A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day

Ronnie Drew 2003. Pic: GG

hen GG took the above picture of Ronnie Drew back in the mid-’90s, it felt like we were hanging out with Elvis for the afternoon.

Then again, it felt like that every time you called into Ronnie and Deirdre Drew’s house of fun up on Killincarrick Road.

Cliodhna, Ronnie, Deirdre & Phelim

This was a happy house, always full of laughter, songs, stories, the odd tipple, and even odder lost souls, many hailing from some distant corner of the globe.

Ronnie traveled the world, regularly, with The Dubliners, as well as during his solo years, before and after, and where’er he went, he made friends. And he had a habit of inviting these new friends to come visit him and Deirdre in Greystones.

Every Christmas, it was like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in the Drew household, as a motley crew of strangers and strays became firm friends over fine food, beautiful booze, intoxicating music, and craic that often had the feint whiff of the illicit about it.

How lucky were we Greystonians, that one of Irish folk music’s true icons should land here? It was Ronnie’s beautiful wife, Deirdre, who lured the wandering minstrel to her hometown, where they brought up two rather fine children, Cliodhna and Phelim, whilst continuing to live out an eternal honeymoon. Sure, there was the occasional hangover, and some may have lasted more than a few days, but laughter was always nearby, and love was forever present.

So, when Deirdre Drew left this planet on June 7th, 2007, whilst her husband publicly battled cancer, it was a rug-pull for many. Deirdre had kept her illness quiet pretty much up to the end. When Ronnie passed on August 16th the following year, it was a last heartbeat felt right around the country, and far beyond.

Already something of a legend in this country, when Ronnie left us, he instantly took on a mythical status. Verging on mystical. That great big gravel voice of his sang of our ghosts, gods and Gaelic giants from the past, and now Ronnie Drew was one of them.

Over the ensuing years, there have been ballads and poems aplenty written about Joseph Ronald Drew (including one for his beloved horse), as well as tribute concerts, shared stories and raised glasses. There’s even a monument to the man down at Greystones Train Station, boasting a Tom Byrne painting and a little bio from a certain dashing young if slightly balding journalist about town.

And as part of a Culture Night all-day celebration, The Whale hosted a great big birthday bash, with burlesque dancers, music, yummies, Mrs Mooney cutting the cake, and a free nighttime screening of Jaws down at The Cove.

And then there’s the night Ronnie joined The Baskerville Sisters down at The Stables.

Talking of which, we’ve spoken to his mildly-talented son, Phelim, many a time over the years and so, when it came to the Vicar Street tribute night (featuring the likes of Declan O’Rourke, Glen Hansard, Mary Coughlan and surviving Dubliner John Sheahan), we turned to his sister, Cliodhna.

Meeting up on the street where she grew up, we talked dads, Dubliners and dat voice…

You can explore more of the Drew history right here. This article first appeared on June 29th 2016.