Fans attend anniversary Mass for popular Cranberries singer
HUNDREDS of fans of the late Dolores O’Riordan made a “pilgrimage” from around the world to pay homage at her graveside, the singer’s first anniversary Mass heard yesterday.
Fans joined her mother Eileen and her siblings for an emotional ceremony held in St Ailbe’s Church in Ballybricken, Limerick. The remaining three members of the Cranberries, brothers Mike and Noel Hogan, and Fergal Lawler, also attended.
Dolores’ mother Eileen and her granddaughter Katie each sang hymns during the Mass.
Parish priest Fr James Walton said the “small rural community of neighbours and friends come together once more to remember Dolores and to support her family as they continue to come to terms with their loss”.
Despite the remoteness of Ballybricken, with “no village and no nameplate”, Fr Walton remarked that “hundreds of people have been visiting this church to pray for Dolores and also making their way to Caherelly Cemetery, now a place of pilgrimage for her devoted fans, to pay their respects to her, and to leave a memento of their visit.”
The singer’s graveside has become a shrine, decorated with trinkets left by fans, including guitars, cards, photographs, flowers and personal messages.
Fr Walton said both he and the O’Riordan family had received thousands of emails, cards and messages from fans expressing their love for the late rock star.
“Dolores brought joy, solace and inspiration to the lives of so many people, and continues to do so, based on the emails that I have received, and the fans that I have met over the past year,” he said.
O’Riordan’s “stardom” continues to shine and her powerful hit Dreams — which was played after the final whistle of Limerick’s historic All-Ireland victory after a 45-year hiatus — has become the “unofficial anthem of Limerick hurling”, he added.
“I know the past year has been tough for the O’Riordan family in coming to terms in dealing with the untimely death of a beloved daughter and beloved sister, of coming to the realisation that she is not coming back,” Fr Walton said.
“And so, the words of another Cranberries song... ‘Hold on to love’... so hold on to your memories of Dolores, hold onto your beliefs and dreams as she did. Hold on to the inspiration, the joy, solace and empathy, that her voice, her music, and her life’s story has brought to so many.”
Mum-of-three O’Riordan (46) was found dead in a bath at a London hotel. An inquest heard she had drowned while intoxicated with alcohol.