1. Luke Kelly was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland.
34 Facts About Luke Kelly
1. 2.
The Irish Post and other commentators regard Luke Kelly, known for his distinctive singing style and sometimes political messages, as one of Ireland's greatest folk singers.
3.
Luke Kelly was born to Luke Kelly and Julia Fleming, a working-class couple, in Sheriff Street, Dublin.
4.
Luke Kelly was taken to Jervis Street Hospital with a bullet wound to the lung and, although not expected to recover, he overcame his injuries.
5.
Luke Kelly left school at thirteen, and after a number of years of odd-jobbing, he went to England in 1958.
6.
Luke Kelly worked a number of odd jobs, including a period as a vacuum cleaner salesman.
7.
Luke Kelly had been interested in music during his teenage years: he regularly attended ceilithe with his sister Mona and listened to American vocalists including: Fats Domino, Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.
8.
Luke Kelly had an interest in theatre and musicals, being involved with the staging of plays by Dublin's Marian Arts Society.
9.
Luke Kelly listened to recordings of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
10.
Luke Kelly developed his political convictions which, as Ronnie Drew pointed out after his death, he stuck to throughout his life.
11.
Luke Kelly befriended Sean Mulready in Birmingham and lived in his home for a period.
12.
Luke Kelly bought his first banjo, which had five strings and a long neck, and played it in the style of Pete Seeger and Tommy Makem.
13.
Luke Kelly got involved in the Jug O'Punch folk club run by Ian Campbell.
14.
Luke Kelly befriended Dominic Behan, and they performed in folk clubs and Irish pubs from London to Glasgow.
15.
Luke Kelly was by now active in the Connolly Association, a left-wing grouping strongest among the emigres in England, and he joined the Young Communist League: he toured Irish pubs playing his set and selling the Connolly Association's newspaper The Irish Democrat.
16.
However, Luke Kelly turned down the offer in favour of pursuing his career in folk music.
17.
Luke Kelly was to start frequenting Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's Singer Club in London.
18.
O'Donoghue's Pub was already established as a session house, and soon Luke Kelly was singing with, among others, Ronnie Drew and Barney McKenna.
19.
Luke Kelly was the leading vocalist for the group's eponymous debut album in 1964, which included his rendition of "The Rocky Road to Dublin".
20.
Barney McKenna later noted that Luke Kelly was the only singer he'd heard sing it to the rhythm it was played on the fiddle.
21.
In 1964, Luke Kelly left the group for nearly two years and was replaced by Bobby Lynch and John Sheahan.
22.
Luke Kelly went back to London with Deirdre O'Connell, founder of the Focus Theatre, whom he was to marry the following year, and became involved in Ewan MacColl's "gathering".
23.
Luke Kelly met and befriended Michael O'Riordan, the General Secretary of the Irish Workers' Party, and the two developed a "personal-political friendship".
24.
Luke Kelly endorsed O'Riordan for election, and held a rally in his name during campaigning in 1965.
25.
Luke Kelly later played King Herod in several runs of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar at the Gaiety Theatre.
26.
In 1973, Luke Kelly took to the stage performing as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar.
27.
Luke Kelly had such respect for the latter song that he only performed it once for a television recording and rarely, if ever, sang it at the Dubliners' often boisterous events.
28.
Luke Kelly remained a politically engaged musician, becoming a supporter of the movement against South African apartheid and performing at benefit concerts for the Irish Traveller community, and many of the songs he recorded dealt with social issues, the arms race and the Cold War, trade unionism and Irish republicanism,.
29.
Luke Kelly married Deirdre O'Connell in 1965, but they separated in the early 1970s.
30.
Luke Kelly spent the last eight years of his life living with his partner, Madeleine Seiler, who is from Germany.
31.
Luke Kelly forgot lyrics and had to take longer breaks in concerts as he felt weak.
32.
Luke Kelly had been performing with the Dubliners since 1982, due to the deterioration of Kelly's health.
33.
Paddy Reilly recorded a tribute to Luke Kelly entitled "The Dublin Minstrel".
34.
Two statues of Luke Kelly were unveiled in Dublin in January 2019 to mark the 35th anniversary of his death.