Silenced: Dolores O’Riordan

How did The Cranberries’ singer die? Many have questioned the circumstances behind Dolores O’Riordan’s untimely passing in 2018. Here are the facts.

The Rise of The Cranberries singer

In the emerald haze of Ballybricken in Limerick, where the River Maigue whispers secrets to the wind-swept fields, Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan was born on September 6, 1971. The eighth of nine children in a modest Catholic home, she was a soloist in her church choir and played the organ and harmonium from age 12 onward. Dolores joined The Cranberries through her first boyfriend, Mike O’Mahoney, who connected her with the band. Her unique vocal timbre turned “Everybody Else Is Doing It” (1993) into a sleeper hit. But 1994’s “No Need to Argue” birthed “Zombie,” which became a stadium anthem and a raw indictment of IRA bombings after the Warrington child deaths. Island Records offered the singer $1 million USD to abandon it and work on a different song instead, fearing its “politically urgent” anti-IRA content would harm sales.

Dolores tore up the $1M bribe to shelve the hit song. The BBC banned it, but the Cranberries singer stood defiant. Irony and controversy? A badge of honor. “Zombie” was never meant to be political but humanitarian instead, an anti-violence, anti-war ballad of sorts. The band continued their success with the 1996 album “To the Faithful Departed,” but trouble started to brew as they cancelled the Australian leg of their tour. An official statement emphasized “Dolores’s excruciating back pain” preventing any performance, while the press claimed “exhaustion from touring and management pressure.” The truth? “I hated singing, I hated being on stage, and I hated being in the Cranberries. I was constantly crying. I was going insane. I wanted to be a shopkeeper, a hairdresser, anything. I was so desperate to have a reality, friends, a regular, boring life. I missed that.”

Abused by a trusted “family friend”

In October 2013, Dolores told journalist and close friend Barry Egan ”I tried to overdose last year. I suppose I am meant to stay here for the kids.” This sexual abuse by a trusted “family friend” was no mere footnote. “He used to masturbate me when I was eight years old. He made me do oral sex for him and ejaculated on my chest when I was eight years old. It was inappropriate touching. For four years, when I was a little girl, I was sexually abused. I was only a kid.” The sexual molestation was carried out by someone who was in a position of trust in her home county of Limerick, and continued until Dolores was 12. Asked why the abuse stopped, Dolores said: “Getting older. Getting power. Control. I was 12. I was like a little woman then.”

”I’m in a good space now. A lot of humans experience kind of weird stuff when they are kids, you know? I don’t think anyone has a perfect childhood, do they?” After revealing the dark secret that she carried for years, Dolores said she could truly start to heal. “It was amazing to have the burden lifted off my shoulders; it is almost like going into therapy and confessing it, except you do it the other way around, because when you are famous, you just open up and that is it. It does feel good to have that off the shoulders. I feel a definite sense of relief. I don’t have to explain it to people. It happened. And you know, I think it makes people understand who you are and how you are a little bit better.”

An unexpected funeral guest

Dolores texted the journalist who interviewed her about the abuse later on, saying she wanted to go for brain-shock therapy to help her with the pain of the past, but in the end, she thought it might be too harsh. “Sometimes that therapy erases the memory too much… erasing the ability to write. I’m in a place of great happiness. I’ve never been happier or as calm or contented in my life. I have the greatest husband in the world, and we have the most amazing kids.” At her father’s funeral in 2011, her abuser apologized for his actions. “I had nightmares for a year before my father’s death about meeting him. Didn’t see him for years and years, and then I saw him at my father’s funeral. I had blocked him out of my life.” Dolores did not disclose names as she feared her father “would have killed him.”

Her father, Terence, who died in November 2011, suffered brain damage following a bad bike accident in 1968 and was never the same again. There were two notorious people at that funeral: the Catholic Archbishop Dermot Clifford (resigned in 2014 at age 75) and Canon Liam McNamara (still active at age 85). Clifford’s retirement just a year after the frontwoman spoke is something to highlight. Dolores and her husband, Don Burton, ended their marriage in September 2014 after 20 years together and three children. The couple met as he was the manager for Duran Duran’s U.S. tour, which saw the Cranberries open. They married just a few months later. Due to the marriage’s strain, Danny Goldberg (ex-Nirvana/Hole) managed Dolores from 2011 to 2014. This character is notorious for aiding Courtney Love in covering up for the (industry-sanctioned) murder of Kurt Cobain.

