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LAST UPDATE | 30 Nov 2023
TRIBUTES HAVE POURED in for influential musician Shane MacGowan, who passed away today at age 65.
He is best-known for being frontman of celtic-punk band The Pogues, who had hits such as Dirty Old Town and Fairytale of New York.
Spider Stacy, a member of The Pogues, paid tribute to his old bandmate tonight, calling his passing an “enormous” loss.
Stacy told Ray Kennedy on RTÉ One’s Nine O’Clock News programme that having known Shane for “over 45 years”, he was still coming to terms with the news.
He said his songwriting showed intelligence and “empathy for people”, while capturing the “bleak” and “joyous” of London life simultaneously.
“It’s a funny thing, the way that the band started,” he recalled, “we were around a friend’s house one day and Shane started playing Poor Paddy on the Railway on acoustic guitar, banging it out in a really mad, fast, punk rock version…it was like this light bulb went off over our heads.”
‘O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done..’ pic.twitter.com/YnkreXRmYB
— Spider Stacy (@spiderstacy) November 30, 2023
In a statement today, President Michael D. Higgins described MacGowan as “one of music’s greatest lyricists”.
“So many of his songs would be perfectly crafted poems, if that would not have deprived us of the opportunity to hear him sing them,” he said.
“The genius of Shane’s contribution includes the fact that his songs capture within them, as Shane would put it, the measure of our dreams – of so many worlds, and particularly those of love, of the emigrant experience and of facing the challenges of that experience with authenticity and courage, and of living and seeing the sides of life that so many turn away from.
“His words have connected Irish people all over the globe to their culture and history, encompassing so many human emotions in the most poetic of ways.”
President Higgins also paid tribute to MacGowan’s mother folk singer Therese, who died in 2017, but “inspired in Shane the love of Irish music and traditions”.
MacGowan’s birthday, Christmas Day, Higgins said, suggests it was “some form of destiny which led Shane to writing Fairytale of New York”.
The President presented MacGowan with a lifetime achievement award in 2018 to mark MacGowan’s 60th birthday.
The CEO of the National Concert Hall Robert Read today said the award was “richly deserved”.
“His love of Irish literature, history and poetry was boundless and he channelled this into his unique talent for crafting timeless songs which capture the richness and complexity of the human experience. We will not see his like again.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar took to X to express his condolences.
“Sorry to hear that Shane McGowan has passed,” he wrote. “He was an amazing musician and artist. His songs beautifully captured the Irish experience, especially the experience of being Irish abroad.”
He lived briefly in Tipperary as a young child before the family moved back to England when he was six.
In his career, he was heavily influenced by bands like The Clash and others in the emerging British punk scene of the 1970s, as well as by his Irish heritage.
Sorry to hear that Shane McGowan has passed. He was an amazing musician and artist. His songs beautifully captured the Irish experience, especially the experience of being Irish abroad: Shane MacGowan, Fairytale of New York singer, dies aged 65https://t.co/eNmP7AySfW
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 30, 2023
Tanáiste Micheál Martin paid tribute to MacGowan in the Dáil today.
“I want to express my deepest sympathies to the wife and family of Shane MacGowan,” he said.
“An iconic musician who I think blended many different musical disciplines and genres … Ar dheis de go raibh a anam.”
Fans around the world have shared their favourite songs and memories from the frontman on social media.
Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin said he was one of the country’s greatest songwriters and performers.
“From the Pogues first gigs in Ireland at venues like the National Stadium, McGonagles and the Olympic Ballroom, his charismatic performances energised and enthralled Irish audiences.
“His ability in particular to capture the Irish emigrant experience in Britain, echoing the literary work of writers such as John Healy whose book The Grass Arena dealt with similar themes, was especially remarkable.”
The Pogues issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, confirming their former singer died at 3am this morning with his wife and family by his side.
“Prayers and the last rites were read which gave comfort to his family,” the statement added.
“He is survived by his wife Victoria, his sister Siobhan and his father, Maurice, family and a large circle of friends.”
MacGowan and Victoria celebrated their wedding anniversary at the weekend.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described McGowan as a “dedicated Republican and proud Irishman”.
“Ireland has lost one of its most beloved icons and the world one of its greatest songwriters,” she said.
Ireland has lost one of its greatest and most beloved musical icons.
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) November 30, 2023
Shane MacGowan was a poet, dreamer and social justice champion. He was a republican and a proud Irish man.
Nobody told the Irish story like Shane. He sang to us of dreams and captured stories of emigration... pic.twitter.com/CAhaLJrdwu
“Shane was a poet, a dreamer and a champion of social justice,” McDonald continued.
“Nobody told the Irish story like Shane – stories of emigration, heartache, dislocation, redemption, love and joy.”
