‘Shane MacGowan a wildman? Nonsense – he was a shy gent’

The man who doubled as Shane MacGowan’s favourite pub landlord and ultimately his undertaker has spoken of his admiration for the late songwriter ahead of his funeral.

Undertaker and publican Philly Ryan, of JJ Ryan undertakers in Nenagh, is looking after the official sendoff to MacGowan, who was one of his most famous regulars.

MacGowan suffered from periods of ill health for many years, including bouts of pneumonia that sent him in and out of hospital. Indeed, many fans had feared for the artist ever since he almost drank himself to death in his twenties. MacGowan himself once said that, aged 21, he was given six weeks to live. Yet he felt journalists misinterpreted his apparent death wish: “Of course I like life”, he said in one of his last interviews.

Joe Strummer, MacGowan and Philly Ryan the landlord of the Pogues star’s favourite pub (Supplied)

Mr Ryan, who knew the Pogues frontman since his college days, said: “Shane was a true gentleman in every respect.”

“He didn’t act like the huge rockstar he was,” he continued. “Shane was very shy. I saw him on the Late, Late Show all the time and I asked him ‘what’s the matter with you? That’s not the Shane I know’. But he was very shy and nervous going on those talk shows.

“That hellraiser persona that was just fake. He would come to my pub and play pool on his own have a few drinks and while away his days relaxing.

“He had vices and everyone has their own story to tell about Shane.”

MacGowan and Philly had been friends since college (Supplied)

MacGowan would usually be found propped at the bar smiling, pulling out fistfuls of crumpled notes from his pockets and buying rounds.

“He would never try and take over and start singing”, the publican added. “If there was a band playing he would do a song maybe two he wouldn’t take over or overstay his welcome. He was very quiet and unassuming. He would sing a song to give the band a lift and then sit back down again.”

“It’s all surreal I can’t deal with it. Another friend is gone, it’s a knock-on effect. It was a gracious thing he was taken by God, a God he believed in at the end.”

He said he first met Shane through a relative and was dragged to his ancestral cottage The Commons an ‘open house’ legendary in the area as a place for Irish singing and dancing at night.

He was waiting outside with his friend “scared to look in a window” when a door flung open and he was dragged in by Shane for food, singing and merriment long into the early hours.

MacGowan with his partner Victoria Clarke after the funeral of the Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney in Donnybrook, Dublin (PA)

Asked if MacGowan was finally coming home to Tipperary for his funeral on Friday, he said: “Not to put anyone out but he loved Tipperary – he absolutely loved it. He only lived in Dublin because his wife was based there with her art and media work.

“The only thing that could get him out of Tipperary was Victoria who he loved very much.”

On MacGowan’s legacy in Nenagh, he said: “We will never forget Shane. He is still with us in every song we hear him. I remember just good times every time Shane came around.

“People would spill into the pub to see him. They would shake hands with him but also knew to leave him alone it was chilled out.

“He rang in the New Year for me twice as well – some of the best times I ever had. On Christmas Day he would come to get out of the way while his family were getting the food ready.

“The MacGowans were very late people they had Christmas Dinner at like 8pm, they were strange. Everyone would be in for a couple of pints and a brandy in suits and we would sing Happy Birthday for him as well.”

MacGowan and close friend Bruce Springsteen (Twitter)

Mr Ryan added: “We have this image of him screaming but that was part of the act. He shunned the limelight I believe. He loved being normal like anyone else.

“The Nenagh crowd would bring people from Limerick everywhere to see a couple of songs from Shane MacGowan.

“He was generous beyond a fault. He never counted money in his life – he didn’t care about money.”

With many Irish celebrity friends, including Bono and Bob Geldof, expected on Friday, global stars such as Shane’s close friend Johnny Depp, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan are also rumoured to be flying in for MacGowan’s funeral.

Johnny Depp, who was best man at MacGowan’s wedding in 2018, is jetting in to Nenagh after being devastated at the loss. Nick Cave reacted to the news of MacGowan’s passing by calling him “a true friend” and “the greatest songwriter of his generation.”

His funeral is due to be attended by huge crowds (PA Wire)

The singer-songwriter recalled Victoria pushing Shane on stage in a wheelchair at MacGowan’s 60th birthday gig in Dublin.

“I know I should be talking about the pure unbridled genius of Shane MacGowan and how he was the greatest songwriter of his generation, with the most terrifyingly beautiful of voices — all of which is true,” wrote Cave.

“But what struck me at that moment was the extraordinary display of love for this man, so powerful and deep, that poured forth from the audience. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

In 2020, Depp opened up about how he “fell in love” with MacGowan when they first met.

“When I met Shane, he was negotiating a pool table. There was a drink in this hand, a pint, and in this hand, there was a guitar.

“And he was teetering, balancing back and forth trying to negotiate which way to fall. I watched him do that for about 15 minutes.

“Then I was introduced to him, before he fell, and from that moment on, you just knew… there are moments in life when you know this will happen one time and one time only, when you get the opportunity to spend time with greatness.

“Having known him [MacGowan] a long, long time, I can only say I fell in love with him the second I met him and I’m still in love with him to this day.”