O’Connor was born on December 8, 1966, in Glenageary, County Dublin. She was named Sinéad after Sinéad de Valera, the wife of Irish President Éamon de Valera, Marie after the mother of the doctor who presided over the delivery, and Bernadette after Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. She is the third of five children, the others being novelist Joseph, Eimear, John, and Eoin.
What happened to Sinead O’Connor’s mom? Car crash explained
When O’Connor was eighteen, her mother, Marie, died in a car accident when she lost control of her car on an icy road and crashed into a bus.
In June 1993, O’Connor asked people to “stop hurting” her in a public letter published in The Irish Times: “If only I can fight off the voices of my parents / and gather a sense of self-esteem / Then I’ll be able to REALLY sing…” O’Connor’s accusations of abuse by her parents as a child were repeated in the letter. In an interview with the newspaper, her brother Joseph defended their father but agreed on their mother’s “extreme and violent abuse, both emotional and physical.” “Our family is very messed up,” O’Connor said that month.
One of the volunteers at Grianán was the sister of Paul Byrne, drummer for the band In Tua Nua, who overheard O’Connor singing Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen.” She recorded a song with them called “Take My Hand,” but they felt she was too young to join the band at the age of 15. She met Colm Farrelly through an ad she placed in Hot Press in mid-1984. Ton Ton Macoute was formed after they enlisted the help of a few other musicians. The band briefly relocated to Waterford while O’Connor attended Newtown School, but she soon dropped out and followed them to Dublin, where their performances were well received. Farrelly’s interest in world music inspired their sound, but most observers thought O’Connor’s singing and stage presence were the band’s strongest features.
