Shane MacGowan leaves behind £4 million fortune

Shane MacGowan had an estate worth £4.3million when he died last month.

The Pogues frontman, who would have turned 66 on Christmas Day, raked in most of his fortune in royalties from the band’s much-loved 1988 festive hit Fairytale of New York.

The song made him £216,000 to £260,000 a year, according to Business Plus.

His net worth included a flat in Dublin that he shared with wife Victoria Mary Clarke.

This year Fairytale royalties are expected to be even higher after fans campaigned for it to become this year’s Christmas No1.

It only reached No6 in the festive charts, released yesterday, but Victoria said Shane would not have minded, and “appreciated that people love the song.”

She added: “The first time when it didn’t go to No1 he was a bit p***ed off…but I think he got used to it because people kept playing it and that’s what’s important.”