Latest news with #ShaneMacGowan
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Shane MacGowan short film reveals his 'lifelong love for Nenagh and Tipperary'
Shane MacGowan's sister has described how dancing in a packed church at her brother's funeral was like 'giving two fingers up to death'. The Pogues front man was 65 years old when he passed away on November 30, 2023. After his funeral cortege travelled through Dublin's inner city, with hundreds lining the streets, it made its way to Nenagh, Co Tipperary where the singer's life was celebrated in a three-hour ceremony at St Mary's of the Rosary Church. Attended by some of Hollywood's A-listers, including Johnny Depp and Nick Cave, during the funeral his sister Siobhan MacGowan and wife Victoria Mary Clarke, climbed over their seats to dance to Fairytale of New York in the church aisles. Now, in a new documentary made by a film student in University Limerick, Siobhan MacGowan reflects on the funeral and the song, saying: 'And I just went, no no, this song goes on, this dance goes on' and how by dancing: 'I kinda was putting two fingers up to death really.' The eight-minute short film called The Local, which was directed by final-year film student Bartek Bartosz Kolacki tells the story of Shane's lifelong love for Nenagh and Co Tipperary. His sister said he was the pride of the town. 'Shane, a little boy who is Margaret Lynch's grandson, did really well'. 'He actually loved the freedom of Tipperary,' she said. Shane's close friend and bar owner Philly Ryan, where Shane was a regular, said he loved being in Nenagh. He described how he would bless himself as he arrived in his mother's ancestral home. 'When Shane were in Tipp, he would do this, without opening his eyes, he'd be delighted to be back in Tipperary,' he said. The town of Nenagh has paid tribute to the singer on several occasions since his death, including a mural painted at the side of Emmet Place by local artist Neil O' Dwyer. The Local, which is described as a 'reflective documentary exploring the early life and local legacy of Shane MacGowan through the lens of his roots in Nenagh" will be released on Friday, June 6. Read More Victoria Mary Clarke on getting Bruce Springsteen involved in an album of Shane MacGowan songs
Irish Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Cáit O'Riordan: ‘I quit the Pogues at 21. I got sober ... didn't see Shane much'
I was born in 1965. There were bombing campaigns and extreme anti-Irish racism where we were growing up in west London. It was the water we swam in at the time and I look back now and think, No wonder I grew up a bit angry. When I was 14, it was the 10th anniversary of the civil rights marches in Ireland , and then the introduction of internment and troops on the street. I came home from school and my dad was swearing at the telly. I said, 'What's he yelling at?' It was footage of a British soldier kicking some guy's head in on the ground. I got an introduction to the story and it was up to me to go to the library and read up on it. Then I just turned into a rabid little Fenian. They were very intense times, a lot of negativity. Thatcher took over the Tory party and Reagan was getting power in the US. Punk started. [ Chef Nico Reynolds: 'I've been spat on, jeered and beaten up, but I don't think Ireland is a racist country' Opens in new window ] My mother, who was Scottish Calvinist, was incredibly strict, so I would go off on my own: I used to climb out the window in the evenings. I'd get a bus and go in to town and see bands at The Rock Garden. It all got messy and I had to leave home and then I was in hostels: 16 into 17. I met Shane [MacGowan ] when I was 17. He was working in a record shop and he was a mesmerising character – very funny, great to listen to. He and Spider [Stacy] were the best double-act. I was very highly educated, with an unnecessarily high IQ for anything I was particularly destined to be doing. It was really nice to be hanging out with these other autodidacts. Shane MacGowan and Cáit O'Riordan of The Pogues. Photograph: Lisa Haun/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty I was only there [in The Pogues ] for the first two albums. I quit at 21. It's amazing