Warning: Contains reference to suicide
The final social media posts Sinéad O’Connor shared before her death paid tribute to her 17-year-old son who died in 2022.
O'Connor's family confirmed the tragic news yesterday (26 July) that the Irish singer had passed away at the age of 56.
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In a statement, the family said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time."
O'Connor gained a wide fanbase as she rose to fame through her music, and throughout her career recorded 10 albums and was nominated for eight Grammys while also juggling family life.
She was mum to four children; Jake Reynolds, Roisin Waters, Shane Lunny and her youngest, Yeshua Bonadio, who arrived in 2006.
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Last year, O'Connor announced that Shane, who was born in 2004, had died.
On 8 January, 2022, she tweeted: "My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God. May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.”
O'Connor has continued to speak about her son in the time since his death, and it was Shane that was in her mind when she shared posts on Twitter for the last time on 17 July.
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In one post, O'Connor responded to a tweet urging people to 'tell me how your life is going with emojis'.
The singer responded with a series of crying face-emojis, and added a hashtag which read 'lost my 17 year old son to suicide in 2022'.
"Been living as undead night creature since," O'Connor continued in her tweet. "He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him."
One hour later, O'Connor shared a link to a song by artist Choying Drolma called 'Chenrezi', and wrote: "For all mothers of Suicided children. Great Tibetan Compassion Mantra."
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Shane was confirmed to have died two days after he went missing, with his disappearance prompting the Gardaí to launch an appeal for his whereabouts.
During the period in which he was missing, O'Connor shared messages saying Shane's life was 'precious', adding: “My world would collapse without you. You are my heart."
Tributes have been flooding in for O'Connor in the wake of her death, with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar describing her talent as 'unmatched'.
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No cause of death has been given for O'Connor at the time of writing.
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Emily Brown