The Dubliners of 2018, Seán Cannon is the only former member still in this group, following Eamonn Campbell's death in October 2017. The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin. The change of name came about because of Ronnie Drew's unhappiness with it, together with the fact that Luke Kelly was reading "Dubliners" by James Joyce at the time. Founding members were Drew, Kelly, Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna. Drew, McKenna and Thomas Whelan had originally teamed up for a fundraising concert and then
The Dubliners went on to work in a revue with the Irish comedian John Molloy at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. They used to sing songs between acts. Before joining the Dubliners full-time, Kelly had spent some time playing at English folk clubs such as the Jug o'Punch in Birmingham, run by the folk singer Ian Campbell. The group played at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963 and that led to them being featured on a BBC programme called Hootenanny. The extra exposure helped them to win a contract with Transatlantic Records, with whom they recorded their first album, called simply "The Dubliners".