The Newstalk Breakfast host was speaking after the 65-year-old musician passed away yesterday following a lengthy stay in hospital.
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Born in the UK to a mother from Tipperary and a father from Dublin, MacGowan joined the band that would become The Pogues in 1982.
Tributes have been flooding in from all across society and the world.
Ciara said MacGowan will always be the backdrop to her youth.
"I'm of the age where you start looking back and you remember all the times you heard The Pogues as the backdrop to your youth," she said.
"I do remember being in college and walking home from one of those rowing clubs up the top of The Liffey.
"It was raining, we were walking down and a load of us singing Rainy Night in Soho as we walked along by the river.
"I just remember it as a snapshot in time."
'The Pogues as the backdrop'
Ciara said she has particular fond memories of Fairytale of New York.
"I was 16 at the time and I remember driving on Christmas Eve, sitting in the back of the car with my sister and my parents, who are both dead now - and my Dad said, 'That's a terrible song' and us going, 'No, it's brilliant' and laughing.
"I remember some moments in my own life with The Pogues as the backdrop as standout memories... and I think that's what a brilliant band or a brilliant musician does.
"I think he meant more to an awful lot of people... I think he was important to the fabric of Ireland," she added.
'That era is gone'
Fellow presenter Shane Coleman said MacGowan and The Pogues were important for the diaspora.
"There were so many bands, that of the Irish immigrant going to the UK, and so many bands came out of that," he said.
"You've The Smiths, Dexys Midnight Runners, Oasis, John Lydon of The Sex Pistols, Kate Bush, Dusty Springfield - both her parents were Irish emigrants.
"It was incredible; that era I think is gone.
"We still have people going across to England and back, but it's not the same," he added.
