Profile
Name:
Jessie
Channel Views:
3,633
Total Upload Views:
143,492
Age:
24
Joined:
Oct 6, 2010
Latest Activity:
1 week ago
Subscribers:
46
Ronnie Drew Tribute Page and Archive
About Me:
I first saw Ronnie in the early sixties when he was performing with John Molloy at the Gate Theatre. As well as acting in sketches with John, he appeared in front of the curtain at the interval, singing long ballads such as "Van Diemen's Land" and Skibbereen. His voice was startling; I had never heard anything like it before. His presence was riveting and, against all ods, he cast a spell on the audience that was anything but captive.
Charisma and presence are qualities impossible to define, but Ronnie had them in full measure. He was a gifted entertainer and storyteller—his natural environment, the pub—surrounded by a large circle of friends, all leaning in to catch every nuance of the yarn. His timing and turn of phrase held your undivided attention, but if your concentration wavered, he sensed it and devoured you without apology.
He hated his flow to be interrupted, and if a barman arrived with an order in the middle of a story, Ronnie's gestures and body language made it clear that he should keep a safe distance until the punchline was delivered. He was a master at painting a picture with words, and he saw the delivery of a song as a natural extension of the storyteller's art. A song had to have a good storyline, or it wasn't worth singing. Within the context of The Dublienrs, this celebration of life in the pub enjoyed a smooth transition to the concert hall.
He had an impish sense of humour. In the early days, when I still had my job with the ESB, I was anxious to get on the road for home after country gigs, but of course there was always the inevitable 'one for the road'. On one occasion, after a gig in Tipperary, I attempted to close the bar after several 'last' rounds by surreptitiously tipping the young barman a fiver. However, my plan failed and on the way home, I told Ronnie what had happened. "Ah!" says Ronnie, "I saw what you were up to—I gave him a tenner to keep it open!"
Stories about drink were often exaggerated, but this one had its humorous side: We were playing at the Glenagle Hotel in Killarney—all tuned up and read to go on stage, but no sign of Ronnie. Was he on the gargle? Would he turn up? We ere about to go on without him when an American tourist burst through the dressing-room door announcing: "I'm delivering your leader!" It transpired that Ronnie had picked up this hitch-hiker earlier in the day, and realizing that he himself was in no condition for driving, asked the tourist if he could drive on the left-hand side. He assured Ronnie that he could; they swopped places and so started a chauffeured pub crawl around his beloved Kerry for the rest of the day.
He was a transient being who had difficulty with the notion of planning for the future that might never happen. He was superstitious about investing in pension funds in case he was tempting fate. Instead, he lived for the moment, immersing himself in the immediacy of the craic at hand. At the end of a day's journey that involved stops and sessions at rural pubs where we had the craic with local musicians and storytellers, he would be in top form. The journey to the gig was as much an adventure as the gig itself. This was the stuff of life. It was all like a play that might never run again, so every moment had to be savoured. When asked about life on the road in the early days, he replied, "We had a party that went on for thirty years." This summed up his attitude to life.
He was cynical about politicians, believing the country could be better run by a small group of dedicated businessmen. "We have a very expensive government to keep," he would say, in mock defense of tax increase in a budget.
He could sometimes be brusque and impatient, but the gruff exterior was often a cover for shyness. He was sensitive, well read, extremely charitable, and had a strong sense of the spiritual.
My life was enriched when our paths crossed about forty years ago. I little realized then that my hobby would become my life when I agreed to fill in during the 'porter break' at a Dubliners' gig in Howth.
The man with the strange voice that startled me in the Gate Theater back in the early sixties became my life long friend.
-John Sheahan
Hometown:
Washington, Indiana
Country:
United States
Occupation:
Illustrator
Companies:
Self-employed via comission.
Interests:
Music, art, and humanities.
Music:
The Dubliners (but more specifically, Ronnie Drew)
Recent Activity
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guarunteedubliner commented on Chris Kavanagh & The Dubliners
"Absolutely marvelous!"
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guarunteedubliner favorited a video
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guarunteedubliner
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guarunteedubliner commented on Ronnie Drew - Ojos Negros -...
"@davidoffon I honestly had no idea that Ronnie played Tennis. Thank you ..."
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guarunteedubliner commented on Ronnie Drew - Ojos Negros -...
"@davidoffon I haven't any information on tennis as a hobby, but I know t..."
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Subscriptions
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Subscribers
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Channel Comments
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sagnaw26
(4 days ago)
Thank you for this site. I have been a Ronnie fan for 20 years. Sadly, I never got to see him live. He was a gift from God. Thanks again!
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guarunteedubliner
(2 months ago)
Ah yes, Waila Weila, I haven't put that one up yet. It is a pretty eerie idea, especially for a kids song.
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davidoffon
(2 months ago)
The one I don't see here is "There was an old woman who lived in the woods". That terrified me as I took it quite literally and treated the song like a news headline on the radio, I listened again and again at the age of about 7.
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guarunteedubliner
(3 months ago)
Indeed, Ronnie was a great character and a strong soul. He's missed here in America as well.
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tillyireland
(3 months ago)
This is a wonderful tribute to a great man, Ronnie had a voice once heard, never forgotten, he`s sadly missed in Ireland.
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MrBaldy79
(4 months ago)
1 word class spot on
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paddywack33
(9 months ago)
great collection some i have not heard in years
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biggmick1
(1 year ago)
Great collection!!!
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jimmyriddle100
(1 year ago)
hi welcome,hope you can do justice to the memory of a great man who bono called the king of ireland.
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