As Ireland laid to rest singer Shane MacGowan on Friday, a star-studded congregation rose and danced to the Pogues’ classic New York Fairy Tale.
From actor Johnny Depp to musicians Bob Geldof and Nick Cave and even the president of Ireland, the Pogues frontman’s friends and family packed Saint Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, to pay their respects.
Many stood and swayed as family members danced through the aisles to a rendition of MacGowan’s 1987 Christmas hit sung by Irish singer-songwriters and musicians Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neil.
“Wow, I think Shane would have liked that,” she said as her sister Siobhan stood to sing her praises after the show. “This was a send-off for my brother, so thank you.”
The frontman, who died last week aged 65 after a battle with pneumonia, “dreamed of one day being a storyteller, a singer of songs; he dreamed of following in the footsteps of those great Irish songwriters and musicians he admired,” Ms McGowan said.
“You did what you said you would do in Tipperary a long time ago and you did it with great heart and enthusiasm,” he said to cheers and applause from the church.
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said at his funeral, which was broadcast live around the world, that MacGowan’s music “will live forever”.
“You are the measure of our dreams,” he said. “My words are words of gratitude and appreciation for Shane’s genius, his songs, his creativity, and his attitude.”
Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp, a close friend of MacGowan and his wife Victoria, recited the Faithful Prayer in the musician’s honor.
A plaque prepared by Depp, who attended their wedding in 2018, was previously placed as a symbol of MacGowan’s life at the altar. MacGowan’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, said the musician loved his friend’s music and “guitar sounds”.
He added that almost everyone who attended their wedding attended the funeral.
The first Pogues record, a Led Zeppelin album and a Tipperary flag were also placed in front of the church, which were greeted with great applause.
The Casio keyboard that MacGowan used to write his 1990 hit Summer in Siam was among the symbolic items brought to celebrate his life.
While 66-year-old Australian musician Nick Cave performed the Pogues’ classic love song Rainy Night in Soho, Mundy and Camille O’Sullivan also sang the song Haunted.
U2 frontman Bono’s tribute to MacGowan, who could not attend the service, was played in the church.
Pastor Pat Gilbert, who preached, said MacGowan made Irish music cool around the world.
He added: “As young people, unable to express our uneasiness, our discontent, our disturbing assessments of what was happening around us, we found an outlet, a conduit, in the music and lyrics of the day.
“In the words of Dickens, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ But the music and lyrics were amazing and Shane mastered them all.”
The funeral was the culmination of a day of mourning across Ireland.
Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in Dublin, singing the band’s songs as a glass horse-drawn carriage carried MacGowan’s body through the city, his coffin adorned with Irish tricolor and black-and-white photographs of the singer from his youth.
Among those who came to pay their respects was Aidan Grimes, 60, who described MacGowan as an icon.
He said: “I remember the first time I saw The Pogues at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1985. Just the madness and mayhem, the boisterous nature of their singing and the music they played are forever etched in my mind.
“I thought it was important to pay my respects. He was an icon of Dublin, just like Brendan Behan and Luke Kelly. “His music will be listened to 100 years later,” he said.
The funeral took place on what would have been Sinead O’Connor’s 57th birthday. The Irish singer, who was close friends with MacGowan, died in early 2023.
Depp was among those given the responsibility of carrying MacGowan’s coffin from the church.
One of the final musical tributes went to former members of The Pogues, Jem Finer, Terry Woods, Spider Stacey and James Fearnley. They played The Parting Glass, a traditional Scottish song often sung at the end of a gathering of friends in Ireland.