Quick Facts
Biography
Siobhan MacGowan (born in Brighton, England in 1963) is an Irish-British journalist and musician. She is the sister of Shane MacGowan, lead singer of the Irish group The Pogues.
The Pogues
When The Pogues started out as "Pogue Mahone" in the early 1980s, MacGowan designed posters and flyers to advertise their gigs. She also worked for The Pogues in 1988, editing and writing their fanzine, 'Ordnahone'.
Music
In 1988, MacGowan moved to Dublin, Ireland and formed a band called The Frantic. The Frantic performed MacGowan's songs around such venues as The Rock Garden, The Baggot Inn and the Olympia Theatre. She also supported Hazel O'Connor (Breaking Glass) on an Irish tour and Mary Coughlan at the Mean Fiddler in London. In 1992, her video, Chariot, was shown on MTV on Christmas Day. In 1997, she recorded her album, Chariot, for Murgatroid Records, Limerick, which was released in Ireland and the UK in April 1998. She performed at the Point Theatre in Dublin with The Dubliners and Shane MacGowan on Christmas, 1998.
She worked as Van Morrison's personal assistant from 1992-1994, travelling the United States and Europe with him.
In 2002, MacGowan released a second edition of the album Chariot, containing a bonus track: 10. I love him with a Grace
Journalism, press and copywriting
MacGowan worked at the Kent & Sussex Courier (Associated Press) as a journalist and a copywriter for their advertising pages. She freelanced in journalism for various London and Kent based advertising agencies, writing articles for Smash Hits, Record Mirror, and FSM Monthly. She also worked for the Phillip Hall Press Agency in London in the 1980s. In 1994, she moved to County Tipperary (Ireland) and worked for the Tipperary NR Council Arts Office.
She has worked as a freelance journalist, writing for The Irish Times, The Sunday Times, the Irish Mirror and Mizz Magazine. She has also undertaken art commissions, Celtic/funky art, under the name of "Cat MacZebedee". Her story for children, Etain's Dream, was serialised in the Nenagh Guardian Dec 2007-May 2008. She is currently working on her first novel, 'A Mortal Word.'
Other work
She has acted in Patrick Bergin's Yeats trilogy, Countess Kathleen.