Luke Kelly Statue, South King Street

To mark the 35th anniversary of Luke Kelly's death a life size bronze seated statue of him by John Coll was unveiled on South King Street January 30th, 2019. John Coll is also famous for making the Patrick Kavanagh statue on the Grand Canal. A second statue by portrait artists Vera Klute was unveiled on Sheriff Street on the same day. Luke Kelly was a famous Irish folk singer and musician born in Dublin in 1940. He lived with his family in the Lattimore Cottages on Sheriff Street, (just a quarter of a mile from O’Connell Street) before they moved to the Laurence O’Toole flats where he spent most of his childhood. Growing up Luke developed an avid interest in music and theatre. He attended ceilis with his sister Mona and listened to the music of Fats Domino, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. He was also involved in the staging of plays with Dublin Marian Arts Society. Luke moved to England in 1958 where he worked a number of odd jobs. It was there he got involved in the folk revival which was underway at the time. He started memorizing songs and bringing his banjo to sessions in McReady's pub in Leeds. Kelly returned to Dublin in 1962 and started singing in sessions at O’Donoghue’s pub, also attended by Ronnie Drew and Barney McKenna. They formed The Dubliners, a band who garnered international success with their lively Irish folk songs, traditional street ballads and instrumentals. Luke’s famous rendition of Raglan Road came about when the poem’s creator Patrick Kavanagh heard him singing in a Dublin pub. The poet approached Kelly to say he should sing the poem, which is set to the tune of The Dawning of the Day. Raglan road was later voted as Irelands’ favourite folk song following a series titled Ireland’s Favourite Folk Song on RTE. Luke Kelly died on 30th January 1984 leaving behind an incredible legacy. His contributions to the folk music scene have been described as iconic.