Music

Sinéad O’Connor’s death: Readers share their memories of singer

When The Irish Times asked readers for their reaction to the death of the singer, responses poured in from home and abroad

Floral tributes were laid outside Sinead O'Connor's former home in Bray, Co Wicklow, after news broke of her death. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Rory Fleming
Alessia Micalizzi
Thu Jul 27 2023 - 17:23

The passing of Sinéad O’Connor at just 56 years of age has moved not just the nation, but the world.

In a call-out to readers of The Irish Times, responses poured in from around the world.

“Sinéad’s voice would penetrate your soul and never leave you. It was anger, revolt but also tenderness,” said Francesco Correale, from Naples, Italy. “I loved her voice, her music and her song lyrics from the first moment I heard her, now many years ago. Away goes another piece of life, a woman and an artist who made you feel less lonely,” he added.

Again encompassing the global nature of O’Connor’s reach, Alena Kastnerova, from the Czech Republic, recalled how the Irish singer inspired a generation of rebellion in the country during the late 1980s.

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“In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution took place in Czechoslovakia, and without a single casualty, we got rid of the communist domination that had destroyed our lives for more than 40 years,” she recounted.

“Then, on January 8th, 1990, Sinéad released the song Nothing Compares to You. An indescribably original, amazing and extraordinary girl with an indescribably beautiful voice fit right into that era. A time when everything was absolutely new, hopeful and original. It was a fantastic time that Sinéad O’Connor became a part of. That’s why my generation that lived through this has such a soft spot for Sinéad. She was part of our postrevolutionary era, when we were young, beautiful, healthy and, for the first time in our lives, absolutely free. I hope and wish very much that she will finally be free too.”

Closer to home, Maighréad Bussmann, from Co Leitrim, said: “Sinéad always felt like a cool older sister ... she was a storyteller like no other, and that’s what she gave to me. I feel a loss that I have never felt before with the passing of a much-loved musician,” she said.

“The album Universal Mother was played in our house a lot. I didn’t understand the meaning behind those songs when I was small, but I remember going to primary school and thinking that Sinéad knew a lot more about the Famine, and Irish history, than our schoolbooks,” she added.

Catherine Crichton, from Dublin, remembered O’Connor’s virtuosity. “I have always been in awe of Sinéad O’Connor. Her incredible talent, her fearlessness, her style and jaw-dropping beauty, her refusal to conform or compromise or to be a ‘good girl’.”

“Last November, after a demoralising day, I was feeling low and sorry for myself. I went to see Nothing Compares, about Sinéad’s early life and career. It brought home very powerfully just what an amazing person she was,” said Catherine. “She was so ahead of her time in speaking out against this repressed and repressive country.”

Tony McGovern, also from Co Dublin, wrote: “Musicians like Sinéad (and U2 and Dolores) are chapters in my life ... Mandinka and her album from 1987 reminds me of growing up in Dublin and that she was from nearby me. I feel like in some way I knew her (through her music).”

A number of readers were not only fans of O’Connor, but also met her in person, encounters that highlighted her humanity and compassion.

Erika Doyle, from Co Wicklow, recounted such a meeting in a Bray cafe, “‘What’s his name?’ Sinéad asked, towards my baby, my second child. His name is biblical – Hebrew – and this opens up a conversation that meanders through religion, motherhood and men. We talk of affairs of the heart, pain, how pain can be read on the body and face and how often it is misinterpreted, misread.”

“When I saw a photograph of Sinéad for the first time on the cover of the Lion and the Cobra, I felt like I’d been thumped in the chest. It was the start of a lifelong love affair with her – her music, her voice, her attitude,” Erika said.

Remembering her chance encounter with O’Connor, Erika recalls how she mentioned this cover to her, to which the singer responded about “how the picture was taken while she was singing, and not screaming, as many people thought. The mystery of the picture I had stared at for hundreds of hours, that jump started my love affair with music, with Sinéad, casually solved by Sinéad herself, while my baby sits on her knee and the sea roars as I try not to cry.”

“Sinéad let Irish women know it was okay to be ballsy, imperfect, questioning, broken, fixed ... a work in progress. She was a kick ass rock star and societal change maker. But I think all she wanted was peace, for herself and for others. I hope she found it,” Erika said.

Gráinne McCool, from Co Donegal, was another who had the pleasure of meeting O’Connor, this time backstage at the 2014 Westport Music Festival. “It was a weekend I’ll treasure always as I got some of the best work experiences and encounters of my life,” she said.

“Meeting Sinéad O’Connor is an experience I hold dear. Simply because of her friendliness and genuinely lovely persona. We chatted, laughed and I felt so humbled in her presence. There was something so pure, so inspiring and just so captivating about her,” she said.

“Later that night she took to the stage. I went down to the middle of the crowd after photographing her from stage front. I really was in awe as I watched and listened to this icon rock the stage. That voice. That very presence,” she said.

“She is definitely one of the most special people I’ve met. And one of the most beautiful I’ve photographed. Rest in peace Sinéad. May you and Shane be together. Thank you for the music, for this memory, and for being you.”

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