Sinead O’Connor’s funeral as it happened: Bono and Bob Geldof among mourners at private service
Fans of the ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ singer have lined the streets for procession along the seafront in Bray, Co Wicklow
Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music
Get our Now Hear This email for free
Fans lined the streets of Bray, Co Wicklow, ahead of Sinead O’Connor’s funeral on Tuesday 8 August.
The Irish singer’s funeral procession passed through the seafront in the town where O’Connor lived for 15 years. Plans for her funeral were shared by her family, in a statement issued to Ireland’s public broadcaster, RTE.
Ahead of the funeral, fans packed out the Strand Road, leaving emotional notes of tribute and flowers for the singer by her former home.
After the public paid their respects, O’Connor was buried in a private service attended by close friends and family.
On Sunday (6 August), a large tribute to O’Connor appeared on a hillside in Bray, reading “ÉIRE SINÉAD” with a heart emoji between the two words, the word “Eire” being the Irish name for Ireland.
“We just wanted to take the opportunity to mark the moment with a bold statement that symbolises what she meant to this little country of ours,” Richard Seabrooke, executive creative director of The Tenth Man, told CNN in a statement.
Find out how the funeral unfolded below.
Trains ‘significantly busier than normal’ as mourners pour into Bray for Sinead O’Connor’s funeral
With fans encouraged to visit Bray to pay their respects by bus today, train services in Co Wicklow are “significantly busier than normal”.
A spokesman for Irish Rail told PA: “Darts arriving to Bray are significantly busier than normal for mid-morning services, with people travelling to pay their respects to Sinead O’Connor.
“Our station manager advises me the last three trains arriving, in particular, have been quite busy, and that’s expected to continue over the next hour.”
Additional reporting by Press Association.
What police have said about Sinead O’Connor’s death
Sinead O’Connor’s death is not being treated as suspicious, police said in a statement on 28 July.
As tributes poured in for the Irish singer after her death aged 56, police disclosed that she was found “unresponsive” in “a residential address” in the Lambeth area of London.
O’Connor’s death was confirmed by her family in a statement. The cause of her death has yet to be disclosed.
Days before she died, O’Connor shared a tribute to her 17-year-old son, who died in 2022, in what would be her final social media post.
Read more:
Musician’s family was alerted after she was found ‘unresponsive’
Sinead O’Connor’s open letter that issued a warning to Miley Cyrus
After the release of her viral music video for her hit single “Wrecking Ball”, Miley Cyrus (then-20 years old) told Rolling Stone magazine that she’d been inspired by O’Connor’s accompanying visuals for “Nothing Compares 2 U” (1990).
In response, O’Connor wrote to Cyrus “in the spirit of motherliness and with love”.
She told the young artist that it wasn’t “‘cool’ to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos” and that she was in fact being “pimped” by the music industry.
Read the full letter O’Connor wrote to Cyrus:
Cyrus compared the music video for her 2013 hit ‘Wrecking Ball’ to the visuals for O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’
Sinead O’Connor has been described as a “blessed soul” by the Imam who helped convert her to Islam.
The Grammy-winning singer, who died aged 56, converted to Islam in 2018 – changing her name to Shuhada’ Davitt, later Shuhada Sadaqat.
She tweeted in 2018 from a now-deleted account: “I am proud to have become a Muslim.
“This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey; all scripture study leads to Islam.”
Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, 40, an Islamic scholar and the chief Imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland, met O’Connor in 2018.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “She was very down to earth, very humble. You can kind of say she was a blessed soul.
“She also was a great representative of Islam, and of humanity.
“This is a person who was very inclusive, diverse, open and non-judgmental – a beautiful human being.
“But at the same time had very difficult challenges, and I think these trials and difficulties she had, highlighted her strength and resilience.
“She represented the essence of our shared humanity.”
Sinead O’Connor fans gathered to sing ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ in Dublin tribute
Fans of Sinead O’Connor sang her most famous song at a poignant gathering in Dublin to pay tribute to the late star.
Around 100 people joined together to sing Nothing Compares 2 U at the event last month.
Alongside her powerful vocals and lyrics, the Irish singer was known for taking fierce stances on social and political issues such as the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the sexualisation of female musicians.
The lunchtime singalong in Barnardo Square, central Dublin, was organised by socialist feminist group Rosa.
Read more:
The 56-year-old Irish singer died in London last week.
Bob Geldof has been pictured riding in a taxi as part of the funeral cortege for Sinead O’Connor ahead of her funeral.
Speaking ahead of the funeral, Geldof recalled his last conversations with O’Connor.
“Many, many times Sinead was full of a terrible loneliness and a terrible despair,” he said. “She was a very good friend of mine.
“We were talking right up to a couple of weeks ago. Some of her texts were laden with desperation and despair and some were ecstatically happy. She was like that.”
Huge crowds gather as funeral procession moves through Bray
The size of the crowds coming to pay their respects can be seen in the pictures below.
Sinead O’Connor remembered for her ‘otherworldly resonance’ in funeral eulogy
Sinead O’Connor was remembered for experiencing “more than her share of hardship and adversity” during a eulogy at her funeral.
Speaking during the private service, Imam Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri said: “Gifted with a voice that moved a generation of young people, she could reduce listeners to tears by her otherworldly resonance.
“One need only listen to her a cappella version of ‘Danny Boy’ or the traditional Irish tune ‘Molly Malone’ to know this about her gift. Sinead‘s voice carried with it an undertone of hope, of finding one’s way home.
“The Irish people have long found solace in song from the sufferings of this lower abode, and Sinead was no exception, and in sharing that solace, she brought joy to countless people the world over.”
Sinead O’Connor funeral procession began with coffin making its way along seafront
The hearse bearing Sinead O’Connor’s coffin made its way along the Bray seafront.
The coffin was adorned with blue flowers, with mourners throwing red and yellow flowers onto the roof of the vehicle.
The hearse was followed by a campervan playing her music.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments