Barney McKenna, Banjo Player in the Dubliners, Dies at 72 Barney McKenna, whose racing, raucous and often lyrically haunting banjo playing helped propel the Irish folk band the Dubliners to fame, died on Thursday at his home in Dublin. The last of the original members of the band, he was 72. Michael Howard, a classical guitarist who was with Mr. McKenna when he died, told Irish and British newspapers that they were at the kitchen table when Mr. McKenna seemed to have "nodded off." "He passed away very peacefully sitting at his own breakfast table having a quiet cup of tea and a chat," Mr. Howard said. Known as Banjo Barney, Mr. McKenna was a street performer in Dublin when he met the gravelly voiced folk singer Ronnie Drew in 1962. Mr. Drew was looking for someone to join him and two friends, Luke Kelly and Ciaran Bourke, in gigs at O'Donoghue's Pub on Merrion Row, not far from the Irish Parliament. They were originally called the Ronnie Drew Group but soon changed their name to the Dubliners, after the collection of short stories by James Joyce. Performing alongside other rising groups like the Fureys and the Chieftains, the Dubliners helped make O'Donoghue's the hub of an Irish folk music revival. Two of their earliest hits were "Black Velvet Band," which describes the deportation of a tradesman to Australia, and "Seven Drunken Nights," a bawdy tale whose last two verses were considered too indelicate for public broadcast, leading to a ban by Irish radio. Still, the hits earned the band a spot on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1968. With his round face, bushy hair, scraggly beard and raspy voice, Mr. McKenna drew roaring ovations with his renditions of songs like "South Australia" and "I Wish I Had Someone to Love Me." His banjo features included "The Maid Behind the Bar," "The High Reel" and "The Mason" s Apron." The Daily Telegraph of London called Mr. McKenna "a dazzling instrumentalist" whose playing "invariably lifted the roof at concerts," and who "inspired a new generation of banjo players in Ireland." Bernard Noel McKenna was born in Dublin on Dec. 16, 1939. He had taught himself to play the banjo by age 12. After high school, he tried to join an Irish Army band but was rejected because of poor eyesight. So he played on the streets and in pubs, while working as a glass blower and kitchen porter during the day, until Mr. Drew discovered him. Mr. McKenna is survived by his partner, Tina Hove; his, sister, Marie; and his brother, Sean. His wife, Joka Oldert, died in 1984. New members joined the Dubliners over the years, with only Mr. McKenna remaining from the original four. Mr. Kelly died in 1984, Mr. Bourke in 1988 and Mr. Drew three years ago. "You can take the hardest rock band on the earth, and they sound like a bunch of girls next to the Dubliners," Bono, the lead singer of U2, once said of the group. The Dubliners recently completed a 50th-anniversary tour, and in February, at the BBC Folk Awards, they were presented with a lifetime achievement award. "The audience accorded them a rousing reception as they blasted out some of their most popular numbers," The Daily Telegraph said, "but the biggest applause erupted when McKenna burst into a blistering banjo solo."