Victoria Mary Clarke

Victoria Mary Clarke
Born	(1966-01-11) 11 January 1966 (age 58) Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	Writer, journalist
Language	English
Notable works	A Drink with Shane MacGowan, Angel in Disguise?
Spouse	Shane MacGowan ​ ​ (m. 2018; died 2023)​
Website
www.victoriamaryclarkeangels.com

Victoria Mary Clarke (born 11 January 1966) is an Irish journalist and writer who has written for newspapers and magazines in Britain and Ireland; she has also appeared on Irish reality television shows. She is known for her long-term relationship with singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan, whom she met at age 16; Clarke and MacGowan were married from 2018 until the latter's death in 2023.

Early life

Clarke grew up in the Irish countryside and went to national school in Renaniree.^[1] Her mother was born in Herbert Park^[2] and became pregnant with Victoria at the age of nineteen. She was abandoned by her father when she was a young baby.^[1]

Career

Clarke is a music journalist who has written for a number of newspapers and magazines.^[1][3] She is the author of Angel in Disguise, a memoir and spiritual guide written after she split up with MacGowan in her late 30s.^[4]

Personal life

Clarke had a long-term relationship with singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan, whom she met at sixteen, seven years his junior.^[1] She wrote the biography, A Drink with Shane MacGowan.^[2][5] They did not generally allow celebrities or journalists to frequent their house but Sinéad O'Connor previously visited them.^[2] After an 11-year engagement, they married in November 2018 in Copenhagen.^[6] Clarke was with MacGowan when he died of pneumonia on 30 November 2023.^[7]

She is a fan of literature and music.^[2] She is also a yoga enthusiast.^[4]

She believes in angels and claims to speak to them on a regular basis.^[8]

Popular culture

In 2007, she appeared on Celebrities Go Wild, an RTÉ reality television show in which eight celebrities had to fend for themselves in rural Connemara.^[9]

In December 2009, Clarke and McGowan appeared together on the RTÉ One reality television special Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own in which they attempted to tend to their own vegetables at an allotment in Dublin.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Clarke appeared on The Late Late Show with MacGowan on 26 February 2010 to discuss their single for the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief effort.^[14][15]

References

1. Victoria Mary Clarke (17 January 2009). "Looking for a father figure". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
2. "At home with: Victoria Mary Clarke". Hot Press. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
3. Victoria Mary Clarke (22 November 2009). "'I am used to Shane being unpredictable, he has disappeared before, in worse places. I console myself with Ozzy's autobiography'". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
4. McCarthy, Mary (23 August 2007). "Angel in Disguise? by Victoria Mary Clarke". RTÉ.
5. Ian Penman (14 April 2001). "The sound and the fury". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
6. Murphy, Greg (26 November 2018). "Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke tie the knot in Copenhagen". The Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
7. Phillips, Matt (30 November 2023). "Shane MacGowan, Songwriter Who Fused Punk and Irish Rebellion, Is Dead at 65". The New York Times.
8. "Shooting the sheriff". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
9. "Celebrities". Celebrities Go Wild. Raidió Teilifís Éireann.
10. "Shane MacGowan to grow his own vegetables on reality TV programme". NME. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
11. "Homegrown for Shane". The Irish Times. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009. Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own is said to echo 1970s sitcom The Good Life, and follows the pair as they attempt to live on homegrown produce – apparently not very successfully.
12. "Is Shane MacGowan the new Monty Don?". The Guardian. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
13. Pat Stacey (9 December 2009). "Loads of manure and very little else". Evening Herald. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
14. "Late Late Show guests are revealed". RTÉ. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
15. "MacGowan and Clarke Lead Late Late Charge". Hot Press. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own