that it's the defining relationship of my life. Following the rules of being in a band was a big issue for me, though I didn't realise it at the time. I was a street kid who'd lived in hostels. I was more like a dysfunctional mascot in the band than a fully functioning member. READ MORE Down the years, the relationship with Shane ... he was in Dublin, I didn't see him much, but I'd occasionally get a phone call to come over. It was lovely, but incredibly hard to watch him in a wheelchair. I was fascinated by his approach to alcohol. Shane would say, 'I've given up drinking.' Well, he'd literally be drinking alcohol! Shane had categories and hierarchies: whiskey and heroin was class A. A glass of wine was basically soda pop. My world was very different. I got sober and focused on repairing relationships and being healthy and putting the work in to understand how cognitive issues manifest as behavioural issues. I got sober on February 15th, 2007. For me sobriety was like flicking a switch. Not many people go to rehab once and it sticks, but I've beaten the odds. I think it's because I had the privilege to go to school: I went to UCD and studied psychology. I needed discipline, a calendar, strict parameters and a timetable, everything that had been missing from my life. [ Dorothy Cross: 'I don't think art is about talent really. It's about a route you take' Opens in new window ] The major thing I took away from going to rehab was gratitude. What are you grateful for today? Well, you're alive. You have your legs, your arms, you're not deaf, are you glad about that? You can take that down to a micro-level and see that it's a beautiful day in Dublin. I'm immensely proud of Irish bands and young Irish people in general. I just saw Fontaines DC in New York, and the Palestinian flag is on stage; kids in the audience are waving the Palestinian flag. I'm overwhelmed by respect for how young people have not gone backwards into apathy. Forty years ago Shane was writing Birmingham Six and we were playing miners' benefits. The circle goes around. Whoever thought that one day we'd look back and say 'Well, at least the Brits didn't send the RAF overhead and drop bombs on us and they didn't try to re-enact the Famine.' We never thought there was another level of depravity that was achievable. I'm so grateful that I am an Irish citizen and Irish resident. Everywhere I go around the world, the amount of people that will say they want to come to Ireland or they have Irish blood – we used to take the piss out of them in The Pogues and now I get quite misty-eyed. Musically I've a new challenge at the moment: I've been working with Kathy Valentine from the Go-Gos and Brix Smith from The Fall: they're California girls who've moved to London. They've put a band together and they got me and a New York drummer called Linda Pitmon in for the rhythm section. By the end of the summer we'll have a set. And with Paul Muldoon [O'Riordan plays bass in Muldoon's outfit Rogue Oliphant], we're going on the road in America at the end of August. Cáit O'Riordan in Clontarf. Photograph: Alan Betson Home is Clontarf by the sea. I wake up every morning and I feel happy. I'm in a good place. One cliche I'm happy to use is Keith Richards's [line] when he says, 'It's good to be here, but it's good to be anywhere.' In conversation with Nadine O'Regan. This interview, part of a series , has been edited for clarity and length
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
How Crystal Palace have taken over from their London rivals to become the city's ‘Irish' club
The emotional sight this week of a grainy video of Bob Dylan singing Rainy Night In Soho at a gig gave weight to the belief that it took an Irishman, Shane MacGowan, to write the songs that say more about the capital of England than any pure-bred Londoner could manage. A Kent-born, Tipperary-raised son of Irish immigrants coming up with the words that have eluded pure-bred Cockneys. Dark Streets of London, London You're a Lady, London Girl and (one of his his finest works) Lullaby Of London, all titles that sang of his mixed feelings for the city, with other references to Hammersmith Broadway, White City, The 'Dilly, Leicester Square and Vine Street.
Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Pogues review — no Shane MacGowan but plenty of memories
When you lose a frontman who fully embodied your music, it's time to let the music slur for itself. The death of Shane MacGowan in 2023 paradoxically revived the decade-dormant Pogues — as part tribute, part open-invite wake and part one-more-for-the-road. The surviving members — Spider Stacy, Jem Finer and James Fearnley — reunited to briefly mark the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Red Roses for Me, last year, an array of guest vocalists joining Stacy to fill the gaping, drawling void centre stage. Now they returned to the Brixton Academy in London to honour its acclaimed follow-up, Rum Sodomy and the Lash in full, plus associated songs of the era. This was the album where the traditional Irish folk idyll had ten
Sunday World
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Victoria Mary Clarke says beleaguered rappers Kneecap are ‘very nice lads'
The writer and wife of the late Pogues singer, Shane MacGowan, added her voice to dozens of artists who have already backed the trio Victoria Mary Clarke has thrown her support behind beleaguered rappers Kneecap, saying they are 'very nice lads'. The writer and wife of the late Pogues singer, Shane MacGowan, added her voice to dozens of artists who have already backed the trio in the wake of the controversy over their 'kill your local MP' and 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' videos. Asked her opinion about the group whose on-stage antics have landed them in hot water, Victoria told Sunday World: 'I think they are wonderful people and really, really talented. She added that she 'admired their courage and passion', before saying: 'They are really nice guys.' Earlier this week, more than 40 music acts, including Primal Scream and Paul Weller, signed an open letter in support of Kneecap. In the days before the videos surfaced, the group faced controversy after they displayed a message reading 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. 'It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F**k Israel, Free Palestine,' on stage following their set at the Coachella music festival. This has led to the band being dropped from Cornwall's Eden Project festival this summer, while there have also been numerous calls for them to be dropped from Glastonbury. Kneecap's record label, Heavenly Recordings, then released an open letter highlighting a 'clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform' the group. 'As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom,' the letter reads. 'In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people. 'Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story. And the silence, acquiescence and support of those crimes against humanity by the elected British Government is the real story. Victoria Mary Clarke 'Solidarity with all artists with the moral courage to speak out against Israeli war crimes, and the ongoing persecution and slaughter of the Palestinian people." The list of Irish artists who have signed the letter includes Blindboy Boatclub, Christy Moore, Damien Dempsey, and Fontaines DC. They have joined the likes of Paul Weller, Peter Perrett, Poor Creature, Primal Scream and Pulp. Other groups have also taken to social media asking to be added to the list of signatories including Mercury Prize nominees Yard Act, while Massive Attack released their own statement in support. Meanwhile their band's manager has said they are happy to apologise in person to the daughter of murdered Conservative MP David Amess following the controversy over 'kill your local MP' chant. The hip-hop group have already published an online apology to the families of Mr Amess and Labour MP Jo Cox after footage from a gig allegedly showed one member saying: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' Katie Amess said she was 'absolutely heartbroken' after seeing the clip from a performance in November 2023. She said it had 'brought back so much pain and upset'. She said she would be willing to meet the group and tell them how her life has been 'obliterated' by her father's death. The group's manager, Daniel Lambert, told Newstalk: 'The lads are happy to talk to that lady. The lads are happy to meet with that lady. The lads are happy to apologise to that lady.' Ms Amess has urged a 'thorough investigation to determine the full extent of any criminal activity' and said it 'is imperative that individuals and groups are held accountable for their words and actions that incite violence and hatred'. Mr Lambert suggested that the footage emerged because the group criticised Israel over the war in Gaza during their recent performance at the Coachella festival in the US. He told The Pat Kenny Show: 'You've got to focus on this. Why has this emerged? Kneecap went to Coachella and Kneecap said at Coachella, facts. Facts about what happened (in Gaza). 'And you know what happened as a response? All of this.' Earlier this week, Brendan Cox, whose wife was murdered in 2016, called Kneecap's statement 'only half an apology'. Kneecap's Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 3rd Counter-terrorism officers are investigating the footage from November 2023 as well as another piece of footage from last November that appears to show one of them shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah'. The Northern Irish band posted a statement online saying they have 'never supported' Hamas or Hezbollah, which are both banned organisations in the UK. Yesterday, Kneecap teased new music and posted an image on X of one of them wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, saying: 'New track coming soon… stay tuned… lock down your aerial.' Several upcoming Kneecap shows in Europe have been cancelled by promoters and Jewish groups, while former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne called for them to be dropped from the Glastonbury line-up next month.
