Editing Luke Kelly (section)

==The Dubliners==
In 1961, there was a [[Irish folk music#1960s and 70s: Revival again|folk music]] revival or "ballad boom", as it was later termed, in waiting in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.tradfolkireland.com/The%20Ballad%20Boom.html | website = Tradfolkireland.com | title= The Irish Ballad Boom of the 1960s | accessdate=26 November 2016 }}</ref> The Abbey Tavern sessions in [[Howth]] were the forerunner to sessions in the Hollybrook, [[Clontarf, Dublin|Clontarf]], the International Bar and the [[Grafton Cinema]]. Luke Kelly returned to Dublin in 1962. [[O'Donoghue's Pub]] was already established as a session house, and soon Kelly was singing with, among others, [[Ronnie Drew]] and [[Barney McKenna]]. Other early people playing at O'Donoghues included [[The Fureys]], father and sons, John Keenan and Sean Og McKenna, Johnny Moynihan, Andy Irvine, Seamus Ennis, Willy Clancy and Mairtin Byrnes.

A concert John Molloy organised in the Hibernian Hotel led to his "Ballad Tour of Ireland" with the Ronnie Drew Ballad Group (billed in one town as the Ronnie Drew ''Ballet'' Group).<ref name="force"/><ref name="diasporic"/> This tour led to the Abbey Tavern and the Royal Marine Hotel and then to jam-packed sessions in the Embankment, [[Tallaght]]. [[Ciarán Bourke]] joined the group, followed later by [[John Sheahan]]. They renamed themselves [[The Dubliners]] at Kelly's suggestion, as he was reading [[James Joyce]]'s book of short stories, entitled ''[[Dubliners]]'', at the time.<ref name="Its">{{cite web|author=Nick Guida |url=http://itsthedubliners.com/dubs_01.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621182255/http://itsthedubliners.com/dubs_01.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=21 June 2008 |title=The Dubliners 1962–1966: It's the Dubliners |website=Itsthedubliners.com |accessdate=4 February 2013}}</ref> Kelly was the leading vocalist for the group's [[The Dubliners (album)|eponymous debut album]] in 1964, which included his rendition of "The Rocky Road to Dublin". Barney McKenna later noted that Kelly was the only singer he'd heard sing it to the rhythm it was played on the fiddle.<ref name=jacobin />

In 1964, Luke Kelly left the group for nearly two years and was replaced by [[Bob Lynch (musician)|Bobby Lynch]] and [[John Sheahan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedubliners.org/history.html |title=The Story so far... The Dubliners' History |website=theDubliners.org |accessdate=13 August 2014}}</ref> 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". The Critics, as it was called, was formed to explore folk traditions and help young singers. During this period he retained his political commitments, becoming increasingly active in the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]]. Kelly also met and befriended [[Michael O'Riordan]], the General Secretary of the [[Irish Workers' Party]], and the two developed a "personal-political friendship".<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/news/veteran-communist-dedicated-to-his-cause-1.1005919%3fmode=amp | newspaper = The Irish Times | accessdate = 1 September 2018 | title = Veteran communist dedicated to his cause | archive-date = 2 September 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084209/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/veteran-communist-dedicated-to-his-cause-1.1005919?mode=amp | url-status = dead }}</ref> Kelly endorsed O'Riordan for election, and held a rally in his name during campaigning in 1965.<ref name=jacobin /> In 1965, he sang '[[The Rocky Road to Dublin]]' with [[Liam Clancy]] on his first, self-titled solo album.

Bobby Lynch left The Dubliners, and John Sheahan and Kelly rejoined. They recorded an album in the Gate Theatre, Dublin, played at the [[Cambridge Folk Festival]] and recorded ''Irish Night Out'', a live album with, among others, exiles Margaret Barry, Michael Gorman and Jimmy Powers. They also played a concert in the [[National Stadium (Ireland)|National Stadium]] in Dublin with Pete Seeger as special guest.<ref name="geraghty"/> They were on the road to success: Top Twenty hits with "[[Seven Drunken Nights]]" and "[[The Black Velvet Band]]", ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in 1968 and a tour of New Zealand and Australia. The ballad boom in Ireland was becoming increasingly commercialised, with bar and pub owners building ever larger venues for pay-in performances. Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, on a visit to Dubli,n expressed concern to Kelly about his drinking.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

