The Dublin Legends are a natural progression of the Dubliners, a band that did more than any other to popularise Irish music.
Today, most people can sing along to a few traditional Irish songs but this was not always the case, not even in urban Ireland. Live music venues are currently full of tribute bands but the Dublin Legends Have grown directly from the iconic Dubliners.
After the death of the last of the founding members, Barney McKenna in 2012, the members of The Dubliners decided to go forward as The Dublin Legends to honour their past, continue to tour and to write new music. They have continued to tour across the world and have an international fanbase.
The Dublin Legends consists of Sean Cannon, Paul Watchorn, Gerry O’Connor, and Shay Kavanagh. They were also joined on stage for two numbers by James Cannon, Sean’s son. Sean has many tales from his decades of performance; he was a member of The Dubliners when they famously recorded a version of The Irish Rover with The Pogues, which went to number 8 in the UK singles chart in 1987.
The Dubliners first brush with chart success was in 1967 when their song, Seven Drunken Nights, was banned by RTE for being too raunchy. The ban prompted regular playing by the pirate station, Radio Caroline. The result was chart success in Britain, with the record climbing to Number 7. Seven Drunken Nights did feature towards the end of the first set, but they only sang up to Friday, avoiding the verses that had upset the censors.
References to the past members and influences appeared throughout the performance. Pete St John, who died in 2022, was remembered fondly through renditions of his compositions: The Ferryman, The Fields of Athenay and The Rare Auld Times. Other songs were picked in memory of Barney McKenna, as the band knew they had been his particular favourites. It has recently been announced that the next Dublin Trad Festival, in January 2026, will be dedicated to celebrating McKenna’s music.
My own favourite was a rendition of Shane MacGowan’s A Rainy Night in Soho, the love song providing a gentle change of pace after some of the fast-paced fiddle, banjo and guitar rhythms in the traditional songs. James Cannon sang the lyrics, giving a depth and clarity that might have been difficult for the older voices. The voices of the older men might not be as strong as they once had been but their ability as musicians seems to improve with continued experience.
Another favourite of mine, Dirty Old Town, also appeared in the second set. Recorded by the Dubliners in 1966 and a hit for the Pogues in 1985, it was written by Ewan McColl for a musical directed by Joan Littlewood in 1949. McColl was a mentor to Luke Kelly, another founding member of the Dubliners.
Many of the audience were familiar with many more of the songs then I was, applauding enthusiastically and often singing along. The show was great value for fans. Over the course of the evening, I estimated that they played nearly 30 tracks. The set list recorded 23, but some of the instrumentals combined more than one tune, whilst the encore gave us two more.
The encore was a real crowd pleaser – The Wild Rover and Molly Malone, everyone knew the lyricsof both songs and we were happy to sing along.
The Dublin Legends are no doubt crowd-pleasers wherever they perform, keeping the music of the Irish fresh for everyone, long after we sing those lyrics on our journeys home.
The Dublin Legends’ 37-date European tour begins in September through to December. Let’s hope they come back to Leeds on their next tour of the UK.
