Tributes have been paid to Sinead O’Connor after hundreds of mourners gathered in her Irish hometown for her funeral on Tuesday.
The nation publicly mourned her as fans paid a final tribute to the Irish icon in Bray.
Hundreds lined a coastal road to bid farewell to the acclaimed singer, as the cortege passed by before a private burial.
Bob Geldof and U2’s frontman Bono were among the mourners at the funeral. Irish president Michael Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were also in attendance.
A eulogy for O’Connor said she “suffered more than her share of hardship and adversity”.
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.”
The hearse bearing her coffin began making its way along the Bray seafront at around midday.
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.
Handwritten notes left outside her former home in Bray, Co Wicklow, thanked her for sharing her voice and her music.
One note said: “You are forever in my heart.”
A pink chair was placed outside the pink-framed conservatory of the house, located on the seafront, with pink flowers and a photo of the singer placed at the base of the chair.
One sign left at the wall of the property listed causes that the singer had expressed support for, including welcoming refugees: “Where words fail, music speaks.”
A neighbour was also seen putting candles on the wall that separated the two properties.
Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, an Islamic scholar and the chief Imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland who met O’Connor in 2018, posted that he is “incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead the Muslim funeral prayer for the daughter of Ireland, Sinead O’Connor aka Shuhada Sadaqat”.
He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “It is an honor to be part of this occasion, and I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the family for recognising and embracing her Muslim identity.”
O’Connor’s family asked people who wish to say a “last goodbye” to stand along the Bray seafront as the cortege passed by.
The procession is started at 10.30am at the Harbour Bar end of the Strand Road and continued past her former home, Montebello, where she lived for 15 years.
Since her death on July 26, people have been leaving flowers and paying their respects at the house, which the singer sold in 2021 and which now lies empty.
“Sinead loved living in Bray and the people in it,” a statement issued by her family said.
“With this procession, her family would like to acknowledge the outpouring of love for her from the people of Co Wicklow and beyond, since she left last week to go to another place.”
The Irish Grammy-winning singer was found unresponsive by police at her south-east London home, aged 56.
A host of tributes have flooded in from fans and famous artists across the world in response to her death, including Russell Crowe, Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper and Bob Geldof.
A councillor for Bray East said fans are “grateful” to the family for allowing them the opportunity to “say goodbye” to the late Irish singer.
Erika Doyle told BBC Breakfast: “I was a lifelong fan of Sinead. We met quite by chance when she moved to Bray… Sinead, although she was attached to Bray and very Irish, she was a global superstar, that is easy for us to forget here in Bray – she touched lives across the world.”
She added: “Sinead’s legacy is still being written and I think it will for some time… We are very grateful to Sinead’s family for allowing the opportunity to say goodbye…
“People are taking the opportunity to connect with her in some way.
“I always said about Sinead she was actually quite quiet, but she was never silent.
“We need to mourn the Sinead of Nothing Compares, but (also) the Sinead who shone a light on difficult areas.
“She was controversial but in the way when people say things that people aren’t ready for… speaking truth to power.”
Several gatherings were held in the days after O’Connor’s death in Dublin, Belfast and London, where members of the public paid tribute to her legacy as a musician and activist.
O’Connor, who was born in Dublin in December 1966, released her first album The Lion And The Cobra in 1987.
Her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, followed in 1990 and contained the hit single Nothing Compares 2 U, which saw O’Connor top the charts in countries around the world.
The track earned her multiple Grammy Award nominations including for the prestigious record of the year category, as well as best female pop vocal performance and best music video.
In 1991, she was named artist of the year by Rolling Stone magazine and took home the Brit Award for international female solo artist.
She released a further eight studio albums, the latest being 2014’s I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss.
In 2018, O’Connor announced that she had converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat.
Following her death, her music management company 67 Management said she had been finishing a new album, reviewing tour dates for next year and was also considering “opportunities” around a movie of her book.
O’Connor’s death is not being treated as suspicious by authorities.
A London coroner did not find a medical cause of death and suggested that the post-mortem examination results may take several weeks.
