Luke’s death like losing my own brother
Sheahan says bandmate Kelly had ‘so much more to give’
Luke Kelly died at 44 Kelly statue in Sheriff Street John Sheahan Statue in South King Street
Luke’s brother John told the documentary his family truly discovered the folk singer’s place in the nation’s affections at his funeral.
He said: “Luke Kelly was an ordinary Dublin fella, I think the people of Dublin have taken him to their hearts.
“I think they proved that at his funeral.
“People came from all over Dublin, all over Ireland really. That proved that Dublin people had taken him to their hearts.”
The documentary catalogues how the quest to have a statue of the folk hero began in 2004 when councillor Christy Burke passed an emergency motion through Dublin City Council, but plans were abandoned with the collapse of the economy four years later.
In 2014, when Mr Burke became Lord Mayor he selected German-born artist Vera Klute to create a two-metre high stone bust of Kelly’s head.
But the plans were shelved when his family expressed reservations about the radical modern design.
Around the same time Dublin graphic artist Gerry Hunt, who was a huge lover of his music, commissioned sculptor John Coll, who previously made the famous statues of Patrick Kavanagh and Brendan Behan, to make a life-size sculpture of Kelly.
The documentary films both artists in the days before their sculptures were unveiled.
Sheahan said of the modern piece on Sheriff Street in Dublin: “I think it’s a wonderful bit of work.”
Two Lukes will be shown on RTE One tomorrow at 6.30pm.
news@irishmirror.ie
JOHN SHEAHAN IN DOCUMENTARY