News | Entertainment
10 May 2025 21:38
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Shane MacGowan's sister sings one of his "beautiful" songs every day

    Acclaimed novelist Siobhan MacGowan, 61, also recalled how she spent her childhood reading the end of James Joyce's The Dead with her Pogues star sibling, who died aged 65 on Thursday (30.11.23) at his home in Dublin a few days after being released from St Vincent's Hospital, where he had been in intensive care for the past few months after his viral encephalitis diagnosis last year


    Siobhan told Hot Press magazine about how she spends each day singing her second-favourite Pogues track at her home in Ireland: "Another track is 'Broad Majestic Shannon', because the Shannon (river) was a big thing in our young lives.

    "It still is. I live near the Shannon. I walk by the Shannon and I sing the song to myself: 'I walked as day was dawning, Where small birds sand and leaves were falling, Where we once watched the row boats landing, By the broad majestic Shannon.'

    "I walk by it every day, it's beautiful."

    Siobhan added her favourite one of Shane's Pogues hits is 'A Rainy Night in Soho' as it "reminds me of our time as youngsters in London".

    She added in a chat with Hot Press done ahead of Shane's death for a special Pogues edition of the publication: "That time when the Pogues were first starting out, all the many nights we had in Soho.

    "And all the laughs we had: 'All the little girls and boys' as it says in the song.

    "The laughs and the good times, and the dreams and the sorrows.

    "The crying and laughing and dancing, all of it. That just really touches me."

    Siobhan also fondly recalled how she spent her childhood with her brother reciting the end of James Joyce's The Dead together - a short story about how the spirits of the deceased impact the living.

    Quoting Joyce's story, she said in a chat days before Shane's death in hospital: "'The snow was falling all over Ireland, snow was general all over Ireland. His soul swooned softly as he heard it. falling gently all over the universe. Softly falling upon the Bog of Allen and, further Westwards, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. The snow falling softly like the descent of their end upon the living and the dead.'

    "Such a beautiful, beautiful end - I think that's one of the most beautiful things ever written in the English language.

    "I don't think we've ever discussed it in those terms, but I think Shane would probably be of much the same mind."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     10 May: Australian cardinal Mykola Bychok says conclave was the 'best time of my life'
     10 May: Rebel Wilson was "seen differently" by Hollywood as soon as she lost weight
     10 May: James Foley has died at the age of 71
     10 May: Emily Osment is "trying to forget" about parts of her Disney Channel days
     10 May: King Charles echoed the words of his grandfather to mark VE Day
     10 May: Heather Rae is "thankful" for her husband's ex-wife
     10 May: Tish Cyrus didn't mean to unfollow Miley Cyrus on Instagram
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    The Black Ferns lead the Wallaroos 19-nil at halftime in their Pacific Four and Laurie O'Reilly Cup clash in Newcastle More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    The UK and the US have sealed a new tariff deal More...



     Today's News

    Auckland:
    Two ambulance's are responding to a crash on Gillies Ave on Auckland's Southern Motorway 21:17

    Rugby:
    The Black Ferns lead the Wallaroos 19-nil at halftime in their Pacific Four and Laurie O'Reilly Cup clash in Newcastle 18:57

    Boxing:
    Lani Daniels' coach claims to have picked holes in the boxing style of American great Claressa Shields ahead of their undisputed world heavyweight bout in Michigan on July 27 18:37

    Netball:
    The Central Pulse have made no contest of today's ANZ Premiership netball season opener, thrashing the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 57-44 in Palmerston North 18:07

    Rugby League:
    Warriors coach Andrew Webster's revealed the key to his Auckland NRL side's ability to triumph in close contests this season, ahead of tonight's clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons in Wollongong 17:27

    Rugby:
    Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua is pouring cold water on the assumption athletes will make more money playing in Australia's Super Netball than the ANZ Premiership 16:57

    Law and Order:
    A 73-year-old man who went missing in Masterton earlier this month has been found deceased 16:17

    Netball:
    Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua is rapt with the performances of Grace Nweke to start the Super Netball season for the New South Wales Swifts 16:07

    Netball:
    The Central Pulse will be observers - as much as executors - as the two-point shot arrives in netball's ANZ Premiership this afternoon 15:27

    Rugby:
    Black Ferns lock Maia Roos has full confidence in Blues teammate Ruahei Demant to steer the ship in this afternoon's Pacific Four opener against Australia in Newcastle 14:57


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd