Funeral mass of Dolores O´Riordan to take place

Funeral mass of Dolores O´Riordan to take place



The boyfriend of Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan has joined her mother and ex-husband for the rock star's funeral which heard how she 'rescued countless people from the darkness of depression' with her music.



Fellow musician Ole Koretsky was in a relationship with the 46-year-old when she was found de*d in a London hotel room last week.



He was with Dolores' ex-husband Don Burton and their three children, who had all gathered for the service at Saint Alibe's Church in her hometown of Ballybricken in Ireland today.



The three remaining members of the band - Mike and Noel Hogan and Fergal Lawlor - all joined her mother Eileen and U2 singer Bono's wife Ali Hewson on Tuesday morning.



Dolores' voice filled the rural church as a duet of Ave Maria sung by her and Luciano Pavarotti marked the start of the poignant service.



Other stars from the music industry were also in attendance and mourners were seen holding the poignant order of service ahead of the funeral.



Mr Burton was with their three children - Taylor, Molly and Dakota - and joined her sister Angela and brothers Terence, Brendan, Donal, Joseph and PJ in the small parish church.



Canon Liam McNamara said O'Riordan's voice was worth its weight in gold.



He said: 'Her kind personality and beautiful singing voice earned for her numerous admirers. 'It must be added that the numbers she rescued from the darkness of depression are impossible to count.



'No words are adequate to describe Dolores or to accurately state the influence for good she has been over the years.'



Cranberries fans from around the world tuned into a local Limerick radio station as it broadcast the service live. The service will be followed by a private family burial.



Last night, hundreds of mourners turned out at Cross's Funeral Home, Ballyneety, near Ballybricken, to pay their respects to Limerick's rock queen.



The much-loved singer was laid out in an open coffin with rosary beads around her hands, next to photographs of her meeting the late Pope John Paul II and of her performing with her bandmates.



After signing one of four books of condolences outside the village funeral home, President Higgins spent 15 minutes inside privately talking to O'Riordan's loved ones last night.





Afterwards, paying tribute to the adored songbird, he said: 'I think it's very important to pay tribute to the contribution Dolores made, and I also wanted to meet her mother Eileen and her fabulous huge family of nephews and nieces who were very important to her.'



'It's so profoundly sad that someone so young is taken from us, but it's equally important also to pay tribute to (her) work and music. It is also to the incredible credit of all those who have appreciated the music and the songs and the performances and the band, that they have come out in such numbers to make their tribute.



'It's so appropriate and it is generous, and I hope that her family will get all the support hey need.'



'Limerick is very very proud of (her). As her teachers have been saying, she was a star that shun bright from the very beginning, and I wish her peace. Our sympathies go out to her mother Eileen and her family.'



Also paying tribute, O'Riordan's former housekeeper and nanny to her children, Kay Duffy, said: 'I was Dolores' housekeeper for many a year, when she was living in Kilmallock, and she couldn't have treated me better than what she did. They are a lovely family.'



Sales and streams of The Cranberries' back catalogue have rocketed by 1,000% in the days since her de*th.



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.



Cranberries enjoyed huge success in the 1990s with tracks including Zombie and Linger.



O'Riordan - who was also a member of alternative rock group DARK - had been working on a new studio album with The Cranberries in the months before her de*th.   





Duffy, from Bulgaden, Co Limerick, added: 'It's very sad. I am so shocked, I can't believe it. Whenever she came home she would give me a phone call.'



'She was a very generous woman. We kept in touch and I'd be there for her. She'd phone me for different things. She used to make me laugh. She was very good to me and my family,' she added.



Cathy Crawford, who minded O'Riordan's son, Taylor, in her pre-school in Donoghmore, Co Limerick, recalled how they would both sing the nursery rhyme 'London Bridge is Falling Down' to Taylor in the kitchen of her home.



'I had (Dolores') oldest son, Taylor, in my preschool 16 years ago. Dolores was lovely and she used to come down to the house and wait in the kitchen while (Taylor) was in the school. She was a lovely lovely person, a very kind person. It's very sad.'