the dubliners

Taking their name from James Joyce's acclaimed short story collection, they single-handedly seized the tragic comic spirit of Ireland's capital city and have been resolutely carrying that torch ever since.

Originally called The Ronnie Drew Group, the various members came together around '62 in the back bar of O'Donoghue's Pub in Merrion Row. Five years later, they'd been embraced by the UK folk boom and had reached number two in the British charts with the classic boozing song, "Seven Drunken Nights". And twenty years on, in '87, their potency was still such that they re-appeared in the international charts alongside their direct musical descendants, The Pogues, with their de facto theme song, "The Irish Rover".