Fairytale of Co Clare anyone?

IT’S the classic hit that’s widely regarded as the best Christmas song ever produced.

But The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York might not have become one of the most frequently played festive numbers had they followed their original plan — to set the song in Co Clare.

According to a radio documentary, the 1987 hit, which is at No 7 in the Irish charts this week, was almost called Fairytale of Co Clare.

Frontman Shane MacGowan and bandmate Jem Finer, who both feature in an hour-long BBC special on the origins of the song, said early demos told the story of a sailor from west Clare gazing out at the Atlantic and dreaming of what life would be like across the ocean in New York.