The Crock of Gold was the second and final full-length album by Shane MacGowan and the Popes and was released in November 1997 on ZTT Records.

The Crock of Gold followed The Snake, MacGowan's first solo album after the breakup of The Pogues, and was less critically acclaimed than its predecessor.

The Crock of Gold was written primarily by MacGowan in Nenagh, The Republic of Ireland and was recorded at Wessex Studios in London, England.

[2] According to Rob Martin, writing for Spinal Column in 1998, "The Crock of Gold has one really solid song after another in the quasi-Celtic folk rock traditional style.

All contain Shane's gritty and soulful trademark voice (and the vocals actually come off clear on the recordings- always a crapshoot when it comes to MacGowan's pipes).