(Bray) With flowers or singing her hit Nothing Compares 2 U, hundreds of Irish people greeted the funeral procession of singer Sinead O’Connor, found dead at her London home in late July, in south Dublin on Tuesday.
The disappearance at the age of 56 of Sinead O’Connor, who became a world star in 1990 with Nothing Compares 2 U, written by the American artist Prince, had sparked an avalanche of tributes in Ireland and around the world.
After a private ceremony in the morning, attended by Irish President Michael Higgins, the funeral procession marched along the seafront in Bray, a small town south of Dublin where Sinead O’Connor lived for 15 years.
He was greeted by a moved crowd walking next to the hearse, some throwing flowers at the passing vehicle or starting hits from the singer. Ahead, a truck was draped in LGBT flags with rooftop speakers playing reggae.
“Sinead loved living in Bray,” the singer’s relatives wrote in a statement on Sunday. “With this procession, his family would like to recognize the outpouring of love of the inhabitants” of the region and elsewhere since the announcement of his death and offer them a “last goodbye”.
The procession passed by the singer’s former home, where many wreaths have been laid since the announcement of her death on July 26.
“Sinead, thank you for hearing us and responding. Sorry for breaking your heart,” read a tribute left on the doorstep of the house.
“The outpouring of sadness and tributes to the life and work of Sinead O’Connor is testament to the profound impact she has had on the people of Ireland,” the Irish President wrote in a statement, noting the the singer’s “unique contribution”, her “great vulnerability” and her “superb creativity”.
“It all came from one heart, one body and one life, which wrung out incredible pain, perhaps too much to bear,” he added.
At the ceremony before the procession, Imam Umar Al-Qadri, head of the Irish Muslim Council, said a prayer in memory of Sinead, who converted to Islam in 2018, changing her name to Shuhada ‘Sadaqat.
“It’s an honor to be here on this occasion, and I sincerely thank the family for acknowledging and embracing the singer’s Muslim identity,” he wrote on X.
The burial was then to take place in private.
Besides her music, the singer was known for her fight against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which she accused of not having sufficiently protected children. Irreverent, she had torn in 1992 an image of Pope John Paul II on television in the United States.
“She had the courage to speak up when everyone else was cautiously silent,” Morrissey, lead singer of The Smiths, wrote on his website.
The singer, who claimed to have been abused by her mother, caused further scandal in 1999 when a dissident Irish church ordained her a “priestess”.
The causes of his death have not been disclosed. Police said his “death is not being considered suspicious.”
In recent years, Sinead O’Connor has been pouring out on social media, threatening his former associates with legal action, describing his physical and mental health issues, sharing his suicidal thoughts and his complicated relationship with his family.
By 2022, his 17-year-old son Shane had taken his own life. Sinead O’Connor was then hospitalized after indicating on social networks that she was also thinking of suicide.
According to her agents, she was finishing a new album, planning a tour and had plans to bring her autobiography, Rememberings, to the screen, released in 2021.
