Originally formed as Pure Mania in late 1979 in Rathcoole on the outskirts of Belfast. They played their first gig in March 1980 when the youngest member of the band was 15 years old. Shortly after their first few gigs the band went through some line up changes which saw original members Steven Mitchell and Michael Ash leave and Jim (Rochey) Roche, vocalist with White Noise joined briefly for some memorable gigs. The band also rehearsed with Gibby doing backing vocals on a number of occasions although Gibby never actually played any live gigs with the band.

However, it wasn’t until John Gray joined from Final Stage that the band finally had a stable line up. This new line up of Davy McMahon- Vocals, John Gray- Guitar, Joe Goudie- Bass, Tommy McMahon- Drums also decided to change the band name to Tarot XIII. The band went on to play a succession of gigs supporting the likes of the Outcasts and Dogmatic Element along the way. John Gray " I can remember we played a gig on the back of a lemonade lorry driving round Rathcoole on the night of Prince Charles and Lady Di's wedding in July 1981. Not exactly the Sex Pistols on the Thames in 1977, but looking back it was pretty fucking Punk Rock".

In 1981 they recorded a two-song demo ‘Silent War’ and ‘China Town’. Towards the end of 1981 they recorded a further five-song demo. Songs recorded were ‘Nite-mares’, ‘Tarot XIII’, ‘Visions Of Demons’, ‘Wrong Number’ and ‘The Day The Rain Came’’. The band split in 1983.

Spit Records unearthed these recordings in 2021 and have issued Silent War as a limited run 7-inch single with more of the recordings to be released later. You can listen to Silent War below.

John Gray “I can remember our final gig in QUB Speakeasy was cut short about two thirds of the way through the set by a student union delegation. This was due to the fact that I was wearing an offensive symbol and I subsequently received a lifelong ban from Queen's. Incidentally, the support act for this final gig was provided by a band called 'Every Mother's Son' who featured, on bass guitar, an old school friend of mine i.e. 'Andy Cairns' of Therapy?”

In 2022, Spit Receords released two further Tarot XIII recordings. On 29th March 2022 Spit released Shellshock Rockers Vol. 3, a compilation CD of previously unreleased tracks, all salvaged from old cassette tapes. This featured Tarot XIII with the track 'Tarot XIII'. Then on 13th July 2022, we released a second 7-inch single, 'The Day The Rain Came c/w 'Wrong Number'. You can listen to below tracks below.

Sadly, Davy McMahon passed away on Thursday 14th December 2023.