Rare ould Dubliner tops city’s greatest
Legendary figures both young and old are in the roll-call of the city’s greatest citizens.
Writers Sean O’Casey, James Joyce and Oscar Wilde come in at 10th, 4th and 2nd respectively. And while most others on the list of the Greatest Dubliner of All Time have also passed away, two modern-day celebrities manage to make the grade.
At number nine, the public have voted in Irish actor and Hollywood rebel Colin Farrell. The other well-known living Dubliner who gets the accolade of being in the top 10 is musician and campaigner Bono, in 6th place.
But there are no women to be found in the list of famous and infamous names. Furthermore, a number of famed and influential Dubliners, such as Samuel Beckett and George Bernard Shaw, also do not figure in the collection of all-time greats.
The Dubliner magazine conducted the poll, which was answered by nearly 2,000 readers on its website. The survey was carried over the past three months in conjunction with the Dublin City Business Association.
Not surprisingly, Arthur Guinness, the founder and father of the world-famed brew is in the top 10, making it into third place.
Further down the list singer and Thin Lizzy frontman, Phil Lynott, is voted by the public as being the 5th Greatest Dubliner of All Time.
Among the more unusual suggestions for Greatest Dubliner of All Time were local heroes and jokers Dustin the Turkey as well as ‘Bang Bang’, an eccentric but well-loved character who roamed the capital in the 1950s and 1960s staging mock shoot-outs with passers-by.
Other suggestions put forth at a recent reception for the poll included the well-remembered Diceman, Pat the Baker and Jimmy from Fair City.
But it was an individual full of talent, the quintessential Dubliner, a man loved for his humour and tales as well as his music, who managed to top all others as the greatest of them all.
The recently deceased Ronnie Drew got the most votes and the world-renowned balladeer received considerably more than other nominees. Dubliner magazine editor Trevor White said: “Ronnie topped the poll by a considerable margin.”
1. Ronnie Drew
2. Oscar Wilde
3. Arthur Guinness
4. James Joyce
5. Phil Lynott
6. Bono
7. Padraig Pearse
8. William Rowan Hamilton
9. Colin Farrell
10. Sean O’Casey
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