Revealing portrait of the last of the early Dubliners

Long time Ratoath resident John Sheahan is the subject of a revealing and beautifully made portrait of a man who was an integral part The Dubliners, to be broadcast on Monday night.

John Sheahan, whose family home is at Peacockstown, Ratoath,  was perhaps the most unlikely member of The Dubliners. His quiet nature and classical music training set him apart from his fellow group members. Now at the age of 73 he has reached a major turning point in his life. All of his friends that he once shared the band with in the early days, Luke, Ronnie, Ciarán and Barney are now sadly dead and he has finally decided to close the book on the life of The Dubliners after fifty years of recording and touring.

Sheahan is a deep thinker, a quality musician and a poet with a passion for words.  At the age of 25 he was set up for life with a pensionable job as an ESB draftsman. He worked by day and played music by night. In 1964, to the dismay of his father who was a member of An Garda Síochána, he packed in the day job to go full time with The Dubliners. Now, 50 years later it’s a new dawn for John.  He has all of the memories neatly packed away into different compartments and is ready to tell his side of The Dubliners story. John Sheahan is an eyewitness to a colourful chapter in Irish history that has formed a large part of our national identity. He has taken a road less travelled and thankfully has survived to tell the tale.

Produced by Scratch Films and directed by  Maurice Sweeney, 'John Sheahan: A Dubliner 'is a treasure trove of rare Dubliners archive some of which has never been broadcast in Ireland before and contemporary performances with Damien Dempsey, Declan O’Rourke, Charlie McGettigan, Máire Breatnach, Seán Keane and Neil Martin. It airs on Monday night on RTE 1 at 9.35pm.