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Ronnie
The late great Dubliner, Ronnie Drew, was six months into writing his biography when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had produced warm, witty and insightful material that made it clear that he was a wonderful writer as well as a great singer and storyteller. With the encouragement of his wife Deirdre and his family, he continued to think about the book and conducted a number of interviews to keep things ticking over until he was well enough to resume work on it. But sadly, much as he wanted to, Ronnie did not get to finish his story. However, with the whole-hearted co-operation of his daughter and son, Cliodhna and Phelim, it has been possible to put together Ronnie's work on his memoir along with his other writings, interviews with Cliodhna and Phelim, a wealth of photographs and other material from the family archive, and contributions from close friends, to create a book that is a wonderful portrait of, and a fitting and loving tribute to, the man Bono called 'the king of Ireland'.
304 pages, Paperback
First published November 26, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 9, 2019
Ronnie Drew was a fantastic person. Ran away from Ireland and dull job at the phone company, went to Spain, taught English and learned to play flamenco guitar. Founded the immensely popular Dubliners, named after James Joyce's novel. He once told a reporter that he knew every person in Dublin. Reporter doubted this. They were on a bridge. The next person who walked by, Ronnie said, "Howya head?" The man turned and said, "Howya, Ronnie." They conversed for several minutes. They Dubliners appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, but never achieved the kind of fame here that the Clancy brothers had, because they refused leave their family for lengthy tours. Book is beautiful and extremely funny. I read this in late 2018, I believe. Then again in 2019.
September 26, 2026
I enjoy autobiographies and hearing people's stories, and Ronnie was wonderful and disappointing in almost equal measure.
The wonderful part was learning more about Ronnie Drew's background: his upbringing in Dún Laoghaire, his journey to Spain, and the many funny stories along the way. There are some brilliant Ronnie moments — attending a funeral with his aunt in a horse and carriage, which for her was as much an opportunity for an outing, gossip with friends and a pub crawl as anything else; working in the telephone exchange and winding up an irate caller who told him, “Do you know who I am?” — only for Ronnie to ask if she knew who he was and, when she admitted she didn't, hang up on her. Or the time, after giving up drinking, he went into a pub early one morning for a G&T and was told by a man at the bar that he thought he'd given up the drink. Ronnie's response was that a G&T helped him mind his own business — and would he like one?
There are so many more stories like this that bring Ronnie and the world he inhabited to life.
The book also gave me a new appreciation for the Celtic revival and for the Dublin of that era: the pubs frequented by musicians, writers and artists; the people Ronnie knew, including Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh; the other Dubliners, Luke Kelly in particular; and the years spent touring. I loved Phelim Drew's recollections of his father, including Ronnie's colourful complaints about cold, wet hotel rooms. There's also the wonderful story of the penniless musicians in O'Donoghue's being invited by some Americans back to the Shelbourne Hotel for a session — only for the Americans to fall asleep, allowing the musicians to clean out the minibar and swap their shoes with the guests' shoes left outside for polishing.
And there are many, many more.
I found myself stopping to listen to Ronnie's songs on YouTube as I came across them in the book, which made the reading experience feel particularly immersive.
But this is also where the disappointment comes in. Ronnie never actually managed to finish the book, so much of it is made up of recollections from his children, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, along with extracts from interviews and press coverage. These are often fascinating, but I couldn't help wishing that we had been able to hear more directly from Ronnie himself. It feels like a book that could have been something truly extraordinary if he had lived long enough to complete it — and there are inevitably stories we will now never hear.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it. It has left me wanting to listen to much more Irish folk music and, perhaps even more importantly, to seek out some of the Dublin places that formed the backdrop to these lives and stories.
A lovely, funny and ultimately rather poignant glimpse into Ronnie Drew's world.
The wonderful part was learning more about Ronnie Drew's background: his upbringing in Dún Laoghaire, his journey to Spain, and the many funny stories along the way. There are some brilliant Ronnie moments — attending a funeral with his aunt in a horse and carriage, which for her was as much an opportunity for an outing, gossip with friends and a pub crawl as anything else; working in the telephone exchange and winding up an irate caller who told him, “Do you know who I am?” — only for Ronnie to ask if she knew who he was and, when she admitted she didn't, hang up on her. Or the time, after giving up drinking, he went into a pub early one morning for a G&T and was told by a man at the bar that he thought he'd given up the drink. Ronnie's response was that a G&T helped him mind his own business — and would he like one?
There are so many more stories like this that bring Ronnie and the world he inhabited to life.
The book also gave me a new appreciation for the Celtic revival and for the Dublin of that era: the pubs frequented by musicians, writers and artists; the people Ronnie knew, including Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh; the other Dubliners, Luke Kelly in particular; and the years spent touring. I loved Phelim Drew's recollections of his father, including Ronnie's colourful complaints about cold, wet hotel rooms. There's also the wonderful story of the penniless musicians in O'Donoghue's being invited by some Americans back to the Shelbourne Hotel for a session — only for the Americans to fall asleep, allowing the musicians to clean out the minibar and swap their shoes with the guests' shoes left outside for polishing.
And there are many, many more.
I found myself stopping to listen to Ronnie's songs on YouTube as I came across them in the book, which made the reading experience feel particularly immersive.
But this is also where the disappointment comes in. Ronnie never actually managed to finish the book, so much of it is made up of recollections from his children, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, along with extracts from interviews and press coverage. These are often fascinating, but I couldn't help wishing that we had been able to hear more directly from Ronnie himself. It feels like a book that could have been something truly extraordinary if he had lived long enough to complete it — and there are inevitably stories we will now never hear.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it. It has left me wanting to listen to much more Irish folk music and, perhaps even more importantly, to seek out some of the Dublin places that formed the backdrop to these lives and stories.
