Shane MacGowan’s widow issues appeal as his beloved rifle from 1916 goes missing

The widow of late singer Shane MacGowan has launched an appeal after a gun belonging to the tragic star was ‘probably stolen’.

Victoria Mary Clarke, who was at his side when he died last November, said it was a “historically important” rifle used in the 1916 Easter Rising.

London-born punk Shane’s parents were both from Ireland and he considered himself a staunch Irish Republican.

His upset wife posted a photo of The Pogues frontman posing with the gun on X and revealed the artifact had disappeared.

She wrote: “Shane’s 1916 rifle is missing and most likely stolen. It was a birthday present for @ShaneMacGowan from a good musician friend and it was used in the GPO so it was historically important.

‘It was a Lienfield [sic] 303 and H Munn is etched on it.’

The brand is actually called Lee-Enfield – eight years ago a similar rifle was sold at an auction in Dublin to mark the 100th anniversary of the gun battle with a winning bid of €2,000.

During the Easter Rising the GPO – General Post Office – was the headquarters of the Irish Volunteers who took over and proclaimed the Irish Republic. They held out for a week before surrendering to the British forces.

The bloody battle left 485 people dead, more than half innocent civilians, while parts of Dublin were left in ruins – among the dead were 82 Irish rebels, and 16 of the Rising’s leaders were later executed.

Shane died at home in Dublin on November 30 last year aged 65 after a hospital stay after being diagnosed with encephalitis.

The hellraiser had well-documented problems with drugs and alcohol and had been unwell for some time.

His funeral in his adopted city was televised and there was dancing in the church as his life was celebrated and big stars such as Johnny Depp, Bono and Nick Cave led the tributes.

Born in London to Irish parents, Shane was a staunch republican who will go to his grave believing in a united Ireland.

Author Richard Balls interviewed him for hours for his authorized biography A Furious Devotion and said that The Troubles had “occupied his mind since childhood.”

He said the Pogues singer considered Gerry Adams a friend and the former Sinn Fein president often sent him letters over the years.

In his recent book, Mr Balls said: ‘If you sit with Shane for a while, the conversation turns to Northern Ireland.

‘For most of his life he has been both fascinated and tormented by its bitter struggle, and it is a subject that can trigger the outbursts of anger that have become part of his personality.

‘This is safe ground for him. He knows his Irish history inside and out and is a staunch republican who counts former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams as a close friend.”

Shane’s father Maurice was from Dublin, while his mother Therese was from Co Tipperary – and he made regular summer trips to the family home there, The Commons, growing up.

Richard Balls said it was those visits across the Irish Sea that strengthened the singer’s republican beliefs as he learned more about his Irish roots.

He said: ‘While on holiday at The Commons, Shane heard how his ancestors had fought for ‘the cause’ and an entire division of Black and Tans were killed and buried near the cottage.

‘He was given a copy of My Fight for Irish Freedom by Dan Breen, which was ‘very violent and very moving’.

‘Breen was involved in the ambush and murder of two RIC police officers, an act that would mark the start of the War of Independence, and fought in the IRA’s Third Tipperary Brigade.

‘He became the first republican to enter the Free State Parliament and represented Tipperary for over thirty years.

‘As Shane grew older and his ‘raging devotion’ to Ireland deepened, it gave him the identity he never had growing up in England.

“As he rose to prominence with The Pogues, his family’s Republican credentials became a cornerstone of his backstory.

“While neither The Pogues nor The Popes were overtly political, Shane made his own contributions to the rebel songbook.”

During interviews for his 2021 book – the last to be written about Shane’s life – Mr Balls discovered that despite his health problems, Shane had a strong will to live.

Shane told him, “I don’t want to die yet. I don’t want to die at all.

“But the idea that other people have wasted a lot of their lives blowing up other people who have wasted their lives, and the fact is there’s no story.

“They have to make reparations for the hundreds of people and their friends and relatives on both sides of the divide, which is a completely twisted divide.”

One of his songs, Paddy Public Enemy No. 1, was inspired by republican paramilitary Dominic ‘Mad Dog’ McGlinchey, who was a senior figure in the INLA after being expelled from the IRA and later shot dead.

Mr Balls added: ‘The release of that album came just two months after the start of the peace talks in Northern Ireland that would culminate in the Good Friday Agreement.

“In interviews to promote it, Shane did not shy away from expressing his Republican views. He said: ‘I think it has to happen now – the English have to get out. We’ve talked enough, they should let the Irish run their own country. I have always said that the British have no right to be there. I believe in a republic, a socialist republic.’

‘That summer, Shane had met Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams at the Féile an Phobail, the West Belfast Festival… Shane said he thought there was ‘mutual respect’ between them.’