EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is paying due reverence and respect to The Pogues and the late Shane MacGowan’s Fairytale of New York with an honorary exhibition beginning today (Tuesday, December 12th).
The museum located in the CHQ Building on Custom House Quay have spent months crafting the ‘They Gave The Walls A Talking’ exhibition with their fellow colloborators Hotpress Magazine.
They Gave The Walls A Talking illuminates the evolution of The Pogues, the rise of punk rock, and the role of the Irish diaspora on the British music scene – as well as the genesis of the marvellously iconic Fairytale of New York.
It features contributions from Victoria Mary Clarke, Siobhan MacGowan, Jem Finer, Nick Cave, Damien Dempsey, Cáit O’Riordan and the family of the late Frank Murray, the band’s original manager.
EPIC like many people were saddened at the news of Shane MacGowan’s recent passing.
We had, of course, hoped that Shane MacGowan would be there for the opening.
Sadly, however, on 30 November, it was announced that Ireland’s great song-poet had died. When the news was confirmed, we decided to pause the opening.
However, it seems all the more appropriate now to celebrate the songs and the music of The Pogues and to reflect on how the band – and their legendary lead singer and songwriter – became so widely loved and admired.
Dates Tues 12th Dec 2023 – Wed 31st Jan 2024.
Times 10am – 6.45pm (last entry 5pm).
Cost Entry to exhibition is included in general admission tickets
EXHIBITION CURATOR
Niall Stokes is a music journalist who has served as editor of the long-running fortnightly Ireland music and political magazine Hot Press based in Dublin. He has edited the magazine since 1977.
He has been a longstanding champion of Irish music, most famously U2 in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. He was Chairman of the Independent Radio and Television Commission (now the BCI) between 1993 and 1998 and has written several books, including Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song.
