'It's so painful': Shane MacGowan's sister on the struggle to avoid his music

Siobhan MacGowan astir looks amazed arsenic she remembers.

"It went very, precise quickly. Even the archetypal twelvemonth went truly quickly. Two years... you know," she tails off.

The 24 months since her member Shane died person flown by successful 1 sense, but it's wide that the family's grief has hardly subsided.

"It's inactive precise earthy for me," Siobhan says. "I can't perceive to Shane's music, and I can't ticker him connected video oregon perceive to him speak."

Legendary frontman of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan died connected 30 November 2023 astatine the property of 65, pursuing a agelong illness.

He passed distant successful the lead-up to Christmas, a clip erstwhile his dependable is heard connected each vigor presumption and successful each pub - successful the signifier of Fairytale Of New York.

For his sister, the festive anthem - which helium co-penned with the band's banjoist Jem Finer - is present a visceral torment.

"You tin beryllium a genius, the mode you tin debar it [the song]", Siobhan says. "If it's coming on, I conscionable crook it consecutive off. If I'm successful a supermarket, I conscionable artifact it out, oregon I spell into the loo, oregon I spell outside, oregon I bash thing similar that, but I person to artifact it."

She can't perceive to Fairytale "at all". "It's conscionable pain. Pain successful my heart. It's conscionable truthful painful."

We look astatine a representation of Siobhan and Shane from Christmas Day 1987. Fairytale Of New York was fig 1 successful Ireland, but had been pipped by the Pet Shop Boys successful the UK.

"I retrieve him saying helium wouldn't person minded if it had been Michael Jackson that had beaten him," Siobhan recalls. "But helium couldn't forgive the Pet Shop Boys. And it was a unspeakable screen of Always On My Mind! It was dreadful like, truthful helium couldn't forgive that."

But Shane got implicit it? "No," she bursts retired laughing.

On a fresh, wide winter's day, we are sitting by the banks of the Shannon successful Dromineer, Co Tipperary. It's 1 of the locations that inspired Shane's opus The Broad Majestic Shannon. Since the decease of the singer, calved successful the UK to Irish parents, fans person made the pilgrimage to this portion of Ireland, hopeless to question retired the places that shaped his music.

Siobhan, on with Shane's widow, Victoria Mary Clarke, has launched a self-guided walking circuit called Unravelling Shane, successful a bid to springiness immoderate operation to those journeys.

In the municipality of Nenagh, we sojourn immoderate of the spots connected the map, including Philly Ryan's pub, Shane's favourite watering hole. Philly is down the bar, an ebullient unit of nature, dressed similar an undertaker. That's due to the fact that helium is one. In time-honoured Irish fashion, helium is some publican and ceremonial director.

In 1 role, helium enjoyed galore a raucous nighttime with Shane MacGowan. In the other, helium planned the ceremonial of his large friend. "Such a shock," helium says, recalling the telephone telephone from Siobhan aft her member died.

Sitting among endless Shane and Pogues memorabilia, Philly reckons the precocious vocalist would bask the posthumous boost to Tipperary tourism.

"Shane loved Nenagh," Philly says. "He'd person loved to get that attraction onto Nenagh arsenic a acquisition from Shane MacGowan to radical of Nenagh. Nenagh was his municipality and helium loved it dearly."

Fans from each implicit the satellite rotation into the pub now, looking for a tangible sensation of Shane MacGowan's legacy.

"We've had requests from places similar Serbia, Italy, Germany, America, Japan," says Carmel Ormond of the caller walking tour. She's a tourism serviceman with Destination Lough Derg.

"It's a immense magnitude of radical funny from Japan, from Australia. We've requests from each implicit the world. We perpetually conscionable radical that are rambling astir trying to find an area. It has go a immense tourer attraction."

Another halt successful Nenagh is the St Mary of the Rosary church, wherever Shane utilized to be Sunday wide with his mother. Two years ago, it was the venue for his funeral. Attended by Johnny Depp and Nick Cave, it was streamed unrecorded astir the world, arsenic household members danced successful the aisle to Fairytale Of New York.

"I danced with my hubby and my bosom was perfectly breaking," Siobhan remembers. "I danced done it, and I did it for him. It was a creation of defiance against death. I thought, decease is not going to halt this song."

As his household proceed to grapple with their nonaccomplishment this festive period, Shane MacGowan's bequest is continuing to beryllium shaped. Siobhan says his passing made her yet admit the afloat gifts of her sibling arsenic an creator and a person.

"It was past I realised the immense measurement of enactment and people's absorption to him and his enactment that, to me, was extraordinary. Like I thought, wow, look astatine what you did. That's what I said, look astatine what you did, you know.

"It lone seems to beryllium getting stronger. His bequest lone seems to beryllium getting stronger."