Breaking: The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan has died at 65 - he was best known for Fairytale Of New York which was released in 1987

The singer had been receiving care in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin for an infection but was discharged last week ahead of his upcoming birthday on Christmas Day.

From the 1980s, he lead the Irish punk band who are best known for their hit festive song Fairytale Of New York which was released in 1987.

On Thursday, his wife Victoria Mary Clarke shared a black and white photo of MacGowan from his younger years smoking and holding a wine glass in a joint post to her Instagram and her husband’s.

Alongside the post, she wrote: “I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it.

“Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.

“I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.

“There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your presence in this world you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music.

“You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much. You meant the world to me.”

MacGowan revealed he was diagnosed with encephalitis last year in a video posted to social media on New Year’s Eve.

It is is an uncommon but serious condition in which the brain becomes inflamed, according to the NHS website.

He has also used a wheelchair since 2015 after injuring himself in a fall.

MacGowan was born on Christmas Day 1957 in Pembury, Kent, to his mother Therese, who was a Feis Ceoil singer, and father Maurice.

In 2018, The Pogues frontman and journalist Clarke tied the knot in a small ceremony in Copenhagen in Denmark in front of guests including Johnny Depp.