A limited edition commemorative coin issued to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the birth of music icon Luke Kelly has now sold out online. It took around an hour for the Central Bank issued coin to sell out.
The issue was limited to 3,000 coins, with a limit of one coin per transaction. The commemorative coin was launched earlier today by President Michael D Higgins.
The event took place at St Laurence O’Toole National School on Seville Place in Dublin 1, where Kelly attended as a boy.
Luke Kelly was born in 1940 in Sheriff Street. He moved to England as a teenager and became involved in the folk music revival. He returned to Ireland in the early sixties and was a founding member of The Dubliners.
Kelly and The Dubliners gained huge commercial success as the Irish folk sound gained popularity. He remained a member of The Dubliners but continued to explore other musical territory as a solo artist.
Luke Kelly died in 1984 having truly established himself as a truly unique talent in Irish music and culture.
A man known for his pride in his working-class roots, his political activism and his distinctive and passionate voice in both traditional and other songs, to this day he remains an icon both in Ireland and internationally.
