Shane MacGowan

MacGowan in 2010, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan

Date of Birth: 25 December, 1957

Place of Birth: Tonbridge, Kent, England, U.K.

Date of Death: 30 November, 2023

Place of Death: Dublin, Ireland

Ethnicity: Irish

Shane MacGowan was an Irish and British singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the lead singer and primary songwriter of Celtic punk band The Pogues. He also recorded solo music, wrote a punk fanzine, and was a member of punk band the Nipple Erectors and Irish folk-rock-Americana band Shane MacGowan and The Popes; while a punk musician, he was initially known as Shane O’Hooligan. Shane’s recordings with The Pogues include “Dirty Old Town,” “Fairytale of New York,” which he co-wrote; and “The Irish Rover;” as well as “Dark Streets of London,” “A Pair of Brown Eyes,” “Sally MacLennane,” “A Rainy Night in Soho,” “The Body of an American,” “The Broad Majestic Shannon,” “The Sick Bed Of Cúchulainn,” and “Summer in Siam,” all eight written by him. His music and songwriting was influenced by Irish nationalism and history, Irish diaspora culture in the U.K. and U.S., and London life. He gradually moved from punk to more traditional music.

Shane was born in Tonbridge, Kent, England, to Irish parents, Therese (Cahill), a typist, singer, traditional Irish dancer, and model, and Maurice MacGowan, a wages clerk at C&A. His father was from Dublin and his mother was from Tipperary. A picture of Shane with his parents can be seen here. He spent several childhood years in Tipperary, and moved back to England when he was six and a half years old, living in Brighton and London. His sister is journalist, writer, and songwriter Siobhan MacGowan. His band the Pogues’ original name was Pogue Mahone, an anglicisation of Irish phrase póg mo thóin, “kiss my arse.”

Shane was married to Irish journalist and writer Victoria Mary Clarke, until his death.

Source: Birth record of Shane MacGowan – https://familysearch.org