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
Young Dubliners fiddle vamps, howling guitars and frenzied drums. But even so, the hint of rueful melancholy that lies at the heart of traditional Celtic music survives, transformed yet triumphant."(5) The band toured Ireland in November, 2005. In November 2006, they returned to Ireland, and toured Denmark for the first time. 2006 saw the group's contract with Higher Octave come to a close; they subsequently signed with their current label, 429 Records. The seventh release the Young Dubliners recorded was titled "With All Due Respect - The Irish Sessions"; this was an album filled entirely with covers of Irish ballads and shanteys