{"id":114918,"date":"2025-10-11T05:51:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T05:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/114918\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T05:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T05:51:16","slug":"he-took-the-banjo-to-another-level-how-tradfest-is-celebrating-dubliners-legend-barney-mckenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/114918\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He took the banjo to another level\u2019 \u2013 How TradFest is celebrating Dubliners legend Barney McKenna"},"content":{"rendered":"

Festival unveils host of big names for January concerts including Ralph McTell, Altan and The Dublin Legends\n<\/p>\n

Barney McKenna, otherwise known as \u201cBanjo Barney\u201d, the late Dubliners \u00adlegend whose playing transformed the instrument from a pub-session staple into a global emblem of Irish music, is being celebrated in a major way at next year\u2019s TradFest in Fingal, Co Dublin.<\/p>\n

Now in its 21st year, the country\u2019s \u00adlargest trad and folk festival is \u00adreturning in January with more than 30 concerts in castles, theatres and community halls around Fingal.<\/p>\n

But the emotional heart of the \u00adfestival will be F\u00e9ile Barney, a three-day celebration in Howth\u2019s Abbey Tavern, the seaside pub where McKenna lived, played and held court for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarney didn\u2019t just play the banjo, he took it to another level,\u201d said his cousin P\u00e1draig McKenna, who also plays banjo and was speaking at yesterday\u2019s launch in Howth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t say he introduced the banjo player to Irish music, but he brought it to another step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere had been other players \u00adbefore him, but Barney had that panache when The Dubliners were formed and toured Europe \u2013 he brought that music all around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he did was new and it was \u00adexciting and he brought a different \u00advision to traditional Irish music and how it could be done,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

P\u00e1draig, who lived with Barney for several years in Howth, said the F\u00e9ile is a fitting tribute to a man whose \u00adcharisma shaped generations of musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so generous with his tunes and his time and he knew his stuff too, the history of the music, the tradition, where it all came from,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Ciar\u00e1n<\/p>\n

Ciar\u00e1n Bourke, Barney McKenna, Luke Kelly, John Sheahan and Ronnie Drew on ‘Whittaker’s World of Music’ TV show. Photo: Redferns<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really came through when he played. He could fill a room just by walking into it and I think I\u2019m right in saying that any banjo player these days will have looked to Barney for some sort of inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lighthouse in Howth is where we would have a regular session on a \u00adSunday afternoon and he would play there with his brother. It would just be electric seeing them two together. When they started playing, everybody listened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up, he was known as \u201cBanjo Barney from Donnycarney\u201d, but he went on to become a legend in Irish traditional music when he formed The Dubliners in 1962 with fellow musicians Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly and Ciar\u00e1n Bourke.<\/p>\n

He later moved to Howth and his distinctive plectrum style was dubbed the \u201cMcKenna Grip\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

He was the first real soloist on the tenor banjo<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Among those influenced by him is musician and former broadcaster \u00adKieran Hanrahan, artistic director of TradFest and a founding member of Stockton\u2019s Wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy background is as a banjo player too and I\u2019d be one of the first generations to follow on from Barney,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the first real soloist on the tenor banjo \u2013 before that, it was always a band instrument. We felt he\u2019d been a bit overlooked in how the tradition \u00addeveloped, so this is our way of acknowledging that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re banjo players ourselves, but we were the beneficiaries of Barney\u2019s music and his wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

The F\u00e9ile, which started as a small one-day event last year, has now \u00adexpanded into a full weekend of concerts, \u00adsessions, banjo masterclasses and a photo exhibition dedicated to McKenna.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe McKenna family have been \u00adincredibly generous with us,\u201d \u00adHanrahan said.<\/p>\n

\"Kieran<\/p>\n

Kieran Hanrahan, Manus \u00d3 Baoighill and P\u00e1draig McKenna at the launch. Photo: Mark Stedman<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking someone\u2019s name, their legacy and that comes with trust. But as musicians ourselves, we deeply respect it. Every banjo player these days, whether they know it or not, owes something to Barney.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other headline acts announced for TradFest 2026 include Ralph McTell and Stockton\u2019s Wing, Altan, Derek \u00adWarfield and The Young Wolfe Tones, The Dublin Legends, Emma Langford and Niamh Bury.<\/p>\n

For McTell, best known for Streets of London, Ireland has always held a special pull, which is why he\u2019ll be performing a small, intimate show at the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it. I love working in Ireland,\u201d he said. \u201cQuite a few of my songs have made it into the tradition here and I\u2019ve got dozens of Irish friends. I\u2019ve been looking for Irish relatives too, but I \u00adhaven\u2019t found any yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

McTell (80) said he met The Dubliners while on tour in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had grumpy Ronnie, hilarious Barney, witty Jim McCann and the \u00adintense and dangerous Luke \u00adKelly, and the lovely John [Sheahan] with his \u00addelightful fiddle playing with their \u00adpersonality all over it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just the perfect blend of men filled with passion, humour, drink and delight.\u201d<\/p>\n

TradFest 2026 runs across January, with events in venues including Ardgillan Castle, Malahide Castle, The S\u00e9amus Ennis Arts Centre and the Dra\u00edocht Theatre. Tickets are available from tradfest.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Festival unveils host of big names for January concerts including Ralph McTell, Altan and The Dublin Legends Barney…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[52,18,117,19,17,1842],"class_list":{"0":"post-114918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dublin","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-sarah-burke"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}