Two degrees of separation

Amidst tempests, 2014 brought light: Andy Rourke, The Smiths’ bassist, whose Jetlag demos with Olé Koretsky captivated Dolores, became a close ally. The Cranberries singer had been a lifelong fan; emails flew; D.A.R.K. was born. A year prior, on October 26, 2013, I met Andy as I was summoned to get our guest some enhancers for that night’s event. We ended up great friends and kept in touch until his tragic death on May 19, 2023. Andy was one of my most trusted sources and sort of an older brother. Someone who listened with patience and care; someone who gave sound advice when needed. Never one to judge, simply one of the sweetest, funniest guys ever. On October 30, 2022, I received one of the last emails from him. “Rochester” is the nickname the owners of the venue we met at had given me.

He only allowed me to publish this if he passed away. “Dear Rochester, spooky season’s here. Hope you are keeping out of trouble. How’s married life treating you? Pass my love on to Lua. Hope the move to Portugal was sound, mate. You had a pastel de nata yet or what? I’m knackered, to be honest, but I’ve got a premiere tonight so I’ll drag myself through it. Just thought I’d say hi. Had a lot on my mind lately, been thinking back to the last time I was in the Med. That was with DARK, and we had some proper good times. I miss Dolores a lot. You asked me about her more than once and I always held back, but I reckon it’s time now to share a few things she told me before she went.”

A reliable wealth of information

”Dolores was an angel on earth, plain and simple. She’d never have hurt a soul on purpose least of all Olé or me, or her beautiful kids. This whole business is a bloody disgrace, and it’s weighed heavy on me for years now. I’ve got to get it off me chest. Zero chance she drowned by accident or topped herself. Utter bollocks. Just the usual media shite. I’ll tell you one thing, mate, she was dealing with some dark stuff and dead set on exposing her abuser, who I might add was some big shot from Limerick. She had this chat with me a couple months before she went. She was strong as an ox, full of fire, and sober as a judge for over a year. You and me, we supped the sauce for years, and we both know when someone’s three sheets to the wind. She weren’t.”

”It wasn’t her bag. Her kids were her world. Her mum too. Nah, I don’t know who raped her. She was this close to spilling it, but all she said was it was some prominent fella who showed up at her dad’s funeral. She owned a flat here in the East Village, so we were proper neighbours, five minutes’ trip apart, so yeah, we were thick as thieves. I know she got matey with Chris when she was in New York, used to grab a coffee now and then. Just a couple of old Irish lads chewing the fat, you know? But more than that, what she told me about him is massive. Chris had been split from his missus for over a year before they got him. That’s gospel. On top of that, he was seeing someone else though Dolores never met her.”

The Queen of Limerick

”Divorce was in the works, and he was proper done with it. She said he confided in her about some serious business he was digging into. He was buzzing about the new record they had coming out, but that was small potatoes. The bloke had uncovered a right mess with his wife and some dodgy sorts round them in California, trafficking girls, nonce behaviour, the vilest stuff you can picture.” The rest will be published on the last episode of my docuseries, “Louder Than Love,” coming soon. Andy was distressed when the Cranberries singer was arrested and charged in connection with air rage on a flight to Ireland on November 10, 2014. Dolores grew abusive to the crew, and as police were arresting her, she resisted, shouting that her taxes paid their wages and, “I’m the Queen of Limerick!” headbutting one Garda officer and spitting at another.

She allegedly fractured the air hostess’s foot during the incident. Following her arrest, the frontwoman spent three weeks in a psychiatric hospital. She later pleaded guilty. The judge agreed to dismiss all charges under certain conditions. Later, Dolores told the media that she had been stressed from living in New York hotels following the end of her 20-year marriage. Having to face her abuser probably set some wires off as well, which is completely understandable. In 2015, Dolores developed a relationship with bandmate Olé Koretsky, with whom she shared the last years of her life. She flew from New York to London on January 14, 2018, for a recording session with “Bad Wolves” for a cover of “Zombie” and checked into the Hilton Park Lane hotel that evening, room #2025. Staff later described her as generally in good spirits.

