McGowan oldRecently, I have been reading the biography of a very well known and renowned Irish man, Shane McGowan, held in high regard by many across the nation. I have not read particularly far into the story of his life but there is no doubt from the narrative that he was an exceptional talent and a die-hard lover of all things Irish. I admit to being a fan and I remember back to a night in Dublin when I tagged along with a good friend to see McGowan perform live with his new band “the Popes”.

It is hard for me to put into words what enthralls me about this man so much but I suppose I will try. To begin with he is a songwriter extraordinaire. His created music, to me, is amazing. He seems able to capture a sentiment that belongs to our people. There is energy, excitement, aggression, anger and yet eloquence, intelligence, and intellectual savvy to his person and here I give all this credit to a man who spent his life as a drunk and drug taker.

McGowan had a hard life, and even though much of it was of his own making we see the picture of a young boy who always wanted to play and who never quite discovered the meaning of his manhood. His young life until he was six years old was filled with fun, laughter, play, Irish music, stories, friendship, family and community fellowship in the fields of Tipperary. He was happy there and he fondly remembers, that despite poverty and having few material possessions, he and his family, which included a younger sister, were very happy. He played cowboys and Indians in the fields, he played IRA versus the British army, he remembers his home being a safe house for men on the run, he recalls neighbors being in and out on a regular basis as people came to play music, sing, have a cup of tea and even something a little stronger. He had his first drink as soon as he could walk and he remembers each night getting down on his knees with his family to pray the rosary. In fact until the age of eleven he was quite devout in his faith. Shane’s Catholicism appears to be very important to him though it is clear from the book he, like most, did not often understand it very well. In his songs he uses Catholic imagery regularly, positive and negative, because just like a human being, the Church has both sides to display.

Shane’s happy childhood included no running water, with a toilet in the bushes or out the back door, but his family wanted for nothing because they had everything in themselves. They had family and Shane was happy. It occurred at six years old when his world came crashing down. His parents, who went seeking fame and fortune over the peaceful existence Shane had come to know, wrestled Shane from his native Tipperary. He was thrust into the culture-shocking milieu of London city. It was like a blow to the head and for a six-year-old country boy in a big new and often-fearsome city Shane was lost.

Disruption can be a difficult experience for anyone. Even positive experiences in our lives can come with stress and pain. God knows the Irish have had their share of turmoil through it’s long history, two devastating famines and hundreds of years of warfare to name only three. So many songs of immigration, love and loss, and so many songs of what seemed to be the easiest accessible cure, the drink.

Shane became and grew up angry. His father, unable to deal with the disruption to his own life, immersed himself in drinking. His mother, unable to deal with the disruption to her own life, became depressed. Two parents became despondent to two children (Shane and his younger sister) who so desperately needed their support and care. Shane’s answer was to seek comfort in the punk scene of London, in music, violence, drink and drugs.

It is a sad life, and one that is not easy to read about but it is one sure way to discover that there really is a cure and hope for those who are caught up in an eternally disrupted world. It is not about us!

It is not about us!

It is not about us!

It is a great truth that while we may have disrupted lives the greatest cure to those disruptions is family. When we are troubled we are comforted when our family look to us and say lovingly “It is okay, I am here for you and I will help you through”. Shane lost that and I venture to speculate he became not only angry, but sad. It is true that so many children are growing up today like Shane did, with heartbroken parents who never had parents to support them through their trials, disappointments and hurt. And generation after generation the cycle continues.

Family, however, is the answer to it all. It is the answer to a strong home, strong individuals emerging to build a strong community, which influences in turn the development of other strong communities and eventually to the defining of a strong Ireland. We exist as human beings to put our hands on the shoulders of those we love and to let them know, not only with words, but in deed, that we are there for them no matter what they are going through. This truth applies even more so to our own children, wives, husbands and after that to others.

And what is our role as men. The answer is strength. By knowing this, by understanding and being aware of it, we can then decide “No, I will not allow this cycle to break my family. I will not allow the evils of my past to disrupt my present.” Men have the ability to fight back and break the cycle of hurt, depression, or monotony that enslaves their families. They just need to start being men. See article “Why is Matt Talbot so bloody manly anyway?”

New life begins in the present and it begins with the self. Shane McGowan became an adolescent, a child longing to express himself, for someone to take notice of his achievements. He is no different than any of us. We all need affirmation from those we look up to, but we need most of all to recognize that those around us and those we care for also need affirmation. A child may go to London or, as Shane McGowan says, “to county hell” but those disruptions can be overcome. They will even strengthen boys and girls to become the men and women they are ordained to be, if all they have behind them is family, a father and mother who love and support them.

So what is it that enraptures me about Shane McGowan. The answer is simple. He is a man, a human being just like me. He is drawn to being Catholic and Irish, just like me and yearns to understand it all. He has weaknesses, he has strengths, he has fallen and he has pulled himself back up. He keeps grafting, he keeps giving, he keeps creating and he has not given up. He is a man, not perfect and certainly not sinless, but a man nonetheless. Though he remains, locked in a state of adolescence, Shane deserves respect and gratitude and support and love, just as we all do because he has dignity as a human being. He, like us all, just needs the arm of support or the nod of approval from those figures of strength he once looked up to. I wish him peace and rest in this life and the next. God bless him!

Let us be men and women, fathers and mothers, who we are called to be and let us strengthen our children for the future.

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