Pogues singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan has died at the age of 65

The Pogues singer-songwriter passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning, his wife Victoria Mary Clarke, sister Siobhan and father Maurice, confirmed in a statement.

“It is with the deepest sorrow and heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Shane MacGowan.

“Shane died peacefully at 3am this morning with his wife Victoria and family by his side.

“Prayers and the last rites were read which gave comfort to his family.

“He is survived by his wife Victoria, his sister Siobhan and his father, Maurice, family and a large circle of friends,” they stated.

Mr. MacGowan was regarded as one of the finest song-writers of his generation and is best remembered for his work with The Pogues with ‘The Sick Bed of Cúchulain,’ ‘The Old Main Drag’, ‘A Pair of Brown Eyes,’ ‘Streams of Whiskey’, ‘Sally MacLennane’, ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’, ‘Rainy Night in Soho’ and ‘Fairytale of New York’ among his most famous records.

He also performed with the London punk band The Nips and Shane MacGowan and the Popes.

Shane played in Derry on a number of occasions over the years both with The Pogues and The Popes.

In March 1987 he was in Derry for an appearance on ‘The Tom O’Connor Roadshow’ when he was approached by the the local Centre for the Unemployed and agreed to return for a benefit gig in the Embassy that November.

Tickets for that Derry gig were priced at ‘£6 for the waged and £4 for the unwaged’.

Though born in England on Christmas Day in 1957 his family hailed from Nenagh in Co. Tipperary and he has been synonymous with Irish music for the past forty years.

In 1996 he recorded ‘Haunted’, a single originally released by The Pogues in 1986, with his friend Sinéad O’Connor who died in July of this year.

‘Fairytale of New York’ has often been cited as the best Christmas song of all time.

His family have asked for privacy with funeral arrangements to be announced later.