In the words of the artist’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, “Shane has admitted to being very highly sexed from before puberty, partly as a result of spending time on a farm and being exposed to the sexuality and fertility of the animals, which was blatant and brutal and basic but also beautiful and sensual and celebrated. Ireland has a strong pagan tradition of celebrating sexuality and the ‘Sile na gig’ female goddesses, (which actually can be found adorning Christian churches) are often depicted with a huge, splayed vagina. Shane was interested in all aspects of fornication from an early age, and was excited and fascinated by the variety and abundance of porn magazines that were available on ‘the continent’ in more sexually uninhibited countries like Germany, Sweden and Italy on the early Pogues tours, and this inspired a great deal of erotic drawings, including orgies, many kinds of penises, breasts and vaginas and many rapturous and ecstatic depictions of fellatio."