An Obstacle Confusion: The Wonderful World of Barney McKenna

By Jim McCann and Wendy Shea

Barney McKenna, 'Banjo Barney from Donnycarney', was one of the founder members of the Dubliners. But he was also famous for another reason: he was capable of bringing any conversation to a sudden stop by uttering something so completely unexpected as to reduce everyone present to bemused silence. An Obstacle Confusion is a collection of stories about Barney and his 'Barneyisms'. It was compiled by the late Jim McCann, a former member of the Dubliners, and illustrated by Wendy Shea, a long-time friend of Barney. These wonderful flights of fancy are must-reads for Dubliners fans, young and old. * The Dubliners were travelling through a wine-growing region in southern Germany and had stopped at a scenic restaurant with a wonderful view over the vine-covered hills and valleys. They stood outside, gazing at the breathtaking, sun-dappled panorama, an occasional medieval castle peeking through the mist-shrouded trees, and basked in the beauty of the idyllic scene. Barney eventually broke the reverential silence. "Jaysus," he said, "there's a fair few hangovers growin' up there."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Liberties Press
• Release date: Nov 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910742389

Jim McCann

Jim McCann was a member of the Dubliners between 1974 to 1979, before he embarked on a successful solo career. He returned to the Dubliners for their 2002 reunion tour. He passed away in March 2015.

Book preview

An Obstacle Confusion

This little story gave the book its name, and illustrates perfectly some of the characteristics of the classic Barneyism.

During a trip to London, the Dubliners had booked in to the Ryan Hotel at King’s Cross. After they had checked in, Barney went to John’s room and they were leaning out the window admiring the views. They were not to know that directly beneath the window was an opening to a sort of tunnel, invisible to them.

After a while, a car turned in to the street and drove straight at the wall of the hotel, or so it seemed. When the car vanished into the tunnel, Barney turned excitedly to John and said, ‘Didja see that? An obstacle confusion!’

John thought this was hilarious. ‘Are you sure you don’t mean an optical illusion?’ he laughed.

Barney was nonplussed for a moment. But only for a moment.

‘No,’ he explained. ‘Y’see, we thought there was an obstacle there, and we were confused.’

Your Secret’s Safe with Barney

Barney was regaling a group of admirers with tales of his adventures when one of the laughing listeners said, ‘Barney, they’re great stories. You should write them down.’

Barney replied soothingly, ‘It’s OK, I don’t need to write them down. I’ve got them all in my head!’

Barney in the Studio (1)

A personal memory

We were recording an album in the Polydor studios off Oxford Street in London, somewhere around 1975, and time was weighing heavily on Barney’s hands. Once the actual playing had finished, he had very little patience with the endless playbacks and retakes and all the other time-consuming little things that make studio recording such a mentally draining business.

During one of the breaks, he wandered into the control room and leaned over the sound desk from the side across from the operator, gazing down at the myriad lights and dials that were flashing and jumping rhythmically in time to the music being played back through the speakers.

The tape operator was a young chap of nervous disposition called Nigel, and for the best part of a week he’d been treating Barney with a kind of terrified respect. As Barney now loomed over him, inspecting the dials upside down, Nigel looked for all the world like a rabbit caught in headlights. Barney watched for a while as the rows of dials jumped together in time to a reel played by himself and John. Finally he waved his hand in front of Nigel’s face.

‘Which one of those,’ he yelled, ‘is the rev counter for the banjo?’

Barney the Philosopher (1)

‘There are a billion people in China,’ said Barney. ‘Can you imagine the traffic jam around Stephen’s Green if they all wanted to get into O’Donoghue’s for a pint at the same time?’

Barney in the Studio