The Pogues performed together for the first time since 2014 at Shane MacGowan’s funeral to play a version of ‘The Parting Glass’. Watch the video below.
The Pogues frontman passed away “peacefully” on November 30, having died from pneumonia aged 65. His funeral occurred yesterday (December 8) in Tipperary, close to where MacGowan spent his childhood.
At the ceremony, The Pogues’ tin whistle player Spider Stacy took the lead on the performance of ‘The Parting Glass’, an old traditional Celtic song that the band had recorded as the B-side to the ‘Dirty Old Town’ single in 1985.
It was the final live performance at a funeral that featured a number of memorable appearances.
Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill also performed a version of MacGowan’s 1987 festive classic ‘Fairytale of New York’ at the service, backed by members of The Pogues, leading to members of MacGowan’s family to dance in the aisles of the church.
Nick Cave also performed at the funeral, playing a powerful, adapted version of The Pogues‘ ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’, while Johnny Depp delivered a personal reading to the man he descirbed as the “maestro” at the funeral. Irish singers Mundy and Camille O’Sullivan performed a rendition of ‘Haunted’, the duet recorded by MacGowan and Sinead O’Connor in 1995.
The actor Aiden Gillen also spoke at the service, reading Revelations Chapter 22, verses one to three, while MacGowan’s wife shared symbols of his life including a book of MacGowan’s art and lyrics, a statue of Buddha, some teabags and a copy of ‘Led Zeppelin II’.
Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan and musician John Francis Flynn later appeared at the service, performing a cover of the traditional song ‘I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’, which was famously recorded by The Pogues in 1985.
Fans has also lined the streets of Dublin earlier in the day to witness a coffin procession around the city, singing songs such as ‘Dirty Old Town’ and ‘Fairytale of New York’ in his honour.