Shane MacGowan, songwriter and lead singer of Celtic folk-punk group The Pogues, has died aged 65 after a long illness, his wife announced on Thursday.

"Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me... has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese," wrote MacGowan's wife Victoria Mary Clarke in an Instagram post.

MacGowan, who had been in and out of hospital in Dublin since July, is most famous for penning The Pogues's biggest hit, the Irish folk-tinged Christmas classic "Fairytale of New York" in 1987.

Co-formed by MacGowan, who was born in England but spent much of his childhood in Ireland with his mother's family, The Pogues fused punk and Irish folk music.

"Shane will be remembered as one of music's greatest lyricists," Irish President Michael D. Higgins said in a statement.

"So many of his songs would be perfectly crafted poems, if that would not have deprived us of the opportunity to hear him sing them," he said.