Sinead O’Connor’s ex says star’s cause of death proves she died of ‘broken heart’ after struggling with son’s loss
A FORMER partner of Sinead O’Connor says confirmation that she died of natural causes proves she did pass away as a result of a “broken heart”.
The Nothing Compares 2 U legend was found dead in her London flat last July aged 56 — 18 months after beloved son Shane, 17, took his own life.
Southwark Coroners Court today said no public inquest will take place as an autopsy found she “died of natural causes”.
A spokesman added: “The coroner has therefore ceased their involvement in her death.”
And ex Dermott Hayes — who dated the singer for two years after penning an early biography of her — told The Irish Sun: “From this you can surmise that a broken heart is a real illness symptom, and a cause of death.
“It doesn’t make Sinead’s passing any less painful. It was more to do with a broken heart than anything else.”
Superstar Sinead had moved to the UK capital just weeks before she was found “unresponsive” in her south-east London apartment.
A week before her passing, the star said she had been “living as an undead night creature” since Shane’s suicide in January 2022.
Emotional Sinead added: “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.”
And Sinead told how “losing a kid isn’t good for the soul” in a heartbreaking final video to fans posted days before her death.
Speaking in RTE documentary Sinead, which aired this week, friend and producer David Holmes also said he believed the singer had died of a “broken heart” after the death of Shane.
David, who spent five years working on an album with her, said: “Even though Sinead was this incredibly resilient survivor, I totally believe that people can die of a broken heart.”
Neighbour Ken Doyle, who had lived four doors down from Sinead on the seafront in Bray, Co Wicklow, said the news was “a comfort” to family and friends.
He told The Irish Sun: “To hear this news is a relief that Sinead passed away from natural causes.
“It’s heartbreaking that Sinead died but that it happened without hassle or grief is comforting to hear because her funeral and the outpouring at the news of her death was heartbreaking.
“I would say the fans will be relieved by this news, anything to make your passage in life and exit in life easier. I think everyone will be relieved with this news.”
Sinead’s huge funeral procession saw crowds line the seafront in front of her former home in Bray.
Heartbroken fans burst into song and placed flowers on the hearse carrying her remains.
U2 stars Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton and Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof were among those who attended the private funeral service.
Sinead was remembered as a “beloved daughter of Ireland” with “a poet’s heart” whose “voice moved a generation of young people” during the funeral.
And ex Dermott, who wrote Sinead’s biography So Different, yesterday told The Irish Sun she was “one of the most intelligent people I have ever known”.
He said: “She never sought out controversy but she didn’t hide from it either. I felt she had a sense of duty pursuing the issues that she did pursue.
“She was never inhibited by her fame, it allowed her a platform to express the anger she felt about the way she was treated as a child and the way she saw other children being treated.
“The most important thing was getting the message across.”
And her family thanked the “countless kind people” who offered condolences since her death in a message in August.
Just weeks before her death, Sinead revealed plans to release her 11th album, No Veterans Die Alone, early in 2024.