A lovely, funny and ultimately rather poignant glimpse into Ronnie Drew's world.
January 17, 2025
Its tragic that Ronnie Drew died before he could finish this book, the final product is a valiant effort done by his children. The first hundred or so pages are written by Ronnie himself and shows a deeper glimpse into his mind and perception of the world and himself. This leads to an interesting dynamic as all the people who are quoted in the book talking about Ronnie have nothing but the best to say about their deceased loved one.
Drew is very critical of himself and very blunt and honest. Which he admits can be a failing at times. While the contributors generally go with a more positive spin. It led to me having to pick who to really trust and I have to go with Ronnie and his children mostly. He was a very complex man with deep feelings and thoughts and his music still carries today.
The best part is the last 30 or 40 pages where it goes through his one man shows. And the beginning 100 written by him. The other bits were good but it was mostly a collection of quotes, brief interviews, pictures and so on. A good read since I finished it in 2 days. There is a genuine quality to it and I recommend it to biography readers, auto-bio readers and anyone who wants to know about this particular piece of music history.
Drew is very critical of himself and very blunt and honest. Which he admits can be a failing at times. While the contributors generally go with a more positive spin. It led to me having to pick who to really trust and I have to go with Ronnie and his children mostly. He was a very complex man with deep feelings and thoughts and his music still carries today.
The best part is the last 30 or 40 pages where it goes through his one man shows. And the beginning 100 written by him. The other bits were good but it was mostly a collection of quotes, brief interviews, pictures and so on. A good read since I finished it in 2 days. There is a genuine quality to it and I recommend it to biography readers, auto-bio readers and anyone who wants to know about this particular piece of music history.
June 15, 2023
Late in 2006 the dark-brown pebble -dashed voice of Ireland was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Anyone could think that such a harsh and distinctive deep dark sound had been chiseled after decades of tonsils-polishing with a rusty metal file every early morning.
But both, the gravelly voice and Ronnie's astounding ability to condense the Dublin scene of buskers, ramblers and "would be" poets into powerful stories and songs were the unmistakable result of his love for being out and about, too much smoking and heavy drinking.
Furthermore, that shocking blow came up in midst of his beloved wife's stand against her own lung tumor.
I am pretty sure that hadn't took place all these dramatic events, Ronnie Drew would have never faced this challenge: putting his own story down.
Deirdre died soon afterwards, but Ronnie, encouraged by Phelim and Cliodhna, son and daughter, sort of kept going and supported by the whole clan, gave up porter, gigging here and there, storytelling and writing.
Sadly, chased by the illness again he was unable to complete the task eventually.
That's why this biography feeds on two different sources:
The first third, told by himself,spanning his young years of life, the unquiet odd boy, the marginal, dreamy and unsettled youngster, his trips to Spain and first steps into the music, back in Ireland.
In order to make up the rest of the book, Dad's work was resumed and completed by Phelim and Cliodhna,assisted by Ronnie's band mates, fellow musicians and friends, who compiled a great deal of stuff : interviews, all kind of press features and chronicles, where the own minstrel and his familiar, trade and drink environments talk about the inception of the Dubliners, the key encounter with Deirdre, the life on the road and, especially, the mighty strength that the couple held all along their lives. Their great human value.
Not being a hard-die fan of The Dubliners, I reckon that Ronnie's figure first tickled my curiosity after hearing of his fluent Spanish and legendary gifts and skills displayed in public houses.
All this and much more is poured throughout this book. Once completed the reading you are aware that you've just witnessed the best of the times for an entire generation of people who showed us off how to drain the glass till the end without any hope or certainty of what the future might bring
Only Ronnie himself could have done it better.
But both, the gravelly voice and Ronnie's astounding ability to condense the Dublin scene of buskers, ramblers and "would be" poets into powerful stories and songs were the unmistakable result of his love for being out and about, too much smoking and heavy drinking.
Furthermore, that shocking blow came up in midst of his beloved wife's stand against her own lung tumor.
I am pretty sure that hadn't took place all these dramatic events, Ronnie Drew would have never faced this challenge: putting his own story down.
Deirdre died soon afterwards, but Ronnie, encouraged by Phelim and Cliodhna, son and daughter, sort of kept going and supported by the whole clan, gave up porter, gigging here and there, storytelling and writing.
Sadly, chased by the illness again he was unable to complete the task eventually.
That's why this biography feeds on two different sources:
The first third, told by himself,spanning his young years of life, the unquiet odd boy, the marginal, dreamy and unsettled youngster, his trips to Spain and first steps into the music, back in Ireland.
In order to make up the rest of the book, Dad's work was resumed and completed by Phelim and Cliodhna,assisted by Ronnie's band mates, fellow musicians and friends, who compiled a great deal of stuff : interviews, all kind of press features and chronicles, where the own minstrel and his familiar, trade and drink environments talk about the inception of the Dubliners, the key encounter with Deirdre, the life on the road and, especially, the mighty strength that the couple held all along their lives. Their great human value.
Not being a hard-die fan of The Dubliners, I reckon that Ronnie's figure first tickled my curiosity after hearing of his fluent Spanish and legendary gifts and skills displayed in public houses.
All this and much more is poured throughout this book. Once completed the reading you are aware that you've just witnessed the best of the times for an entire generation of people who showed us off how to drain the glass till the end without any hope or certainty of what the future might bring
Only Ronnie himself could have done it better.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews