Eamonn Campbell (29 November 1946 – 18 October 2017) was an Irish musician who was a member of

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an 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 personnel over their fifty-yea ...

from 1987 until his death. He was also in the Dubliners when they recorded their 25th anniversary show on '' The Late Late Show'' hosted by

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

. He is known as a guitarist and has a rough voice similar to the late Dubliner founding member Ronnie Drew. He toured with three other ex-Dubliners as "The Dublin Legends", now that the group name has been retired with the death of

Barney McKenna Bernard Noël "Banjo Barney" McKenna (16 December 1939 – 5 April 2012) was an Irish musician and a founding member of The Dubliners. He played the tenor banjo, violin, mandolin, and melodeon. He was most renowned as a banjo player. Biograph ...

. Campbell was originally from

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

in County Louth, but latterly lived in Walkinstown, a suburb of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. It was his suggestion that the Dubliners work with London-based Irish band

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

in the mid-1980s, thus giving them their second biggest UK hit to date ("

The Irish Rover "The Irish Rover" is an Irish folk song about a magnificent though improbable sailing ship that reaches an unfortunate end. It has been recorded by numerous artists, some of whom have made changes to the lyrics over time. The song describes ...

"); their biggest hit was Seven Drunken Nights which reached number 7 in the charts in 1967. and an appearance on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. He produced all of the Dubliners' albums from 1987 onwards, as well as albums for many other Irish artists, including

Foster and Allen Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. In their 47-year career, they have released over 52 albums, many of which entered the UK Albums Chart. Along with "A Bunch of Thyme" (entering the Irish ch ...

, Brendan Shine, Daniel O'Donnell and Paddy Reilly. He played locally with the Delta Showband, The Bee Vee Five and the Country Gents before joining Dermot O'Brien and the Clubmen and first met The Dubliners when both acts toured England together in 1967. In the mid to late 1970s Eamonn more or less retired from the road and became involved in the growing Irish recording scene, first as a session musician and later moving to production. In 2002, Campbell put a complaint to a Commission to Inquire into Sexual Abuse as he said he was abused by The Christian Brothers as a child. In an interview he said "I felt emotional with hate at what this arsehole had got away with. He was abusing the whole class. I still haven't heard anything back." He was the Grand Master for the 2009 Drogheda St Patrick's Day Parade. In his younger years Campbell taught guitar lessons at the "Music Shop" in Drogheda. His granddaughter Megan Campbell is a

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

international footballer. Whilst on tour in the Netherlands with the Dublin Legends, Eamonn had been feeling unwell during his final performance. He returned to his hotel at around 1am and went to bed. Eamonn died during the early hours of the morning of 18 October 2017. His body was flown back to Dublin where his funeral took place on 26 October 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Eamonn 1946 births 2017 deaths Irish guitarists Irish male guitarists The Dubliners members Musicians from County Dublin