Unravelling – The Shane MacGowan Tour

Shane MacGowan, lyricist and musician, a songwriter renowned throughout the world. His songs a merging of Ireland’s ancient and modern soul. Born in England to Irish parents, his mother an award-winning Feis Ceoil singer, his father a literary Dubliner, he grew up enveloped in Irish culture. From early childhood, time spent in his mother’s Tipperary home would have a profound effect on him and begin a lifelong love affair with the place and its people. 

It was through the clash of cultures – the tranquil rhythms of rural Ireland and the jagged edges of London – that his genius emerged. With The Pogues, MacGowan fused the fury of punk with the lyrical pathos of traditional Irish balladry, giving voice to the displaced, the drinkers, the dreamers, and the broken-hearted. Songs like ‘Fairytale of New York’, ‘A Pair of Brown Eyes’, ‘The Old Main Drag’ and ‘Lullaby of London’, became touchstones of exile, longing and belonging, their raw poetry carried across generations and continents. 

Yet, through all his travels and every success, Shane’s heart beat for Tipperary. His mind never far from long ago on the Carney boreens, Mass and red lemonade in Kilbarron village, trips to Borrisokane and Nenagh and days by the Shannon. These childhood memories were ingrained in his psyche and expressed in many songs. Each of the places on this trail remained dear to Shane and home to him throughout his life. 

When you tread this trail you truly are Unravelling Shane MacGowan’s heartlands.