‘It meant so much to him’: Shane MacGowan’s wife on the hunt for his missing Easter Rising rifle

A widespread search has been sparked after Victoria Mary Clarke noticed a rifle owned by the late Pogues frontman was gone. She explains why this piece of history was one of the few possessions he cherished

OK, hands up – who’s nicked Shane MacGowan’s gun? MacGowan’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke is not happy and she wants it back now, sparking a widespread search after tweeting: “Shane’s 1916 rifle has gone missing, most likely been stolen.”

The gun is not any old gun. It’s a rifle from the 1916 Easter Rising, and was probably used in the takeover of the General Post Office (GPO) by armed groups of the Irish Volunteers and the Citizen Army, commanded by Padraig Pearse and James Connolly. It was given to MacGowan as a 60th birthday present by the singer-songwriter Glen Hansard.