MacGowan
Shane MacGowan (1957-2023) Another death. Another funeral. Like Benjamin Zephaniah, Shane MacGowan was only sixty five. He was born in Kent in England but his parents were Irish and his spiritual homeland was back in County Tipperary. With drink and drugs, Shane seemed to have an active self-destruct button so I suppose that it is something of a miracle that he made it to sixty five. He was the creative force behind The Pogues and managed to find a way to marry punk with elements of Irish traditional music. He had a way with words. This afternoon, BBC World News covered the three hours of his sometimes chaotic funeral, beamed live to our living room from the town of Neenagh, County Tipperary. It was a heady mix of remembrances, readings, music, prayers, mistakes and a traditional Catholic mass. The church was packed for Shane was much loved and attendees no doubt recognised his essential humanity, his poetic soul and the struggles he had had to just to navigate li...