Shane MacGowan smiling after Daniel O'Donnell visits in hospital

A visit from Daniel O’Donnell put a smile on the face of Irish music icon Shane MacGowan, who is in hospital.

Daniel was in Dublin to play a gig at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on Sunday night.

The Kincasslagh country music star paid a visit to his showbiz pal Shane, who has been in hospital with an unspecified illness since July.

Last December, The Pogues frontman was admitted to hospital after a serious bout of viral encephalitis - a swelling on the brain.

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A series of top stars have been visiting the Fairytale of New York singer. Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie also visited.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Shane’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke said: “You are so kind and thoughtful and it’s so helpful. Prayers for everyone who is in hospital!! And immensely grateful to all the staff!”

Last week, Clannad star Moya Brennan was by MacGowan’s bedside.

'Thank you so much for coming to visit,” Victoria wrote alongside a picture shared on X. “We are getting some really nice visitors and it’s a great boost for the morale!”

Thank you #DanielODonnell and @ScreamOfficial Bobby G for visiting @ShaneMacGowan you are so kind and thoughtful and it’s so helpful. Prayers for everyone who is in hospital!! And immensely grateful to all the staff! pic.twitter.com/XaO8liuxZb

— @victoriamary (@Victoriamary) August 28, 2023

In a recent social media post, Victoria Mary opened up over her fears over her husband’s health.

“The natural reaction for most of us when we are in a scary situation and a loved one is in danger of dying is to totally freak out and imagine the worst and it can be hard to stay positive and stay calm and strong and not collapse in a blubbering heap,” she said.

“A lot of the time life goes on as normal but sometimes things happen to shake things up and not necessarily in ways that you want. We have had some pretty scary health challenges in our family recently and it has been showing me that the idea of just trusting and going with the flow is not easy.”