different picture instead I see your spirit freed at last from earthly shackles soaring to a new consciousness communicating with kavanagh without the encumbrance of words without the embarrassment of being
barred from for Baggot Street pubs all is clear now Yuda says simpler than the Lord's Prayer Beckett no longer waiting for Godoh and Joe Prince idling over with Nimbus grin how you Ronnie you brought me fame at last I heard cleaner and fail and picked me palm for the Andy airmass but he'd need enough hurried there's no clothes and time up here just one continuous holy hour now Deirdre comes into focus bridging and healing a painful absence unhindered by bodies your spirits embrace and untwine in a never-ending spiral of joy leaving behind three great imponderables two tortured you what is life what is art and where the is Barney do you miss him how we do a course here we missed them all I mean when you're together with a group musicians like that it becomes like an extended family you know did you fight a lot or not between yourselves not a lot but occasionally yeah occasionally the b2b rails about different things usually abyss where the where the next drink was coming from or something like that but no just it was never any series Falling able to search but the B boards used on names called in that kind of thing but that's not be not have enough and Kapler didn't you mention a note he didn't interview didn't he with Ronny ones oh he did he interviewed Ronny for deed I
think was known as the RTV guy at the time he did an interview with Ronny and during the course of the interview Ronny said this you know he was really more of a story teller than a singer he didn't have that much of a voice and and with regard to playing the guitar he could just enough to accompany a song so apparently Patrick Cavanagh was very honest and in in is there in a story in the our TV Guide he said Ronnie tree was failing the people by his own admission he can neither sing nor play the guitar but there but there were good pals too to the met one day on Baggot Street Bridge and it was forward pubs in the vicinity I mentioned in the poem and the poem there and there was Moniz and crooked Bobby and Syrians and the Waterloo Waterloo house so Patrick said how are you Ronnie but would you like a drink and Ronnie said yeah we went to Moniz paddy kavanagh said I can't come in two moons I'm buried from there what a bit of crooked Barbie and Ronnie said I can't go there I'm buried from there I put a bit serious ins and cabinets I'm buried friends here since what about the water do house Ronnie so I'm Barrett from the Walter do you have no good look so Ron you see again enough he saunter and that was the end of it haha there was a lot of drinking though wasn't there I mean this isn't to make a serious moral point would you think there with too much drinkin Barney with a too much drink involved atones what we never I don't think we ever last a gig over us hmm you know it was part of the imagery
suppose and no jokes at the time there was no way it wasn't in you yet there was not not if the marijuana our dad delayed stuffers decanas you never heard of it at the time it but you think I would have taken a toll on your help I'm just I'm wondering maybe not I mean I'm just wondering on all of it yeah I did I'm sure it did I did it all I mean you had to wear a G with poor Luke hunting blue had enough you know the sheets to drinking is history's really yeah blood the drive in him as the cars but a kakera Kieran had a lovely kind of an attitude to drink he didn't drink to get drunk or such you know I can remember an early days touring around Europe he'd be under they would look out for drinks he hadn't seen before unfamiliar drinks like naps us and the cures and I was he'd he'd pour air to drink and hold her up to the light and admired a light filtering true to different colors you know I was with him in a pub in in France one night with a night off and I said here why would you have fancied a drink and he had he I had this line of collared liquors across the top shelf and he says to me I think we start over on the left hand side they were man days of course but John you didn't drink you were about 29 did not late I was a late starter Miriam yeah I used to drink guns a coca-cola at the time but eventually I joined the gang and I start drinking the odd glass of
wine but I kept it in moderation and was I still I still take a few glasses of wine but a meal and enjoy it inside the smoke at 34 I can remember more than day can we not go in average we're gonna take another piece amazing now it's come with us between the two of you fiddle and banjo oh yeah yeah justice from our 25 year album actually it's a set of reals coolies real the dawn and the manga races okay let's have a listen to that night yeah and that was John Sheehan and the late Barney McKenna playing a set of reals 25 years ago the original lineup of The Dubliners included Lou Kelly Ronnie Drew and Kieran Burke all of whom had died by the time of our interview I asked John about the deaths of Luke and Kieran well I suppose you find it when you are together that long you know singing and living out of each other's pockets for four years you become it becomes like an extended family ready and and when somebody dies like that it's like losing a member of her family's like losing a brother really you know and that was the case and all in all three situations would clear on and Lucan and then run it mm-hmm yeah aneesa's this might sound a bit odd but I suppose Luke and Ronnie were so well known did you ever both mind we every jealous that those two in a sense maybe got more well known were bigger stars with the public than you or did you never think like that no I don't think it ever bothered us we
