Barney McKenna

Irish Folk Band, The Dubliners, guide us through the history of Dublin.

A time to remember and celebrate the founders of this great group of troubadours, who started it all back in 1962: Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna. These were the originals who lit the flame 50 years ago, and set fire to the world of folk music. For the filming of this DVD, hundreds of old photographs were assembled; audio and video clips were retrieved from the archives to capture the spirit of the group down through the decades. Projected performances from the past played an integral role in this celebration concert. The atmosphere was electric, with music, stories and poetry flowing from reservoirs of memory — a unique collaboration between the original group and the current line-up, a perfect party to celebrate 50 years.

In this mock opera infused with gallows humour, Ronnie Drew and his band of bohemian merrymakers, The Dubliners, re-enact the execution ballad ‘The Night Before Larry Was Stretched’. Larry finds himself caught in a hangman’s noose as just reward for being ‘the best burglar in all Ireland’. Made in 1965, the film remained uncompleted and unseen until its restoration in 1998.