Ronnie, who was one of - or actually the founder of The Dubliners (originally styled the Ronnie Drew Group) - had a voice that was likened to the sound of coal scraping underneath a door. A just description, true, although when he was a lad, Ronnie started off as a boy soprano.

It was Ronnie and Luke Kelly who led the vocals of the Dubliners starting off in the early 1960's, and they kept going until Luke's untimely death in 1984. After that it was largely Ronnie but usually with more traditionally voiced Irish singer (such as Paddy Reilley) appearing with them as they toured. Personal opinion for Ronnie's best Irish traditional tune: "Sullivan's John" from their album More of the Hard Stuff and which Ronnie learned directly from the famed Irish musician "Pecker" Dunne. (And we do know who The Pecker is, of course. What? You don't? Well, for a new window about The Pecker, just click here ).

Ronnie took off on his own after 1996, singing and telling stories as always. And sad to say, Ronnie is no longer with us. He died in 2008.