Kneecap's Móglaí Bap, real name Naoise Ó Cairealláin, has shared a heartfelt statement about his mother's death by suicide ahead of the band's new song, 'Irish Goodbye', set for release tomorrow. The track, from their album 'Fenian', features Kae Tempest and was written by Móglaí as a way to 'confront the reality' of his mother's death in 2020.
In an Instagram post, Móglaí revealed he never planned to write the song but was inspired after seeing old video footage of his mother looking happy. 'The idea I had in my head with 'MAM' was, if I wrote it, she'd hear it, and maybe she'd feel her worth, because when you suffer from depression, you can't see your own value,' he said. He added that he had written a song for her but waited to play it, and 'by then it was too late'.
Móglaí described the difficulty of dealing with suicide and depression, saying, 'You get caught up in the dark times.' The song focuses on 'the mundane things me and my Ma did together', like walking in the park, as he 'never realised it was the day to day stuff I would miss when she was gone'. He noted that writing the song allowed him to 'visualise happier times, instead of being so angry at the world'.
He admitted that since her death, he found it 'hard to confront the reality' and battled feelings of anger, shame, and guilt. 'You feel like you're carrying this weird other burden… It's a very hard conversation to have,' he said, but stressed the need to talk about it to 'alleviate that extra burden of shame and guilt on top of the burden of grief'.
Initially, Móglaí did not cope well, but therapy helped him over time. He encouraged others to seek therapy, noting that 'a lot of our parents' generation don't believe in therapy. But we're different. We can ask for help.' He hopes the song and video will connect with listeners and provide relief, saying, 'You can't carry this stuff around with you and blame yourself. It's not your fault.'
