Shamrock Diaries was a huge seller in Europe, reaching the top 20 in several countries including Ireland, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and spent forty two weeks in the Dutch charts, peaking at No.

[5] In a fresh interview for the sleeve notes in the deluxe version of the album (2019), he recalls how Dublin "reminded me so much of my home town.... Middlesbrough back then was about 65% Irish... And half my family are from Ireland."

Rea told Q magazine that he wrote "Steel River" after returning to Middlesbrough "to see me father after me mother died, and [they] had knocked the whole place down.

"[6] "Chisel Hill" refers to a house Rea bought in the vicinity of Roseberry Topping, which lies just south of Middlesbrough, and has a distinctive half-cone shaped summit.

[5] Rea says that the song "can make me cry quite easily... We'd reached the point where we'd bought a house, I had a child, we were happy.

Irish folk singer Dolores Keane covers "One Golden Rule" on her 1989 album "Lion In A Cage" In 2024 demos from Swedish singer Frida's 2nd English language solo album "Shine" leaked on the internet, one of these demos was "Love Turns To Lies".