Luke Kelly died at the tender age of 44 due to a brain tumour, leaving a huge gap in the Folk World. Born into a family which had singing at its core, 1958 saw him leaving his native city for England. With the roots revival underway, he encountered his first folk club in the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne in early 1960. He later became a regular visitor to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's Singer Club in London.
Returning to Dublin in 1962, where O'Donoghue's Pub was already established as a session house, Kelly started to sing with among others, Ronnie Drew and Barney McKenna. With Ciarán Bourke and shortly afterwards John Sheehan, they formed the Ronnie Drew Group. Recognising their diversity of their talents, Ronnie suggested a name change. With Luke then reading Dubliners by James Joyce, the alternative name was quickly chosen. His interpretations of “On Raglan Road”
and ”Scorn Not His Simplicity” are considered the definitive versions. The former was offered to him by poet Paddy Kavanagh. The latter written by Phil Coulter (who also penned many pop hits such as Congratulations), was a personal song about his Down's syndrome son.
A TV performance of this song recorded in 1973, inspired the artist Vera Klute to design the statute that lies in Guild Street close to the spot where he was born. The second tribute, designed by John Coll lies a short distance from St. Stephen’s Green in the heart of the city.
