Dolores O’Riordan’S Family And Friends Gather In Co Limerick Ahead Of Funeral

Dolores O’Riordan’S Family And Friends Gather In Co Limerick Ahead Of Funeral

Family and close friends of Cranberries frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan accompanied her to her home town church in Co Limerick on Monday night ahead of her funeral.

Candles lit the streets as her coffin was brought to the Church of Saint Ailbe in Ballybricken.

Two hearses, one carrying her coffin and another carrying floral tributes, arrived at the church shortly before 9.30pm.

Among the many wreaths was one from Irish pop group The Corrs.

Earlier, hundreds of people had gathered outside Cross’s Funeral Home in Ballyneety where her remains were in repose.

Irish President Michael D Higgins paid his sympathies to the singer’s family and signed a book of condolence.

“It was very important to pay tribute to the contribution Dolores made,” said Mr Higgins.

“It is so moving, so profoundly sad that somebody so young is taken from us.

“She was a star that shone bright from the very beginning,” he added.

The funeral mass is to take place on Tuesday at 11.30am.

Canon Liam McNamara, the Associate Pastor and a close friend of the O’Riordan family, will act as the Chief Celebrant of the Requiem Mass.

Father James Walton will be the chief co-celebrant, alongside Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly and Archbishop Dermot Clifford, the Archbishop Emeritus of Cashel and Emly.

The funeral mass will be broadcast live by Limerick’s local radio station.

Tuesday’s service will be followed by a private family burial.

O’Riordan was found dead in a London hotel on Monday.

The 46-year-old – who was also a member of alternative rock group D.A.R.K – had been working on a new studio album with The Cranberries in the months before her death and was expected to discuss its scheduled release with record label BMG while in England.

A number of tests have been carried out to establish the cause of the musician’s death, an inquest heard on Friday before it was adjourned until April 3.

Sales and streams of the band’s back catalogue have rocketed by 1,000% in the days since her death.

Greatest hits collection Stars: The Best Of 1992-2002 landed at number 16 on the albums chart this week, a higher position than its previous peak of number 20 when it was released in 2002.

The singer was renowned for her distinctive voice and the band enjoyed huge success in the 1990s with tracks including Zombie and Linger.

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