HUNDREDS OF mourners gathered at Ballybricken Church in Co Limerick yesterday for the funeral of Terence O’Riordan, father of Irish rock star Dolores O’Riordan.
The lead singer with the Cranberries, who travelled from her home in Canada, linked arms with her mother, Eileen, at the church and at Caherelly Cemetery where Mr O’Riordan (74) was laid to rest. The Cranberries guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler were also there.
At the funeral Mass family friend, Canon Liam McNamara, parish priest of Ballybricken and Bohermore, described Mr O’Riordan as a “gentle and kind person” who “loved nature”.
The congregation heard that Mr O’Riordan was a frequent visitor to Knock before an illness prevented him from travelling, and of how he would entertain the Ballybricken “Knock Bus” with impromptu accordion sessions.
Dolores’s husband, Don Burton – a former tour manager with British 1980s pop group Duran Duran – paid tribute to his father-in-law: “I had the privilege of knowing Terry for 20 years. I’ll miss the sound of Terry. He loved life, and he loved playing the box.”