‘His music kept me going when I left home’
Like many who came before me, I made the hard decision to leave the green fields of home for better opportunities across the Irish Sea. I moved to Manchester on my own at the age of 24, where I knew no one. Having grown up listening to the Pogues, their songs were the soundtrack of my childhood with my dad, who videoed me and my siblings’ childhood endlessly, using their music as the backing track. Shane’s songwriting enveloped me in nostalgic warmth and kept me going at the toughest of times, through homesickness, loneliness and guilt.
One song in particular resonated with me – Sally MacLennane. It always lifted my mood: “I’d like to think of me returning when I can” played over and over in my mind every time I returned to England and had to say my goodbyes. Although I knew I wasn’t going to be away for ever, it didn’t make the goodbyes any easier – especially with ageing parents and a poorly grandparent.
