Sinead O’Connor’s ex has said that her cause of death “proves” that the singer “died of a broken heart” after the tragic loss of her son Shane.
The 56-year-old was found dead in her London apartment on July 26, 2023.
A coroner has since confirmed the singer passed away from “natural causes.”
Speaking to the on Tuesday, the coroner at Southwark Coroner’s Court said: “This is to confirm that Ms O’Connor died of natural causes, the coroner has therefore ceased their involvement in her death.”
“Any further enquiries should be directed to the Registrar at Lambeth. No further comments will be made,” he added.
The Nothing Compares 2 U singer’s ex Dermott Hayes, who dated Sinead for two years has since 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.”
Sinead’s beloved 17-year-old son Shane took his own life in January 2022, after he left a hospital in Dublin – where he had been admitted for care.
In one of her last tweets, which was posted on July 17, 2023, Sinead posted a photo of herself and Shane and wrote: “Been living as undead night creature since. 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.”
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭#lostmy17yrOldSonToSuicidein2022.
Been living as undead night creature since. . 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 pic.twitter.com/aC8BOmLQ9N— Sinead Marie-Bernarde Aoibheann O’Connor (@786OmShahid) July 17, 2023
Following her son’s passing last January, the singer cancelled her scheduled gigs for the rest of the year.
A statement released by her management at the time said: “We would like to respectfully announce that due to continuing grief over the tragic loss of her beloved son Shane earlier this year, Sinead O’Connor will not be performing live in 2022.”
The singer’s management added that it was not “an easy decision”, but it was necessary for her “own health and wellbeing”.
Speaking in the RTÉ 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 her son.
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.”
Sinéad’s funeral took place on Tuesday, August 8th, and thousands turned out to pay their respects as the hearse carrying her coffin passed through Bray in Co. Wicklow.
