Sinead O’Connor Singer Given Muslim Burial In Ireland As Fans Line Streets To Pay Last Respects

Sinead O’Connor was buried in a private ceremony near her former home in Bray, Ireland. Before she was laid to rest, the family encouraged her fans to say goodbye to her. 

After her family and friends had a funeral, her cortège drove through the streets again. One of O’Connor’s favorite singer’s music, Bob Marley, was played from a vintage Volkswagen camper van that drove in front of a hearse. The two cars drove down the street as thousands of fans watched and paid their respects. 

Some admirers waited hours for the cars and when the car arrived, they tossed flowers on top of the hearse. 

The crowd applauded and sang her song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The cars drove to her former home where fans left “Refugees Welcome,” Gay Pride and Black Lives Matter signs in front of it. 

Some attendees of the funeral included The Edge, Adam Clayton, the Irish President Michael Higgins and Bono. 

O’Connor was buried in a Catholic cemetery but had a Muslim burial (she converted to Islam in 2018).

Sheik Umar Al-Qadri, the chief imam of the Islamic Center of Ireland, led her funeral. He shared the eulogy he wrote online. He spoke of how she was able to “reduce listeners to tears by her otherworldly resonance. Sinéad’s voice carried with it an undertone of hope, of finding one’s way home.”

O’Connor’s family released a statement about the event. “Sinéad loved living in Bray and the people in it,” they told the Irish Times. “With this procession, her family would like to acknowledge the outpouring of love for her from the people of [County] Wicklow and beyond, since she left last week, to go to another place.” They ended by adding that the public could say goodbye to O’Connor “along the seafront in Bray, past the home that she lived in for 15 years, Montobello, Strand Road in Bray, [County] Wicklow.”