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Rock superstar Noel Gallagher says fatherhood has been one of the greatest joys of his life, despite having doubts about his ability to be a

Rock superstar Noel Gallagher says fatherhood has been one of the greatest joys of his life, despite having doubts about his ability to be a good dad.

His own childhood was marred by an abusive, alcoholic Irish father who beat him and was physically violent towards his mother, Peggy, before she left him.

Prior to the split, Noel and his older brother, Paul, were reportedly so scared of their Meath-born father, Tommy that they developed a stammer.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday World, Noel, who turned 56 yesterday and is set to release a new album next Friday, says:

“It [fatherhood] wasn’t one of the things in life I particularly thought I would be cut out for. To be a dad as a rock star is a lot easier than when you’re working on a building site and all that, but, yeah, watching the kids grow up has been one of the great pleasures of life."

So, despite keeping them out of the limelight, does he feel that growing up with a famous father is difficult for them?

“It’s not something they’ll ever be able to judge because that’s what they were born into,” Noel tells me. “But if they think it’s difficult having a rock star for a dad they might try and swap it and have my dad as a dad. And I can assure them that the way I was brought up they’d rather me as their father than my old fella as their dad, that’s for sure.”

However, Noel does have concerns for his children having to navigate a more complicated world today, compared to the simple times he grew up in.

“I really feel for my two teenage boys,” he reveals. “Life is very, very complicated for them. They’ve grown up with the internet and all the f**king nonsense that that brings.

“When I tell them tales about when we were growing up they think it’s boring. But I can assure them that they’d rather have boring than the complicated bullshit world they live in.

“I worry…I think it’s tough for young boys particularly these days. My only worry is that they won’t have an idea about what they want to do with their life. I think half the battle in life is to realise what it is you want to do. Then it’s just a case of going out and trying to get it.

“These days they have so much choice their f**kin’ heads are fried. At 16 they don’t know where they’re going, whereas when we were growing up it was very simple and regimented and there’s a lot to be said for that.”

Noel’s childhood involved trips to his mother Peggy’s family home in Charlestown, Co Mayo.

“We went to Mayo for every school holiday, so we went for Easter, summer and Christmas. Summer holidays were always the best… six weeks, that’s when summer was proper summer.”

Mayo is still close to his heart? “Yeah, of course,” he says. “I’ve got an Irish passport and it’s a big part of who we are. Outside of school growing up we didn’t really know that many English people. Because my mum was from such a big family and they pretty much all moved to Manchester there was a lot of cousins and aunties and uncles, so it was a very self-contained circle growing up.”

Noel was reared on a sprawling council estate in Manchester, which inspires his latest single and reflective album, Council Skies.

The Manchester council estate is light years away from rural Ireland?

“Yeah, but there were as many characters, although it was fairly grey and full of concrete,” Noel responds. “But there was as many characters on the council estate as you find in Charlestown in the pubs, for sure.”

His mother, Peggy, still lives in the same council house where she reared her three sons, having refused their offer to buy her a home in a more exclusive area.

“She’s got seven sisters, four of which live in Manchester, and they all live around the same housing estate, so they see each other every day,” Noel reveals. “She’s not interested in moving anywhere. She lives in this tiny little house where we were all brought up in and she’s f**kin’ happy as Larry.”

Has she been left alone? “Some of the guys that we knew when we were growing up, they kind of look out for her,” he says.

“They make sure she’s alright. She does get bothered from time to time, but on the whole she does pretty well.

“She gave birth to these two sons who went on and did what they did — that’s the story of her life as well as the story of mine and Liam’s life.”

Is she amazed by it? “She would never say one way or the other. This is her stock line: ‘Sure as long as you’re enjoyin’ yourself.’”

I tell Noel about meeting Peggy at Slane Castle in 2009 when Oasis were the headline act, and jokingly asking her: “Would you not sort out those two fellas?” referring to the on-going battle between her sons that continues to this day.

Peggy laughed that day, saying: “Oh sure they don’t listen to me.”

Noel laughs: “No, we didn’t listen to her then and we won’t be listening to her now, either.”

#daddy noel #they’d rather me as their father than my old fella as their dad #Kids have much choice that their f**kin’ heads are fried #why he thinks his boys have a very very complicated life?#what we do not know or see?#I agree that too much choice is not always good but they have the chance to choose #many kids cannot #they do not listen to Peggy

There's a good reason, though.

Spose you've all seen this by now, but it just crossed my dash, so..

#gbbo #daddy noel