Sinéad O’Connor was laid to rest in Ireland Tuesday, August 8, in a private ceremony attended by fellow musicians like Bob Geldof and U2’s Bono and The Edge, as well as Irish president Michael D. Higgins, The Independent reports.
Fans lined the streets of Bray, County Wicklow, to pay their respects to the singer outside her former home, Montebello, which she lived in for 15 years. Fans also left notes, flowers and candles outside the home in tribute to the singer.
Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, an Islamic scholar and chief imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland, led the private ceremony, calling the singer “a voice that moved a generation of young people” and adding she “could reduce listeners to tears by her otherworldly resonance.”
Following the service, the hearse with O’Connor’s flower-covered casket drove through the streets as fans threw more flowers and applauded as it passed. It was led by a Volkswagen van, covered in both a pride and Rastafarian flag, that played Sinead’s music.
“The outpouring of grief and appreciation of the life and work of Sinéad O’Connor demonstrates the profound impact which she had on the Irish people,” Higgins said of the singer. “The unique contribution of Sinead involved the experience of a great vulnerability combined with a superb, exceptional level of creativity that she chose to deliver through her voice, her music and her songs.”
O’Connor passed away in July at the age of 56. So far, no cause of death has been revealed.
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