We are sad to hear the news of the untimely death of Sinéad O’Connor and we extend our sincere sympathy to Sinéad’s family and friends. We fondly remember her contribution to our Féile Bríde gathering in 1995, the beginning of the 150th Anniversary of the commemoration of An Gorta Mór.

She performed her song ‘Famine’, a word which she used, appropriately in inverted commas, with its powerful lyrics:

And if there ever is gonna be healing
There has to be remembering and then grieving
So that there then can be forgiving
There has to be knowledge and understanding.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam

Mary Minehan and Sinéad O’Connor at Féile Bríde in Kildare in 1995. Photos by Derek Speirs.