Fan donates stone bench to Limerick ‘to sit and reflect’ on life of Dolores O’Riordan

A DEDICATED fan of The Cranberries in the US is donating a stone bench on behalf of “fans that love and miss” Dolores O’Riordan, to be situated near her graveside in Limerick.

Dennis Sturms from New Hampshire who owns a own a stone supply business says he hopes to have a pedestal made for the bench and have it engraved.

“To avoid damage, I will be palletising and boxing up the bench and bracing it. It will be shipped in a 20' container to Dublin and then taken to Limerick by truck and unloaded and then placed with heavy equipment in its final location,” he explained.

It was always Mr Sturms’ ambition to go to Ireland and see where Dolores grew up.

“I assumed that I would do this while she was still alive. Sadly, I went to Limerick and Caherelly Cemetery with my kids in March of 2018. We attended a service and were fortunate enough to have met some of her family members,” he explained ahead of the first anniversary of the singer’s death next Tuesday.

Mr Sturms is hoping that the bench would be used by visitors to the graveyard and her family.

“I have been a Cranberries fan since the early days when the band was first playing in San Francisco and Berkeley, right after their first album came out. I saw all of their early shows and loved Dolores and her amazing songs,” he explained.

“My effort is to celebrate the life of Dolores and her music and to show her family how much she meant to fans around the world. Bringing a beautiful stone bench to Ireland from North America (where she and her children lived) would be very special for everyone that makes the pilgrimage to Caherelly and hopefully inspire her family.”

Ballybricken native Dolores was found dead in her bedroom at the London Hilton on Park Lane on January 15 last year. The mother-of-three was 46-year-old.

Two anniversary Masses will take place in Limerick to mark her untimely death.

A Mass will take place in St Ailbe’s Church in Ballybricken this Sunday, January 13 at 11am followed by anniversary Mass in St Joseph’s Church on O’Connell avenue in the city on Sunday, January 20 at 11.30am.

“They are both open to the public. We would love to see people there. We decided on the second Mass for people who wanted to go in Limerick city,” Dolores’ mother Eileen told the Limerick Leader this week.