Sinéad O'Connor has been honoured with a commemorative stamp in her native Ireland, celebrating her artistry as a giant of Irish music.
The country's An Post has commemorated O'Connor, Pogues singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan, Aslan vocalist Christy Dignam and accordionist Séamus Begley for their "Iconic Irish Voices" series, honouring the four "proud Irish artists whose work explored — often critically — our identity as a people."
All four chosen artists passed away in 2023. The image adorning each respective stamp "highlights both the artist's eyes, which saw and recorded so much, and their hands, which they used to create and inscribe works of art that will stay with us forever."
"They gave us the words and music we lacked to express the emotions we needed to speak aloud," An Post shared of the four artists. "Fame often results in us feeling like we truly know someone in the public eye: their achievements, their way of life, their sorrows and joys, and even their private moments. It can seem as though we are as close to someone famous as if we really did know them, and that — almost magically — they knew us better than we know ourselves."
It was determined this year that O'Connor passed away from chronic pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. The artist was honoured this year with her own Bratz doll and a Montreal tribute concert.