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

Shane MacGowan's sister on the struggle to avoid his music The co-penned Shane MacGowan song Fairytale Of New York is one of the best known Christmas songs blaring out from speakers all across the UK and Ireland every festive season. But for his sister Siobhan, listening to The Pogues hit is too painful to bear. Image:Siobhan MacGowan Image:Shane and Siobhan on the Tipperary wilds Image:Christmas in 1987. Family photo Image:Siobhan and Shane celebrating his 60th birthday , on Christmas Day, in Tipperary, Ireland Image:Shane about to perform at Philly Ryan's Image:The flag from Shane's coffin framed in Philly Ryan's pub in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, Ireland Image:Murals in the town of Nenagh, Co Tipperary Image:Shane (wearing cap) and Siobhan (in front of him) on a farm in Tipperary, Ireland Monday 22 December 2025 03:43, UK Siobhan MacGowan almost looks surprised as she remembers. "It went very, very quickly. Even the first year went really quickly. Two years... you know," she tails off. The 24 months since her brother Shane died have flown by in one sense, but it's clear that the family's grief has barely subsided. "It's still very raw for me," Siobhan says. "I can't listen to Shane's music, and I can't watch him on video or listen to him speak." Legendary frontman of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan died on 30 November 2023 at the age of 65, following a long illness. He passed away in the lead-up to Christmas, a time when his voice is heard on every radio station and in every pub - in the form of Fairytale Of New York. For his sister, the festive anthem - which he co-penned with the band's banjoist Jem Finer - is now a visceral torment. "You can be a genius, the way you can avoid it [the song]", Siobhan says. "If it's coming on, I just turn it straight off. If I'm in a supermarket, I just block it out, or I go into the loo, or I go outside, or I do something like that, but I have to block it." She can't listen to Fairytale "at all". "It's just pain. Pain in my heart. It's just so painful." We look at a picture of Siobhan and Shane from Christmas Day 1987. Fairytale Of New York was number one in Ireland, but had been pipped by the Pet Shop Boys in the UK. "I remember him saying he wouldn't have minded if it had been Michael Jackson that had beaten him," Siobhan recalls. "But he couldn't forgive the Pet Shop Boys. And it was a terrible cover of Always On My Mind! It was dreadful like, so he couldn't forgive that." But Shane got over it? "No," she bursts out laughing. On a fresh, clear winter's day, we are sitting by the banks of the Shannon in Dromineer, Co Tipperary. It's one of the locations that inspired Shane's song The Broad Majestic Shannon. Since the death of the singer, born in the UK to Irish parents, fans have...

Preview: ~500 words