Sinéad O'Connor's Son: How She Mourned Shane After His Tragic Death at Age 17

The late singer's son died in January 2022

Sinéad O’Connor's son Shane O’Connor died tragically in January 2022, leaving a profound impact on his grieving mother.

Sinéad announced on Twitter that Shane died by suicide days after he had gone missing. He was 17 years old. The Irish singer, who died just over a year later on July 26, 2023, at 56 years old, publicly mourned his death in the days after.

"My beautiful son, Nevi'im Nesta Ali Shane O'Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God," Sinéad wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace."

Related: Sinéad O'Connor Dead at 56

Just days before her own death, Sinéad shared a post on social media that gave insight into her emotional struggles after losing her son.

In a now-deleted tweet from July 17, Sinéad wrote, "Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him."

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2021, Sinéad described Shane — whom she welcomed with musician Donal Lunny in 2004 — as a "real mommy's boy."

"He just loves his mommy since the day he was born," she added. Sinéad was also a mother to three other children: Jake, Roisin and Yeshua.

In her 2021 memoir Rememberings, Sinéad touched on their closeness, writing of Shane, "He is the child who is most like me, I believe, to look at and by his nature— although he is of course the version of me with logic and reason."

From her early memories with her son to what she shared in the aftermath of his death, here's everything Sinéad said about her son, Shane O’Connor.

Sinéad partially credited her album Sean-Nós Nua with bringing her Shane

In her memoir, Sinéad wrote about the creation of her 2002 album Sean-Nós Nua, and how it brought her closer to the father of her future son.

"It was produced by Dónal Lunny, as was my third child, Shane," she wrote. "If we had not made this album, we would not have made our beautiful son."

The singer also wrote that her pregnancy was "a surprise," and came with some controversy, as Lunny was married to someone else at the time.

Related: All About Sinéad O'Connor’s 4 Children

Sinéad described Shane as "an extremely special character"

Sinéad touched on her son's personality in her book, describing him as "very psychic" and "very spiritualized." She also shared that he was assessed at age 8 and "declared a genius."

As he grew up, Sinéad wrote, her son started to remind her of Clint Eastwood. "He could get himself into all kind of trouble, but because he is so calm and so sweet and so genuinely charming, he manages to sail through things without them affecting him terribly badly, and I admire him for that," she shared.

Sinéad announced Shane was missing on Twitter in the days before his death

Before learning of his death, Sinéad told her Twitter followers that Shane had gone missing and penned a personal message to her son.

"This is a message for my son, Shane. Shane, it's not funny any more all this going missing,” she wrote in her since-deleted tweet. “You are scaring the crap out of me. Could you please do the right thing and present yourself at a Gardai station. If you are with Shane please call the Gardai for his safety."

The Gardaí, the national police service in Ireland, had put out a statement at the time that they were searching for Shane.

"Shane, your life is precious," Sinéad added in a second now-deleted tweet. "God didn't chisel that beautiful smile on your beautiful face for nothing. My world would collapse without you. You are my heart. Please don't stop it from beating. Please don't harm yourself. Go to the Gardai and let's get you to hospital."

In another series of tweets, Sinéad questioned how the hospital had allegedly lost her son, asking how Shane got “out of their grasp” despite making “two severe suicide attempts” the week prior.

She later added how "a seventeen year old traumatised young person WHO WAS ON SUICIDE WATCH" had the ability to allegedly escape the hospital.

"Hospital of course so far refusing to take any responsibility. Anything happens to my son on their watch? Lawsuits," she tweeted at the time.

She described Shane as "the light of my life"

After announcing his death, Sinéad continued to mourn her son online, tweeting a Bob Marley song she dedicated to Shane.

"This is for my Shaney. The light of my life. The lamp of my soul. My blue-eye baby," she wrote. "You will always be my light. We will always be together. No boundary can separate us."

She then also posted a photo of Shane, leaving it captionless.

Sinéad criticized Ireland's The Child and Family Agency for their silence

The day after Shane’s death, Sinéad claimed in another post that she had not received any word from Ireland's The Child and Family Agency in regards to her son's death.

"26 hours after my son died in the so called care of the Irish State in the form of Tusla, I have yet to receive any contact from Tusla or their representatives. I was informed by Gardai of my son's death and later I spoke with the GAL," she tweeted. "No contact from Tusla is unacceptable."

Sinéad was hospitalized in the week after her son's death

A week after Shane died, Sinéad posted in since-deleted tweets that she was going to the hospital. Earlier that day, she had posted a lengthy message on Twitter saying she had "decided to follow [her] son."

She wrote, "There is no point living without him. Everything I touch, I ruin. I only stayed for him. And now he's gone. I've destroyed my family. My kids don't want to know me."

The “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer announced later that day that she was headed to the hospital and apologized for her concerning tweets. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I am with cops now on way to hospital," she wrote.

She continued, "I'm sorry I upset everyone. I am lost without my kid and I hate myself. Hospital will help a while. But I'm going to find Shane. This is just a delay."

Sinéad revealed she was struggling a year after Shane's death

In the weeks leading up to her death, Sinéad shared some of her struggles on social media. On July 8, Sinéad shared a video that showed her apartment and spoke about how she was having a hard time since her son died.

"I look like s--- either way, which is why I didn't want to make a video ... but you know, the way your kid unfortunately passing away, it isn't good for one's body, or soul to be fair," she said in the video, per TMZ.

A week before her death, she tweeted from a now-deleted Twitter account that she was “lost” without Shane.

The tweet was her last post on social media before she died on July 26.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

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