Bob Lynch (18 March 1935 – 2 October 1982) was an Irish folk musician from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. He first became notable as a member of

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

from 1964 to 1965 until he left to pursue a solo career in North America.

Early life

Bob joined The Dubliners in 1964 with

John Sheahan John Sheahan (born 19 May 1939) is an Irish musician and composer. He joined The Dubliners in 1964 and played with them until 2012 when The Dubliners' name was retired following the death of founding member Barney McKenna. Early years and m ...

after meeting with

Ronnie Drew Joseph Ronald Drew (16 September 1934 – 16 August 2008) was an Irish people, Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He is most recognised for his lead voc ...

, the front man of the group. Not long after,

Luke Kelly Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become i ...

left the group for a year to work in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, so the two new members joined full-time. Lynch played the

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and sang. He was also present with the group when they filmed O'Donoghue's Opera. He only recorded one album with the band, ''In Concert'', in 1964, before leaving in 1965 when Luke Kelly returned later that year. He had relative success in North America with his solo career, with two of the songs he wrote charting in the U.S. He released a solo album in 1980, titled ''From The Land of Carolan''.

Personal life

For the last year of his life Lynch was severely depressed and committed suicide on 2 October 1982. He was a father of three children. The news came as a shock to the public and The Dubliners, with friend John Sheahan stating, "His suicide was a shock, because he was always a very happy fella. Always cracking jokes. We drifted apart and I had lost contact with him for the previous five or six years before he died.".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Bob 1935 births 1982 suicides Irish folk musicians Musicians from Dublin (city) Suicides in the Republic of Ireland Irish male guitarists 20th-century guitarists 20th-century male musicians 1982 deaths The Dubliners members