Singer Shane MacGowan has died at the age of 65.
He had strong Tipperary links and was best known for fronting punk band ‘The Pogues.’
President Michael D Higgins says Shane MacGowan’s words “connected Irish people all over the globe to their culture and history, encompassing so many human emotions in the most poetic of ways. The President added he’ll be remembered as one of “music’s greatest lyricists.”
Mary Lou McDonald says the country has lost one of its “most beloved icons, and the world one of its greatest songwriters.”
The Sinn Fein leader says “nobody told the Irish story like Shane – stories of emigration, heartache, dislocation, redemption, love and joy.”
Born on Christmas Day in 1957 he will always be remembered with one of the most popular Christmas songs in history, Fairytale of New York
Shane was the son of Irish immigrants – his father from Dublin and his mother from Tipperary. He spent much of his childhood in the Premier County.
He spent most of his career with The Pogues but was kicked out of the band – he then started a new band called Shane MacGowan and The Popes.
But within 10 years – he was back with the Pogues.
Shane MacGowan is survived by his wife Victoria Mary Clarke who he married in 2018.
