Thousands Lined the Streets to Honor Sinéad O'Connor's Legacy

A photograph taken on August 8, 2023 shows the coffin and a picture of late Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, in the hearse during her funeral procession outside her former home in Bray, eastern Ireland, ahead of her funeral on August 8, 2023. A funeral service for Sinead O'Connor, the outspoken singer who rose to international fame in the 1990s, is to be held on Tuesday in the Irish seaside town of Bray.

(Image credit: Photo by Paul Faith / Getty)

published 9 August 2023

Sinéad O'Connor tragically died on July 26, leaving family, friends and fans bereft.

Immediately, tributes began pouring in for O'Connor's life as well as her tireless commitment to justice in all its forms—with celebrities including Russell Crowe, Sam Smith, Dan Levy and Jamie Lee Curtis sharing what the singer meant to them.

Her funeral was held on Aug. 8 in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, and thousands of people gathered to line the streets as her hearse—adorned with flowers and a portrait of O'Connor in the '90s—made its way to where the funeral itself would take place.

As the hearse passed them, people lay flowers on the car.

People lay flowers and tributes on the hearse during the funeral procession of late Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, outside the former home in Bray, eastern Ireland, ahead of her funeral on August 8, 2023. A funeral service for Sinead O'Connor, the outspoken singer who rose to international fame in the 1990s, is to be held on Tuesday in the Irish seaside town of Bray.

They also wore shirts and held up or lay down signs with messages on them such as, "Thanks Sinéad. Rest in power," "fight the real enemy," "free Palestine," "you lit up our lives," "Black lives matter," or "refugees welcome," in reference to O'Connor's political stance throughout her life.

Funeral of Irish Musician Sinead O'Connor in Bray

Gemma Byrne, one of the mourners present on the day, told the Guardian, "What can I say? Thank you Sinéad. We grew up with her. She said what we felt but didn’t have the courage to say. She took the sh*t for it."

One of Byrne's friends, Christine Joyce, said, "She blazed a trail for me about what it was like to grow old as a woman. I’m feeling really emotional. I heard her sing Molly Malone on the radio—such a trite song and I was bawling my eyes out."

A Lithuanian-born mourner named Rosita Stripinene said, "Living in the Soviet Union, she was one of the first foreign singers we saw. All my childhood I was looking at her beautiful eyes, her amazing eyes."

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.