As an actor, Kelly performed in the 1969 [[Dublin Theatre Festival]], playing the role of Sergeant Kite in ''The Mullingar Recruits''. He later played King Herod in several runs of the musical ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]'' at the [[Gaiety Theatre, Dublin|Gaiety Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.dib.ie/biography/kelly-luke-a4454 | publisher = Royal Irish Academy | work = [[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] | title = Kelly, Luke | first = Lawrence William | last = White | date = October 2009 | doi = 10.3318/dib.004454.v2 }}</ref>

[[Christy Moore]] and Kelly became acquainted in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.christymoore.com/biography/1970s/ | title= Christy Moore Biography | date= 8 February 2012 | quote = Across the '60’s I'd heard [...] Luke Kelly solo, and then I began to be influenced by the British folk revival| website = Christymoore.com |accessdate = 26 November 2016 }}</ref> During his [[Planxty]] days, Moore got to know Kelly well.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} In 1972 The Dubliners themselves performed in ''Richard's Cork Leg'', based on the "incomplete works" of [[Brendan Behan]]. In 1973, Kelly took to the stage performing as [[Herod Antipas|King Herod]] in ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]''.<ref name="force">{{cite news|url= http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/artsvibe/luke-kelly-remembered-a-force-of-nature-on-stage-256309.html | newspaper = Irish Examiner |date=24 January 2014 | title= Luke Kelly remembered: A force of nature on stage }}</ref>

The arrival of a new manager for The Dubliners, [[Derry]] composer [[Phil Coulter]], resulted in a collaboration that produced three of Kelly's most notable performances: “[[The Town I Loved So Well]]”, "Hand me Down my Bible", and “[[Scorn Not His Simplicity]]”, a song about Phil's son who had [[Down Syndrome]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/phil-coulter-reveals-his-anguish-at-sons-downs-syndrome-31575768.html | newspaper = Belfast Telegraph |date=2 October 2015  |accessdate = 4 July 2016 | title= Phil Coulter reveals his anguish at son's Down's syndrome }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/with-luke-kelly-badgering-me-i-had-to-write-grownup-songs-29163775.html | newspaper = Irish Independent | title=With Luke Kelly badgering me, I had to write grown-up songs |date=31 March 2013  | accessdate = 5 July 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url = http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/artsvibe/luke-kelly-remembered-a-force-of-nature-on-stage-256309.html | newspaper = Irish Examiner | date=24 January 2014 | accessdate= 5 July 2016 | title=Luke Kelly remembered: A force of nature on stage |quote = Kelly [...] rarely performed 'Scorn Not His Simplicity' – one of his most famous songs, penned by Phil Coulter about his Down syndrome son – on stage}}</ref>

His interpretations of “[[On Raglan Road]]” and "Scorn Not His Simplicity" became significant points of reference in Irish folk music.{{original research inline|date= November 2016 }} His version of "Raglan Road" came about when the poem's author, [[Patrick Kavanagh]], heard him singing in a Dublin pub, and approached Kelly to say that he should sing the poem (which is set to the tune of “[[The Dawning of the Day]]”).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1323-patrick-kavanagh/1331-on-raglan-road/336055-luke-kelly-sings-on-raglan-road/ | publisher= RTÉ | title= On Raglan Road exhibition – Luke Kelly Sings | quote =Luke Kelly explains how he met Patrick Kavanagh in The Bailey pub in Dublin. During this encounter Kavanagh told him he had a song for him.| date= 1979 | accessdate= 26 November 2016 }}</ref> Kelly remained a politically engaged musician,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/the-leftwing-firebrand-who-gave-us-some-of-our-most-popular-tunes-30953891.html |work=Irish Independent| title= The left-wing firebrand who gave us some of our most popular tunes | date= 1 February 2015 |quote= Luke Kelly of The Dubliners was the most accomplished vehicle for MacColl's [political] material}}</ref> becoming a supporter of the [[Music in the movement against apartheid|movement against South African apartheid]] and performing at benefit concerts for the [[Irish Travellers|Irish Traveller]] community,<ref name=jacobin /> and many of the songs he recorded dealt with social issues, the [[arms race]] and the [[Cold War]], [[trade unionism]] and [[Irish republicanism]], ("The Springhill Disaster", "Joe Hill", "The Button Pusher", "Alabama 1958" and "[[God Save Ireland]]" all being examples of his concerns).

[[File:Luke Kelly 1980.jpg|thumb|Luke Kelly on stage in 1980|alt=Picture of a man with goatee and curly hair, wearing a yellow shirt with white floral patterns. He is holding a guitar. Only the edges of the guitar can be seen in the photo. He is smiling away from the camera. It is a side profile photo.]]