Shane MacGowan’s wake was a VIP drinking marathon – requested by him for his loved ones (Picture: Frans Schellekens/Redferns)
Shane MacGowan left his friends and family the most Shane MacGowan parting gift we’ve ever heard of.
The Fairytale of New York icon died in November at the age of 65, leaving fans, friends, and family devastated.
The Irish music legend died of pneumonia after battling a horrific brain swelling condition.
MacGowan, who would have turned 66 on Christmas Day, had been living with viral encephalitis and was released from a five-month hospital stay not long before his death.
His funeral, starting in Dublin before heading to a church in Nenagh, County Tipperary, saw close friend Johnny Depp give a reading, while his family danced in the pews as The Pogues performed Fairytale of New York.
Similar scenes were apparently aplenty at the family’s VIP wake at a tiny pub, The Thatched Cottage, in Nenagh on Friday 8 December.
MacGowan’s bandmates attended the VIP party (Photo by Steve Rapport/Getty Images)
‘I know the pub they are going to for the meal after there has already been €10,000 handed over the counter for free beer – it was Shane’s last request,’ a former drinking partner of MacGowan’s told The Independent.
Punk era MacGowan was a famed drinker and raucous partier so this send off really was quite fitting.
‘It is a beautiful place just outside of town but there is only a limited amount of people allowed,’ the source added.
Dozens of mourners told the online publication MacGowan’s estate was thought to have funded the evening, which required pre-prepared passes and lanyards in order to get through the 10 bouncers guarding the doors.
Guests – which included the likes of Johnny Depp and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie – drank the bar dry, partying from 6pm until dawn, it is reported.
Johnny Depp did a reading at MacGowan’s funeral (Picture: Chris Grieve/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
Singer Glen Hansard played the Christmas classic Fairytale of New York, re-creating scenes of the funeral earlier that day, and The Pogues provided what one attendee called the ‘most special moment of the night’ as they performed The Body of An American.
The legendary songwriter’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, announced his death in a family statement on November 30, sharing: ‘I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it.
‘I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it.
‘Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.’
She went on: ‘I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.
‘There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your presence in this world you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music.
‘You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much. You meant the world to me.’
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Of course.