Thousands line streets outside former home in County Wicklow
Fans have applauded and scattered flowers as Sinéad O’Connor’s funeral hearse moved past her former home in Ireland.
The roads have been closed so people can gather to pay their respects to the late Irish singer and activist as her funeral cortege passes through.
Flowers and handwritten notes have been laid outside her old house in Bray, County Wicklow, 20 kilometres south of Dublin city centre on the east coast of Ireland.
One note said: “You are forever in my heart.”
Blue flowers can seen covering the coffin, while mourners have scattered red and yellow flowers onto the roof of the vehicle, accompanied by a campervan playing her music.
Fans began to follow the hearse as her funeral procession made its way down the Bray seafront in Co Wicklow.
Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, the imam leading O’Connor’s Muslim funeral prayer, said it is “an honour” to be involved.
The singer, who passed away aged 56, was raised a Catholic but converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada in 2018.
O’Connor’s family asked people who wish to say a “last goodbye” to stand along Bray seafront as the cortege passes by.
The procession is expected to start at the Harbour Bar end of the Strand Road and will continue past her former home, Montebello, where she lived for 15 years.
A pink chair has been placed outside the conservatory of the singer’s old home, with flowers, candles and a framed photograph resting at the foot of the chair.
A neighbour was also seen putting candles on the wall that separated the two properties.
Fans have left heartfelt tributes, including a heart-shaped floral wreath and a sign that listed causes that O’Connor stood up, placed next to some pink hydrangeas.
“RIP Sinéad: Black Lives Matter; gay pride; refugees welcome,” it read
“Where words fail, music speaks,” wrote another fan in tribute.
And a Volkswagen camper van – decorated with flowers and Pride flags – arrived playing some of O’Connor’s songs from speakers mounted on the roof for the gathered crowds.
Since O’Connor’s death on 26 July, people have been leaving flowers and paying their respects at the house, which the singer sold in 2021 and now lies empty.
“Sinéad 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.”
Ruth O’Shea, who came with her daughters to pay their respects to O’Connor, said the singer “meant the world to her” when she was growing up.
She said: “She was so rebellious and empowering and inspiring, and my mother hated me listening to her music.
“She was just brilliant. Brilliant – I loved her, and then the kids, I suppose by osmosis because I played her, when they were both growing up, they’d go, ‘oh God, mom’s listening to Sinead O’Connor, she’s obviously had a rough day.’
“She just gave me hope. And I just loved her, I loved her.”
Musicians have travelled to O’Connor’s old home to pay tribute to her, including Liam O Maonlai, a musician with Irish band The Hothouse Flowers.
He said O’Connor was “up against it from the get-go”, adding that he hoped she smiled in her last moments
Asked why so many people had gathered at her home, O Maonlai said: “Everyone has their own reasons.
“I think it’s love is why people are outside the house today. They loved her. I admired her.”
A statement from the Gardai said: “In keeping with her family’s wishes, following a private service, members of the public will be able to pay their respects and are asked to gather at the Strand Road/Promenade area between 11.30am and 12.30pm.
“It is expected the funeral procession will stop briefly in this area at some stage between these times.
“As there is limited parking on the seafront, An Garda Siochana are advising people to use public transport if possible as the Dart can bring people right to the location.
“It is expected road closures will be in place from 11.30am to 12.30pm in the Strand Road/Promenade area and all other traffic will be diverted on to the Adelaide Road.
“Gardai will be in attendance and, if needed, further rolling road closures may be put in place.”
Train services into Bray in Co Wicklow are “significantly busier than normal”, a spokesman for Irish Rail said in a statement to the PA news agency on Tuesday.
He added: “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.”
