Sinéad O’Connor’s Funeral Draws Thousands in Ireland for a Heartfelt Mourning – National Event

On Tuesday morning, the people of Ireland said goodbye to singer and songwriter Sinéad O’Connor.

Thousands of mourning fans gathered in the seaside town of Bray in County Wicklow, Ireland, on Tuesday morning to pay their respects to O’Connor, who died last month. She was 56.

Teary-eyed admirers lined the streets with signs, candles and poems to watch the funeral procession pass. The singer’s family invited the public to watch the procession and send their best wishes, though the actual funeral was kept private.

According to the New York Times, the procession kept with tradition and carried the star’s coffin past her last family home. Outside the residence, fans left flowers, handwritten notes, gifts and photos of O’Connor throughout her long, tumultuous career.

O’Connor lived in Bray for 15 years, the BBC reported.

Her casket was carried in a classic Volkswagen van adorned with flowers and rainbow and Rastafarian flags. Music played from a speaker attached to the top, blasting a number of O’Connor’s own hits and her favourite songs, including Natural Mystic by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Fans danced, sang and cried to O’Connor’s music in the streets, with many people dressed in the colours of the Irish flag. Others held signs that read “Black Lives Matter,” “Gay Rights” and “Fight the Real Enemy,” a nod to O’Connor’s passion for social justice and advocacy.

For many of O’Connor’s fans, her rebellious spirit and anti-establishment beliefs — particularly toward the Roman Catholic Church — are as important a legacy as her music.

“She was so passionate, and she was so forthright, and she stood up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves,” said Pauline Scullion, a mourner who attended the funeral procession. “She spoke for people who couldn’t speak for themselves, and she was vilified for it, and that was just wrong. Time has proven that she was right.”