ROCK star Dolores O’Riordan, who died suddenly today, at the age of 46, was a relatively regular visitor to Kerry and loved Dingle and Killarney in particular.
The lead singer with The Cranberries, who is a mother of three, passed away in London during a short recording session.
In a statement, her publicist said family members were devastated to hear the news and have requested privacy at what is a very difficult time. No further details were available.
Ms O’Riordan built a sprawling, ultra-modern house in the Dún Chaoin gaeltacht, on the tip of the peninsula, several years ago but she spent very little time there and later sold the property which was valued at the time at more than €2 million.
She also loved visiting Killarney and dined in Treyvaud’s Restaurant on High Street a few short years ago.
Proprietor Paul Treyvaud remarked: “She was a lovely person. When she spent an evening here she was full of chat and full of banter and she happily posed for photographs”.
A native of Ballybricken, Co Limerick, Ms O’Riordan achieved massive international success with The Cranberries in the 1990s and sold more than 40 million records worldwide. They hit the big time with their1993 debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?
Smash hits included Linger, Zombie and Dreams and the band released five albums before taking a break in 2003.
In 2017 The Cranberries announced plans for a major tour but several European dates were later cancelled for health reasons. Earlier she was one of the celebrity judged on the hit TV show The Voice of Ireland.
Last year they released new album Something Else, featuring acoustic versions of their hits recorded with the Limerick-based Irish Chamber Orchestra’s string quartet, along with new songs. They also played in Belfast and Dublin last summer.
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