This weekend, Oasis bring their highly anticipated reunion tour to Dublin’s Croke Park for two sold-out nights, on August 16 and 17, 2025. It will be their first time playing in Ireland in over 17 years – a monumental moment for the 160,000 lucky fans holding tickets.
For some, it will be the first time ever seeing the Gallagher brothers live. But for a small group of Dubliners, memories of meeting Liam go all the way back to New Year’s Day, 1995 – long before smartphones, social media, or reunion tours.
What follows is the story of The McDonald’s Girls, a once-in-a-lifetime encounter that has since become a tiny but treasured piece of Oasis folklore.
A New Year’s morning surprise
While most of Dublin was still sleeping off the celebrations, four teenage girls – Karen, her younger sister, and friends Jillian and Kiera – found themselves at McDonald’s on O’Connell Street, grabbing some food after an all-night party.
Upstairs, they spotted two familiar faces: one was unmistakably Liam Gallagher, the other introduced himself as Chris, his manager. Karen, certain it was him, walked over and asked:
— “Are you Liam Gallagher?”
— “No… who’s he?” came the reply, Mancunian accent and all, clearly having a laugh.
Autographs, Tayto crisps and red lemonade
After a bit of banter, Liam signed autographs on McDonald’s brown paper bags – the only thing available. Then he asked where he could get a drink. It was 10 a.m., pubs were closed, but Karen knew a place: her aunt’s pub, Busy Bodies, on Upper Dominic Street.
Walking through Dominic Street, Liam joked:
— “Should I trust you girls? All in your Nike runners, leading me through the flats… am I gonna get mugged?”
At the pub, among locals who didn’t even know who he was, Liam bought drinks for everyone. For the girls, all underage, he ordered his Irish childhood favourite: red lemonade and Tayto crisps.
The jukebox played Oasis songs, but Liam preferred The Rolling Stones. When Karen put on Everybody Hurts by R.E.M., he bluntly called it “sh*t” – pure, unfiltered Liam.
A promise kept at a Cork gig
After a couple of hours of laughter, jukebox battles, and a discreet trip to the cellar for a joint, the girls bought a disposable camera for photos. Liam posed by a green post box and with a bag of Tayto, laughing about “f***ing green post boxes.”
Before leaving, he christened them “The McDonald’s Girls” and promised to play them a song. Weeks later, at a Cork gig, he spotted them in the crowd, shouted out “The McDonald’s Girls,” and launched into Live Forever.
Lost and found fame
The magic could have ended there – but when the girls went to collect their developed photos, they were gone. Karen wrote to the Evening Herald, not to sell the story but to recover the images. The paper intervened, tracked down the photos, and sent a photographer to their house.
The next day, they were in the paper. At school, everyone wanted to talk to them. For a brief moment, they were famous.
Thirty years later
Nearly three decades on, Karen still talks about that day with disbelief:
“No matter what people say about Liam, he was kind, respectful and real with us. He spent hours with four teenage fans for no reason other than he wanted to. You couldn’t ask for more. He’s a legend.”
From 1995 to Croke Park
As Oasis prepare to walk on stage at Croke Park this weekend, The McDonald’s Girls remain a reminder of what makes the band so beloved: not just the music, but the unexpected moments, the humour, and the connections with fans that last a lifetime.
For Karen, Jillian, Kiera, and Edel, Live Forever will always mean a little bit more.
