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There are some aspects of this article which look just a little like fandom rather than a Wikipedia article. I wholly appreciate that it's about a person of note and talent and that they've recently died, but I do think the sources need to be improved. The subject spent quite a lot of time under the influence, including when he gave interviews, and he wasn't always consistent about his life; he shouldn't be cited as the only source for stories about his life. He does seem to have gradually identified as Irish as he grew older, but it would be better if there was some evidence of his, for example, holding an Irish passport. I am unconvinced, without a different source, that he was tutored by his parents to start drinking at the age of five in the pub. This is a family who sent their son to an exclusive private school for his primary years (if the article is correct), then to one of England's most exclusive private schools for secondary. I know that it is often said (i.e. by the subject) that he had a full scholarship, but it would be better if there were evidence for this. It also doesn't ring quite true, without evidence, that he was expelled in his second year (age 12 or 13) for selling drugs. It also seems odd that there is no record of where he spent the rest of his secondary schooling. If he went to a state school, we might infer that pupils from that school would let it be known today. Instead, I can see in the media only ex-Westminster boys who say they remember him; none of them say he made only the briefest of appearance and was thrown out at 12 or 13. Some other references look equally suspect. He was brought up in an Irish Republican family? Were they sleepers? They did live in Tunbridge Wells and send their child to private schools in England, after all. Is there actual evidence that the subject lived from shortly after birth to the age of six in Tipperary? Did he not attend school before he moved back to England? Where did they stay at that time? Why does no-one know anything about this when he was one of the most famous people in Ireland? All in all, this article could do with some impartial editing which takes out some unsourced material that looks like myth. I'll leave it for a few days to see if anyone else has a view. All the best, Emmentalist (talk) 22:47, 8 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Emmentalist, I hear you. On the one hand, the article's chronology of MacGowan's early life is a bit imprecise. (Once he got into his teens, the chaotic nature of his life might have something to do with this.) Like you, I wonder about the factuality of his childhood drinking exploits, and I wonder if he went to school anywhere else (aside from St Martin's School of Art) after being expelled from Westminster. However, there are a slew of sources that say he went to Westminster on scholarship. Also, the article does not say he was expelled from Westminster for drug dealing, but for drug possession; a series of sources support this statement, and I haven't seen anything that contradicts it. As to the mention of his family's Irish Republican sympathies, I have rephrased the sentence to make clear that this assertion is based on MacGowan's words. Overall, the cited sources on his early life seem reliable enough, although I claim no expertise regarding Irish media. If you find additional sources that contain information that ought to be included in the article or that would fill in some gaps, please feel free to add them. If you're suggesting that sources that would generally be regarded as reliable are getting the facts wrong, that is certainly not impossible, but it's an issue that goes beyond the scope of Wikipedia. Hope that helps. MonMothma (talk) 22:06, 9 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I think that's a fair assessment, @MonMothma. My instinct is that there are no sources of him spending any time at school, or any evidence of his presence in Ireland at all as far as I can see, because he wasn't there. Of course that might be wrong. Similarly, there are none of his attending another school in the UK because, again, I don't think he did. I don't want to seem to conduct original research so I think it's best if I just leave it as revised by you. I'll tell you this, though (!), I spent a couple of nights a dozen or so years ago drinking with him for hours in the same club. He wasn't drunk when we started yet he appeared drunk - you know that sober drunk thing? I think it had become an affectation. It was profoundly sad. Each time, as the evening progressed, people just sent him loads of alcohol across and he drank it all. He had two sort of social minders with him and they just facilitated it all. None of the other four of us, including his minders, actually drank that much. Anyway, lots of journos came and went; most bought him a drink and asked him a few questions in passing (it wasn't allowed in this club and normally no-one would try it but he seemed to be treated as an exception. And I don't mean in a good way; more that he tolerated it when no-one else in there would). The journos weren't pissed either; they were patrolling an area between legitimate club membership (they were members) and working as a journo (not allowed in the club). Anyway, in reply to their questions he clearly and continuously made stuff up; but the journos had their copy and filed little diary stories the next day. I think that a lot of the stuff in his Wikipedia article is likely to have been sourced from him in this way. All the best, Emmentalist (talk) 16:43, 10 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
