Thanks for a lovely thread, and the great memories of those who knew or know them. I blew it bumping into Luke Kelly beside a theatre in Chelsea in the late 60s - I went to every live concert I could reach. I wanted to say "Thanks so much, and one day maybe I'll sing for you", but as a hero-dumbfounded 18 year old, the words wouldn't come out. He stopped, seeing I meant to speak, then gave me a huge grin and walked on. Of all the people on God's earth, he is the one I would have made a pact with the devil to keep alive. I sing because of him. I sang every song in their early recorded repertoire.

Of course the whole group were great musicians. Listen to John Sheahan, he plays every song accompaniment with a different sound, as though the fiddle was reinvented just for that track.

Listen to their Major/Minor label early recordings, starting with A Drop of the Hard Stuff, then as others have suggested 'More Of'. The sound engineering on these was never bettered. After a few more reasonable pressings they went through a smorgasbord of cheap and overlapping reissues etc, and I gave up collecting. One recent gem however is an instrumental compilation CD.

Regarding influences, look back as well. They followed closely on the great Clancy Brothers whose recordings were the first I knew and sang in my young teens.

Find those early albums, remember the time setting, and imagine the impact of the first boots-and-all, full-throated renditions from bearded blokes who looked like Vikings in a bar, when the normal image was nice young men in cardigans you could introduce to mother. As an image shatterer they did for folk what the Stones did for rock.

I hope your egg hatches OK, and Mum manages the long walk back across the Antarctic with a good feed.

Cheers,
Canberra Chris