it was obvious all right I think to this day you know you get such strong personalities and unique voices to see a little new Luca great with the industrial ballets and I'm not evil to Dublin sound on Karen next and figure of the earliest language around any great artists you seem to gain something it was so unique jean-michel doing the instrumental music then yet Kieran Dundee artists Luke and the under and the balances and and Ronnie I mean did you turn to naturally pair off you know the way in a family sometimes together closer like would you two have been well using testing a very interesting question when we were on tour we be tended to pay it off but not all was the same paired everyday I could be around his power for a couple of days and we go off to Spanish restaurants and I cut it in London the next day I could be but barely gone off to traditional sessions I could be with Kieran on another day and these these relationships kept crossing over each other and and I think I was a very good thing in a way you know do it there was no cliques formed and such you know I never socialized that woman on stage never socialized together no because we've found there were a lot of groups that don't last a month did they meet up two of the one on tour and then you get the personality clash yeah that's interesting yeah see pretty good we could Yuri yeah we could pray from maybe two or three weeks and to be no contact at all after the next two or a month and when we'd
made at the airport there was a whole freshness to the relationship and the interrelation every month that was differently oh yeah I mean laughs it's amazing how never the reason odd pad here something we might be wouldn't be senders don't see in our next such such a place but you're still going strong I mean even though did you ever think maybe just let it go how'd you keep going or why Tiki no actually us parented that question couple years ago is then Barrentine over 45 years gone now how long more do you want to keep going and Baron he says to me ah too late to stop now so hood the most positive thing we could say is - we've no plans to stop and you still enjoy it oh absolutely yeah do you binding do you still enjoy yeah I think good music is one of these things you can't you can't fake it really if you stop enjoying a tennis time to pack it up you know your feeling if you're playing well and you feel good about the thing it's great yeah you know and we still do and you love with Barney isms don't you you really want to talk about the Barney it's not Oreo tell me why not well Barney won't mind me saying that he has a unique way of abusing the English language in a very artistic beautiful way and the only way to describe data as opposed is to give you a couple of examples last year our different men we've been the year before we did a spate of charity gigs group group boys and individually and we were doing a gig
this night honey went to concert hall and Seamus Halsey was introducing us as matter of fact as a John be keen commemoration gig and it was Travis on Michael Howard barony myself and Seamus introduced us big round of applause and Barney wasn't sure whether this gig was a paying one or not the financial status of the gig as such and on the way over to the microphone Barney leans to me said but hey John is this another charity gig or is it feasible that's a typical Bernie ISM another time in the concert hall hey we had a guest with us Nigel born green in a brilliant cellist and I was introduced in the piece that I'd written called the prodigal son and I said Nigel is going to add a nice classical touch with the cello and barony he wasn't meant to be involved in the arrangement at all had a mandolin as handy pulls the mandolin and his chair over to the mic said I classified with the mandolin when another one came in to me had we were on a flight to London in the late 60s and was in those days when there was tree seats opposite 3do member or iteration and at a table between it was parent irani and meself on one side and who sat down on the opposite side only dr. Sims two Protestant Arabic Archbishop of Dublin and Ronnie recognized him a course from the his photographs in the Irish times and that is a good morning
