Barney McKenna, banjo player with veteran folk group the Dubliners, has died at the age of 72.
McKenna, known affectionately as Banjo Barney, was the last remaining member of the original line-up of the famous Irish band and was among members of the band who recently finished a 50th anniversary tour.
Fiddler John Sheahan, who joined the Dubliners just two years after it was formed in 1962, said McKenna's death would be a universal loss. "He was one of these unique characters," he said. "He was like a brother to me, as were the other former members of the Dubliners. Over the years we became very much a family, I suppose, in our own right. I think it's a kind of universal loss, I think everybody is going to miss him hugely. We are all very sad."
Folk singer Christy Moore, who is on his current UK tour, recently talked about McKenna's wonderful, down-to-earth humour, saying: "Barney was a great musician and a fine person with no side. When he played at the Albert Hall, he called it 'the round place near the park'."
McKenna, known affectionately as Banjo Barney, was the last remaining member of the original line-up of the famous Irish band and was among members of the band who recently finished a 50th anniversary tour.
Fiddler John Sheahan, who joined the Dubliners just two years after it was formed in 1962, said McKenna's death would be a universal loss. "He was one of these unique characters," he said. "He was like a brother to me, as were the other former members of the Dubliners. Over the years we became very much a family, I suppose, in our own right. I think it's a kind of universal loss, I think everybody is going to miss him hugely. We are all very sad."
Folk singer Christy Moore, who is on his current UK tour, recently talked about McKenna's wonderful, down-to-earth humour, saying: "Barney was a great musician and a fine person with no side. When he played at the Albert Hall, he called it 'the round place near the park'."
