The Dubliners were on the Peacock stage

Did you know The Dubliners acted at the Abbey Theatre?

It was discovered in 1971 that at the time of Brendan Behan’s death that he had one unfinished play called Richard Cork’s Leg. Alan Simpson edited and completed the text and directed it at the Peacock Theatre as part of the Dublin Festival in 1972.

Set in a Dublin graveyard, Richard’s Cork Leg is best described as a comedy; it was described in the programme at the time as ‘an entertainment’. The Guardian described it is ‘a joyous celebration of life’ and a characteristic postscript to Behan’s earlier work.

The Dubliners were kept busy and played multiple roles including; Ronnie Drew as Blind Men, Barney Mc Kenna as A Coloured Gentleman and Undertakers, John Sheahan as Undertakers, Blue Shirts and others and Ciaran Bourke as A corpse, Blue Shirts and others and Undertakers men. They joined Abbey stalwarts such as Eileen Colgan (Bawd I) , Joan O’Hara (Bawd II), Angela Newman, Dearbhla Molloy and Terry Donnelly.