'Goodbye to a voice of gold': Cranberries star Dolores O'Riordan's ex-husband and their three children join her mother, boyfriend and bandmates for her funeral as her duet with Pavarotti is played...
The boyfriend of Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan has joined her mother and ex-husband for the rock star's funeral today.
Fellow musician Ole Koretsky was in a relationship with the 46-year-old when she was found dead in a London hotel room last week.
He attended her funeral today alongside 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.
Canon Liam McNamara today said her voice was worth its weight in gold and praised her for her 'excellent performance in her most important gig - life'.
He also told the service how O'Riordan 'rescued countless people from the darkness of depression' with her music.
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.
The three remaining members of the Cranberries - Mike and Noel Hogan and Fergal Lawlor - all joined her mother Eileen and U2 singer Bono's wife Ali Hewson on Tuesday morning.
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 McNamara today told the service: '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.
'She did have a unique respect for everybody. Coupled with that respect, her kind, loving and generous heart made her a source of great hope to the Church, during its stormy years. For that we sincerely thank her from our hearts.
'Now she is singing in the heavenly choir - hymns of petition for us. If tears are shed in Heaven - by necessity they are tears of joy.
'Yes, tears of joy, following an excellent performance by Dolores, in the most important and vital gig of all - the gig of life itself.'
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 death.
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 death.
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.'
Last Sunday, thousands mourned the Limerick star during a four-hour public reposing at St Joseph's Church in the city.
The singer's funeral mass is to take place in the Church of Saint Ailbe in Ballybricken, Co Limerick, at 11.30am.
Canon Liam McNamara, the associate pastor and a close friend of the O'Riordan family, will act as the chief celebrant of the Requiem Mass.
Father James Walton will be the chief co-celebrant, alongside Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly and Archbishop Dermot Clifford, the Archbishop Emeritus of Cashel and Emly.
The funeral mass will be broadcast live by Limerick's local radio station. The service will be followed by a private family burial.
O'Riordan was found dead in a London hotel last Monday.
The 46 year-old – 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 death and was expected to discuss its scheduled release with record label BMG while in England.
A number of tests have been carried out to establish the cause of the musician's death, an inquest heard on Friday before it was adjourned until April 3.
Sales and streams of The Cranberries' back catalogue have rocketed by 1,000 per cent in the days since her death.
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.
The singer was renowned for her distinctive voice and the band enjoyed huge success in the 1990s with tracks including Zombie and Linger.
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