The Cranberries singer is found unresponsive

On January 15, she phoned her mom around 3 a.m., sounding tired but normal. Dolores allegedly accessed the minibar in her room, consuming five miniatures of spirits and a 35 cl bottle of champagne. Sometime after this, she ran a bath and got in, still wearing pajamas; a hotel maid found her later that morning, submerged face‑up with nose and mouth under the water, unresponsive in the tub. Paramedics pronounced her dead at 9:16 a.m. at the scene. Numerology features prominently in occult rituals, witchcraft, and sacrifices because numbers embody vibrational energies, cosmic symmetries, and symbolic correspondences that amplify intentions and align practitioners with demonic forces. Numbers structure magic for precision: In Kabbalah, gematria equates words with numerical values to unlock hidden scriptural meanings and channel entities. This coding often reveals connections; 916 equates to “darkness.”

In 2008, Dolores was sixth on the list of the ten richest artists in Ireland, with a networth of $66 million. Sixth on the list? $66 million? It equals 666, the number of the beast. Last phone call at 3 am? 6 bottles of alcohol? 3×6 = 666 again. These secret societies leave clues everywhere to communicate among themselves under the principle of karmic retribution. Non-reaction to occult demonstrations equals implied consent in magical ethics and law, where inaction presumes permission. The Metropolitan Police treated the case as a non‑suspicious sudden death, and an inquest was opened on January 19, 2018, then adjourned to await full reports. On September 6, 2018, coroner Dr. Shirley Radcliffe ruled that the Cranberries singer died from accidental drowning due to alcohol intoxication, stating there was no evidence of intent or self‑harm.

The Cranberries singer sounded “full of life”

Toxicology tests showed a blood alcohol concentration of 330 mg per 100 ml (roughly 4x the UK legal driving limit) with only therapeutic levels of prescription drugs. The post‑mortem found no external injuries, no signs of assault, no self‑inflicted wounds, and no suicide note was recovered. Why was she wearing her pyjamas? People might take a bath while wearing them due to medical conditions like dementia or extreme intoxication. But on purpose? Why no suicide note? She had three children; she surely would have wanted to let them know what happened. A BAC of 330 mg per 100 ml equates to 0.33% (more numerology?). For a veteran Irish drinker, survival of 0.33% BAC is feasible, and as a veteran non-Irish drinker myself, 5 shots of hard liquor plus one bottle of champagne seems little to me.

The inquest also reviewed her psychiatric history: documented bipolar disorder, heavy drinking episodes, and a 2017 incident in which she wrote a suicide note while intoxicated. But the Cranberries singer did not act further, yet her psychiatrist testified she had been “in remission,” future‑oriented, and looking forward to work. Her family mentioned she had been sober for a year prior to her death. Dolores sounded ‘full of life’ in a voicemail she left just after midnight to Dan Waite, director of Eleven Seven Music, as he had been working with Bad Wolves. He said to The Mirror, “She was looking forward to seeing me in the studio and recording vocals. She sounded full of life, was joking, and was excited to see me and my wife this week.” Bad Wolves released their cover just four days after she died, and donated all proceeds to her children ($250,000 USD).

Abundant occult symbolism

The surviving Cranberries felt it was rushed and in poor taste. Drowning in a tub carries occult symbolism tied to baptismal purification gone awry, rebirth rituals, or confrontation with the unconscious, often viewed as a sacrificial immersion or underworld descent. Bathtubs represent confined portals to the subconscious, where water signifies emotional overwhelm or spiritual trials leading to death-rebirth cycles. Furthermore, in Illuminati and elite symbolism, tub scenes depict sin-cleansing baptisms inverting Christian rites into occult rebirths, with drowning implying total ego dissolution for elite initiation. Esoterically, bathtub drowning symbolizes submersion in the shadow self, repressed traumas, or Jungian unconscious floods signaling annihilation for renewal.

Thelema, via Aleister Crowley’s elemental grades, treats water as “Binah’s receptive force in the abyss-crossing, where ego drowns in night-sea journey to knowledge and conversation with the holy guardian angel.” Additionally, we see this happen with Jim Morrison, Aaron Carter, Whitney Houston, and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. We have variations with hot tubs (Matthew Perry) or swimming pools (Brian Jones). The media focused on all the negatives as they pushed their narrative. I prefer to remember Dolores as she was: a rebel lark of the ’90s fluttering from rural to global stages, her pixie frame belying a haunting howl that toppled charts. A Celtic lament piercing the veil between sorrow and salvation. Rest in peace, Dolores.

What do you think really happened to Dolores O’Riordan? Share your thoughts below.

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