Outlander star Caitriona Balfe has led the Irish stars paying heartfelt tribute to Sinéad O’Connor after her “devastated” family announced her death.
The actress posted a picture of a young O’Connor to her Instagram page following the tragic news.
“I hope you are at peace … and with your baby boy,” Balfe wrote.
“Thank you for sharing your soul with us and soothing us with your incredible voice beautiful Sinéad. RIP.”
O’Connor, who died on Friday, passed just 18 months after losing her son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, to suicide.
And another Irish star, Bad Sisters’ Sharon Horgan, took to Instagram to write: “Oh this is terrible news. The worst.
“That voice. That insanely beautiful voice that could carry all the emotions in one line. Her bravery.
“Sinéad was so loved by so many of us but she was also not treated well at all. I remember wanting her to do a song for a show I was making and being told she wasn’t right for their brand or whatever the f**k.
“I’m just feeling so angry about how she was treated. But over all just heart breakingly sad for her and her family.”
Horgan’s This Way Up co-star Aisling Bea fondly remembered appearing on The Late Late Show with O’Connor a few years ago.
“She was an absolute hero of mine and one of the few people I’ve ever been star struck by,” she wrote on Instagram.
“She was dry and funny and kind and sharp and incredibly gentle.
“She was vilified, humiliated at times, metaphorically crucified when alone and in her twenties,” Bea continued.
“Everything she stood up for and against then, including racism in the music industry, has been proven to have been needed and right. She wasn’t just trying to look out for herself.
“She was the original truth sayer who wouldn’t go easy into the night. The original “difficult” woman who didn’t make it easy.
“Because easy wasn’t the right thing to do and it wasn’t the truth. Gone too soon. Nothing compares to you.”
The singer’s family said in a joint statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad.
“Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”
Hollywood atress Jamie Lee Curtis was among those who paid her respect and wrote: “I once heard Sinéad sing acapella in an empty chapel in Ireland. It was under construction at the private home of our host.
“It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in my life. We then went together to see Eminem at a festival. I loved her. Her music. Her life.”