Barney McKenna is undoubtedly the most important Irish banjoist in history. Everybody who plays the Irish banjo today has been influenced by him in one way or another.

McKenna comes from a musiclly active family and both his brother Seán Óg and cousin Mickey Mckenna are highly respected banjo players in the Dublin area.

Barney McKenna began playing the banjo at a very early age. Apparently he really wanted to play the mandolin, but a banjo was all he could afford. He started tuning it like the mandolin, only one octave lower, and soon learned to play it so well he amazed everybody he played with.
  At the age of 14 McKenna left school to start working as a glass blower, kitchen porter and builder's labourer. He also played the banjo whenever and wherever he could. He moved to England for a short while, but soon returned and joined the Piper's Club in Dublin. It was mainly there at the Piper's Club he learned the ornamentations etc. that became such an important part of his (and all later Irish tenor banjoists') style.

In 1962 he joined Paddy Moloney's new band The Chieftains but left after just a few rehearsals and teamed up with Luke Kelly, Ronnie Drew and Ciarán Bourke to form The Dubliners instead.

Although the Dubliners is often referred to as a "ballad band", the instruments have always been much more than backup to he singing In particular Barney McKenna's tenor banjo (and since 1964 John Sheahan's fiddle) has had central roles in their music, and his innovative rendering of dance tunes and songs has been a major reason why the banjo has began to gain "official acceptance" among Irish traditional music lovers.

He is a natural musician, he doesn't read music, but rumours say he can play anything. When not touring, or playing, he spends a lot of time on his boat and with his pets.