Earlier this month, at the Syrkus hall in Roodt sur Syre, a strange and wonderful event occurred; over 300 people, most of whom were Luxembourgish as far as Chronicle.lu could ascertain, gathered enthusiastically drinking Guinness and Kilkenny and singing and dancing along to a group of four stellar performers from the Irish folk scene.

The Dublin Legends ensemble was born out of the final demise of The Dubliners as a performing group in 2012 with the death of Barney McKenna. It consists of three former members of the group, Seán Cannon, Eamonn Campbell and Gerry O’Connor, plus Paul Watchorn, younger brother of another of the Dubliners stalwarts, Patsy Watchorn, and acclaimed solo and collaborative musician in his own right. Between them they played over 70 years with the Dubliners, so, as Seán Cannon fiercely pointed out, they are very much not a tribute band.

Their set consisted almost entirely of songs that Dubliners fans would instantly love and recognise from up-tempo drinking songs such as All for me Grog and Whiskey in the Jar, the betrayal of Black Velvet Band and the defiance of Fields of Athenry and Dirty Old Town. With a combined age approaching 250 years, it would have been easy for them simply to go through the motions, however, they did anything but that. The music was played with passion and a freshness that belied the thousands of times that they have played these same songs over the years, and the two sets, with a short break for them to regroup and the crowd to refuel lasted a good 90 minutes. Congratulations must go to organiser Carlo Migy for managing to bring such a group to Roodt-sur-Syre as a part of their European tour and organising such an entertaining evening.

Afterwards Chronicle.lu was provided exclusive access to interview the band, and here follows that interview.

Chronicle.lu: I don’t want to go too much into the past, because you’re touring, and I’m speaking to you this evening, as The Dublin Legends. Nevertheless, you are legends mostly because of what you have achieved in a lifetime of music with some of Ireland’s most successful combos. The main one of these for you as a band is obviously The Dubliners, in its varied guises over the years. Given that the band ran for a shade over 50 years it’s almost inevitable that there will have been some highs and lows, but some of those lows brought some of you into centre stage. So, a general question, to each of you, even Paul, as obviously Patsy (Ed: Paul’s brother, Patsy Watchorn) was involved with The Dubliners for some time, what is the best memory that stays with you from the band, and perhaps the saddest?

SC: To have lived this long!
EC: Losing some close friends along the way

Chronicle.lu: On that subject, Seán, you were brought in to replace Luke Kelly (Ed: who died of a brain tumour in 1984), although you had been appearing with the Dubliners from time to time before then. How did it feel to be stepping into such big shoes.

SC: Let’s be clear, in the Dubliners nobody replaced anyone. We each contributed our own style. Of course it was a difficult time, but we just had to get on with it. Poignantly, presciently perhaps, the night before he died he performed at a friend’s funeral, so he played on right to the end.

Chronicle.lu: Moving on to the present, let’s talk about this current tour

Chronicle.lu: How many dates?

SC: 14

Chronicle.lu: How many countries?

SC: 3

Chronicle.lu: Eamonn and Sean … it’s fair to say that you have been performing for far more years than most people would like to admit. What is it that drives you to keep going?

SC: I just love playing
EC: I’m simply glad to be doing it

Chronicle.lu: Eamonn, you are not only an active performer, but also you are a prolific producer. Do have a preference, or do they both continue to excite you in their own way?

EC: I love both. They each provide a different ‘high’. With performing the engagement with the audience makes a huge difference, with producing, the excitement comes from translating a group’s ideas into a finished product. I was actually producing the Dubliners’ albums even before joining the group in 1987, and then produced them all up to the end in 2012.

Chronicle.lu: Another one for you Eamonn. You’re just a few days away from 69 years old … How many more years do expect to continue?

EC: As long as I can!

Chronicle.lu: Gerry, Earl Hitchener (Wall Street Journal) described you as “The single best 4-string banjoist in the history of Irish music”. How do you feel about that?

GO’C: I don’t really take it very seriously. It’s a nice thing that he said, but there are plenty of other contenders, and it would be disrespectful of me to think otherwise. Even if it were in some way a true reflection, I can’t imagine any of these boys here allowing it to go to my head!

Chronicle.lu: A question to you Paul. Do you think that you did the right thing to turn your back on the professional snooker circuit (Ed: Paul was on the professional snooker tour in the early ‘90s)?

PW: Absolutely! I enjoyed my brief time on the professional snooker tour, but even then my first love was music. It was a very easy decision to make to quit the tour and concentrate full time on the music.

Chronicle.lu: Gentlemen, we wish you well on the rest of your tour, and hope that you continue for many years to come. Thank you for visiting Luxembourg and for your time this evening.

All: Thank you for having us!

Abbreviations: EC: Eamonn Campbell; GO’C: Gerry O’Connor; PW: Paul Watchorn; SC: Seán Cannon; Ed: Chronicle.lu Editor

Photos by John Chalmers (top, L-R): Gerry O’Connor, Seán Cannon, Paul Watchorn, Eamonn Campbel; (bottom, L-R): Paul Watchorn and Eamonn Campbell