Locals pay tribute to late singer and icon Sinéad O'Connor

The country went into shock on Wednesday evening as the sad news broke that singer and songwriter, Sinéad O'Connor, had died aged 56.

She was found at her home in London yesterday morning and pronounced dead at the scene.

Loved both at home and abroad, what some might not know is that the gifted international artist recorded the video for her song, 4th and Vine, on location at The Drake Inn in Castletown Geoghegan in 2013.

Taken from the album How About I Be Me (And You Be You), it was the first video Sinéad had appeared in for ten years.

“It was amazing to have Sinéad in the bar firstly, it’s not too often that you have someone that famous knocking around for the whole day to record a video," says Andrew Drake.

“I’d never seen a video production done before and it was surreal to see all the work involved," he recalls.

“She was a very shy person, I think it was the first video she had recorded in a while, and you could see that she was nervous.

“I was a fan of her music like everyone else, she was a fantastic singer. How could you not be a fan of her music, she was outstanding," Andrew states.

“I was very sad to hear of her passing. You don’t expect to hear that news about someone so young,” he concludes.

Songwriter and musician Johnny Cronin called O'Connor a "lovely person" who was "very optimistic".

“We met her with Shane (MacGowan) and Victoria Mary Clarke a few times. She was an amazing person, and talked about music and songwriting, and was very optimistic in that regard," he begins.

“I remember her dancing up the front of the stage when we were playing Shane’s 60th birthday at the National Concert Hall. BP Fallon had joined us on stage and we were singing Van Morrisson’s Gloria. That was a good memory.

"She told us to be careful of what we put in our songs, that songs can act as a mantra and to be careful of what you invite it into your life," continues Johnny Cronin.

“She was a great warrior, fearless, and an amazing songwriter, and very honest about difficult subjects. She spoke about the church and abortion in Ireland in 'Three Babies', the Famine, and about grief in 'Little Grief Song'.

"She was a seanchaí and a great interpreter of songs. Everyone knows 'Nothing Compares 2 U', but she did Big Band songs with 'Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home', and Sean-Nos Nua, all the Irish songs from the 'Foggy Dew' to 'He Moved through the Fair'.

"I think her greatest record was Universal Mother, which was a healing record."