Sinéad O'Connor's father Seán O'Connor has opened up about losing his daughter, who died nearly two years ago.
"When Sinéad passed, I cried my eyes out for a fortnight," Seán told RTÉ Radio 1 host Oliver Callan on Thursday, July 17.
"I still miss her."
On July 26, 2023, 56-year-old Sinéad was found dead in her London flat. Police said the death was not suspicious, and a coroner later ruled that she died of natural causes.
Sinéad's funeral in Bray, Co Wicklow, was attended by thousands of mourners. She was laid to rest in the Garden section of Dublin's Deansgrange Cemetery, the same cemetery where her mother Johanna Marie O'Grady O'Connor, who died in a car accident in 1985, is buried.
August 8, 2023: Sinead O'Connor's funeral procession in Bray, Co Wicklow. (RollingNews.ie)
"Of course it's a comfort (the outpouring of grief by the public), but Sinéad had two personas," her father said today.
"One was in the public arena, and the other was with her family, and I saw her funeral as being lovely for her fans.
"At a personal level, I've never had publicity in respect of Sinéad, and it made it all the more hurtful for all of us when she died.
"I visit her grave every week... and we have a conversation, or I bring her up to date.
"I put my hand on the gravestone, which was designed by daughter Eimear, and it's very simple, it just says 'Sinéad O'Connor,' two dates, born and died, and 'God is love.'
"It's more to do with her fans than the family. The family is in the heart."
Elsewhere in the interview on Thursday, Seán was asked what he could do for Sinéad when "the fame part was cruel to her in life."
He said: "I can't do anything except be there.
"Sinéad could be outrageous in the public world, and she could be outrageous in the family, she could be cranky.
"But, in the end, I always had a feeling of compassion for her. She was always on the edge.
"We got on very well, most of the time, sometimes she'd fall out with me."
He warmly recalled a trip he shared with his daughter in the months before her death: "It's a very great help for me to know that in the January, two years ago, we agreed we'd go to Wexford for a three-night holiday.
"It was the greatest bit of gas. We went down to the hotel. We went to check in two rooms and we went off for a drive and when we came back, I had been upgraded! I had a suite, chocolates, a bunch of flowers.
"You couldn't go anywhere with Sinéad," he said with a laugh.
"And we arranged to go away again in April. But when April came, she said she'd go to England instead. And I didn't see her again.
"So, it was a sad time. The strength of the family around me helped, and I'm beginning to deal with it now."
You can watch a portion of Seán O'Connor's discussion with Oliver Callan here:
@rteradio1 “I still miss her.” Seán O’Connor, father of the late singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor, joined #OliverCallan ♬ original sound - rteradio1
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