Ronnie Drew - Career

Career

In the 1950s, Drew moved to Spain to teach English and learn Spanish and flamenco guitar. His interest in folk music began at the age of 19. When he returned to Ireland, he performed in the Gate Theatre with John Molloy and soon after, went into the music business full-time. In the meantime, he had a number of short-term jobs, including one in the telephone exchange in Dublin.

In 1962, he founded the Ronnie Drew Group with Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna and Ciaran Bourke. They soon changed their name to The Dubliners, with John Sheahan joining shortly afterwards to form the definitive line-up. They would soon become one of the best known Irish folk groups. They played at first in O'Donoghue's Pub in Merrion Row, Dublin 2 where they were often accompanied by Mary Jordan on the spoons and vocalist Ann Mulqueen, a friend of Barney. Mary's mother, Peggy Jordan, introduced them to the Abbey Tavern in Howth, which became a regular Monday night venue for the emerging group. They also played across the road in the Royal Hotel. The group also played at all-night parties in Peggy's large house in Kenilworth Square in Rathgar and in John Molloy's flat in Ely Place, just around the corner from O'Donoghue's. Ronnie left the Dubliners in 1974, rejoined in 1979 and finally left for good in 1995, though he did reunite with the group in 2002 for a 40th anniversary celebration.

From 1995 onwards Drew pursued a solo career. He recorded with many artists, including Christy Moore, The Pogues, Antonio Breschi, Dropkick Murphys, Eleanor Shanley and others. He did a number of "one-man shows" (he was accompanied by various guitarists, including Mike Hanrahan) during this period, such as Songs and Stories, Ronnie, I Hardly Knew Ya and Ronnie. These shows consisted of stories about people such as Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and Seán O'Casey, as well as Ronnie singing their songs.

He is also known for fronting a campaign to encourage the use of Dublin's light-rail infrastructure (the DART) and before that the "My Dublin" ads for radio stations 98FM and FM104. He narrated a retelling (scripted by Steven Byrne) of the great Irish Myths and Legends over a six CD set in 2006. He also narrated the stories of Oscar Wilde in his distinctive voice in a series released on CD by the News Of The World newspaper. Both were re-released as CD box sets in 2010.

On 22 August 2006, he was honoured in a ceremony where his hand prints were added to the "walk of fame" outside Dublin's Gaiety Theatre.