doctor but barony didn't take any heed to this and Barron he was telling them yarns able to tell you this one fatter and fatter here in fat or dare so dr. Sims want a toilet anyway and Ronnie leans over said Barney you should address him as doctor he's dr. Sims the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin so anyway when Ernie took this on board and when dr. Sims came back and sat down Barney leans over and shake hands she shakes hands with him and said by the way doctor I'm sorry for calling you Father I thought you were a priest Ted of anything for that yeah yeah do you still enjoy it as much Barney do you've any regrets going back would you have drunk glass would you have done anything differently in your life or with the band I think whatever that takes too much drink but I wasn't drinking like you every night if you know what I mean but you don't just drink too much Guinness and ever drink anything else and that double buoyant but that was hardly never under spirits and you very very poor sighs haven't you Barney well they always had yeah we so from a very early
age was yeah would you say impaired yeah but doesn't stop you getting around no I guess you'd say well a little bit I got I got a little belated Toria penis and I lost the right eye do you enjoy life as much as you always did ah well I'd like to start when I was about 50 just for the four or five years and then go back which I wouldn't stop it statement made now you know only when you're around 50-year syndrome Liana hmm you know and okay we're 70 now like what do you and sure what else would you have done if you stopped that's right full-time fishing right yeah he can dream you John Levi's poetry now music a lot don't you I did I do yeah well I was always doubling at L churns mailed composing pieces of music but the poetry is a kind of a late vocation and there's one poem in particular you're gonna yeah I have a little piece here which are called signatures and I was thinking one day about the fact that we all like to leave some sort of America after us you know what hurts the sculptor leaves his American stone or a narrative stone paint or whatever and I was thinking about what America might leave myself and I give it you you know he's called signatures the plow man leaves his trace on field and furrow the sculptors
America's etched in chiseled stone with sheaves of gold the Thatcher's name is written in rings of clay the Potter's name is known when day is done and evening firelight beckons when tradesmen all are free from toil and care I linger in the shadows with my fiddle and softly leave my signature in air it's really hoping mmm do you like his poetry Barney no I'm thinking you know when you try how do you sign things in the air so I was drinking people music is good let's do it because it's an act of the present and you see tomorrow present will be history oh we can't learn anything only from buzz were saying L which is present but tomorrow and to see that this will be history she really can only learn from history when you only think of it you know man yeah music I think yeah we often spoke with despair any music it's a this transient kind of a thing you do a concert and you make sounds and the sounds are left hanging in the air and and disappeared but people people's minds hearts are changed to go home different people from the people that arrived to to begin with you know it's one of these magical spiritual kind of communications I think it's a matter of the present but he had like you still go through the museum perspires can go to a museum and you can look at remnant manga and enjoy I enjoy
it but you can't do it music that's in jail equates untrained listen okay you make recordings and you can hear them down the tapes but not quite the same as yeah yes lemons to be there when it's happening yeah something special I think yeah we're going to end up this morning on a piece of music you've written recently aren't we John yeah actually it's a while ago Miriam but I came across this recording beastly it's a piece I wrote called Ottoman Paris a romantic kind of a waltz fading to it and it was used about 22 years ago on music for middle browse in here des QIOs program and a short while after I heard DDR castration which was done by Johnny Devlin one of the old-timers in the music business he just died there recently he he came from the big band here and he was just a wonderful arranger and and de beauté he did took out of a simple tune I was just in trolled by the whole thing and I got an orchestra together in the studio one day and unrecorded written I was just totally enthralled by the finished result I was gone home saying did I really write this piece of music you know but it was the wonderful arrangement and the counterpoints and little bits of harmony that he put in which is another talent in its own and now on Reuter all together you know okay well no in Paris we're going to listen to that now with Ottoman Paris
and that was my conversation with the late Barney McKenna and his fellow Donna John Sheehan our thoughts are with Barney's partner Tina his family and his many friends Barney as well as being a gentleman was a virtuoso musician and all those banja was at the heart of the Dublin whose sound it was rare enough that he got to take center stage so is our tribute to him here is the late Barney with the double nose playing the traditional air the Mason's apron arranged for fiddle and his beloved banjo Miriam meets on rté raidió one with Miriam O'Callaghan
