John Sheahan

A4 print of Dubliners memeber 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.

He went to school at the local Christian Brothers in Marino, Dublin, learning the tin whistle. This experience was shared with Paddy Moloney, who later founded The Chieftains. When he was about twelve years old he began to take an active interest in music and soon he was to transfer the musical knowledge gained on the whistle to a fiddle he found lying around at home. Enthusiastically supported and encouraged by his parents, he attended the Municipal School of Music, where he studied classical violin for more than five years.

During this time he continued to maintain his interest in Irish traditional music, which sometimes led him to improvise on the classics by putting in a few embellishments. His tutor would not approve his "composing"; however, Sheahan continued to apply the classical technique to his traditional playing which would ultimately lead to the development of his unique style, gaining him a number of awards at various feiseanna (festivals of Irish traditional music, dancing, poetry and literature). His interest included American bluegrass fiddle music.

Sheahan played with a number of bands around the country until he met The Dubliners in the early 1960s. At that time, the group consisted of Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna, Ciarán Bourke, and Luke Kelly. He joined the band in 1964, together with Bobby Lynch. Both musicians had been playing during the interval at concerts and usually stayed on stage for the second half of the show. When Luke Kelly moved to England in 1964, Lynch was taken on as his temporary replacement; when Kelly returned in 1965, Lynch left the band and Sheahan stayed. He is the only member of the Dubliners to have had a formal musical education.