Gerry Adams also commented on the death of his “good friend” who he saw when he was released from hospital last Wednesday.
“I have been a fan of Shane for decades. He came to west Belfast on several occasions to play at Féile an Phobail.
“Ireland has lost a great patriot, a poet and friend of the downtrodden and marginalised.”
Holly Cairns, leader of the Social Democrats, also extended her party’s sympathies and noted MacGowan’s “legacy of iconic music”.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste has opened an online Book of Condolence for the citizens of Dublin to extend their sympathies to the family.
The Mansion House will also be open for people to pay their respects from 2pm to 5pm today, and Friday and Saturday between 11am and 5pm.
Additional reporting by Eoghan Dalton
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RIP Legend
One of the greatest songwriters of all times and a true Irishman.RIP Shane McGowan,you may be gone but you will never be forgotten.
Rainy Night in Soho is a beautiful song , poetry with music
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis
@Denis Slattery: a Classic Denis…….my favourite Poges song ever……he was being interviewed with Jools Holland & said he felt it was his BEST LYRICS.
R.I.P. Shane
@Denis Slattery: It’s absolute magic.
What a huge loss. As an immigrant to the UK in the 80s, the Pogues were a soundtrack to my early life. Songs like a pair of brown eyes and rainy night in Soho were incredibly crafted and haunting.
Thanks for your mastery – it’ll live on forever.
@Wombleman: the same as that wombleman…and mustn’t forget ‘the auld main drag’
@Jb Walshe: ‘the old main drag’ is my favourite from one of my favourite albums.
I was expecting it but still shocked
A genius whose poetry will be celebrated for years
“I sat for a while by a hole in the wall
Found a rusty tin can and an old hurling ball.
Heard the cards being dealt and the rosary called
And a fiddle playing Sean Dùn na nGall.”
The pain of emigration in four lines. Genius.
RIP Shane and thank you.
@Carl Duggan: genius,the word is overused but Shane was a wordsmith,poet & we won’t his like again…
@Carl Duggan: great lyrics, tells of the struggles and trauma of being forced to leave home, to be vulnerable, to be lost and forced to adapt, to be invisible
Farewell then Shane. No more roving for you. RIP
He will be missed, a very talented guy and a great character
@Paul Gorry:
@Paul Gorry: still here?!
It’s extremely poignant that his passing has come at this troubled time for Ireland’s society.
His lyrics tell the story of emigration and how hard life was for immigrants who are looked down on by society. This story is part of Ireland’s very fabric.
The irony of many people today mourning the loss of Shane McGowan whilst simultaneously shouting that our country is full and whipping up fear against immigrants is not lost on me, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been lost on Shane McGowan either.
@Wombleman: ‘thousands are sailing’ a great emigration song (though written by chevron, Shane sings it beautifully). London Irish hybrid so productive.
No more poison nor ‘dreams of foreign lands’…..Codladh sámh a bhard.
Go wan ya good ting ya bleedin’ legend Shane..
Rip to a man who helped me understand its cool to be irish regardless,
Rest In peace. A true genius. Fairytale of New York will be played on the radio for decades to come. What a true Christmas song.
While fairytale of new York will be his best known he was gifted genius. From a rainy night in Soho to body of an American he just had the gift.
This morning on the harbour, when I said goodbye to you I remember how I swore that I’d come back to you one day And as the sunset came to meet, the evening on the hill I told you I’d always love you, I always did, I always will.
Fare thee well, gone away, there’s nothing left to say. But to say adieu to your eyes as blue as the water in the bay.
Farewell Shane.
The nipper, one & only,
Un grand Monsieur. Allez, salut.
The boys and me are drunk and looking for you,
We’ll eat your frigging entrails and we won’t give a damn,
Me daddy was a blue shirt and my mother a madam,
My brother earned his medals at Mai Lei in Vietnam
He had a beautiful voice. Very much like Celine Dion.
Genius, pity he didn’t realise it. Drink and drugs got him at an relatively early age.
@Áine G: mpme pf us are without failings,not sure today is the day to point out his,just remember him for all the good he brought to the world
@Áine G: You obviously never heard the term “a troubled genius”
because thats exactly an apt way to describe The Legendary Shane McGowan
So I walked as the day was dawning
Where small birds sang and leaves were falling
Where we once watched the row boats landing
By the broad majestic Shannon
I believe in citizens and myself all of us are important
Thanks lads
“Now you’ll sing a song of liberty for blacks and paks and jocks
And they’ll take you from this dump you’re in and stick you in a box
Then they’ll take you to Cloughprior and shove you in the ground
But you’ll stick your head back out and shout “We’ll have another round”
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