Shane MacGowan’s widow is in grief counselling.

The ‘Fairytale of New York’ singer’s long-term partner Victoria Mary Clarke was by his side when he died on 30 November aged 65 after being hit with a series of illnesses including pneumonia that left him hospitalised, and added in her latest Instagram update about how she is coping with his passing she would have been “delighted” to have been shot dead to stop her pain before she sought out therapy.

She told fans alongside a throwback picture of Shane in the Dublin home where he died surrounded by loved ones: “Grief can hit you like a tornado when you are back to normal life and you are not running around doing stuff.

“Yesterday if someone had offered to shoot me I would have been delighted but today I did some grief counselling and I made pasta sauce and the idea of giving up seems mad.

“I think grief can drive people mad but if you let it out if you cry and wail and talk about it you can feel it moving and it brings you back to life (five red heart emojis.)”

Victoria also recently told fans she has comforted herself by going to the church mass Shane “loved”.

She said: “I was feeling really desolate this morning but I was lucky enough to be able to get to Mass in Cuil Aodh home of the famous choir led by Peadar O Riada. It was a transcendent experience to feel the joy and love (red heart emoji) in the church and in the congregation and in the healing voices of the choir.

“Shane always loved to take Holy Communion and he could really get a buzz from it and I definitely found a level of peace that had been feeling out of reach. “Just the sound of the beautiful voices and the incense and the beauty of the Irish language being spoken was glorious and healing.”