Dolores O'Riordan's honorary doctorate presented to her mother in UL
Members of Limerick rock band The Cranberries today were conferred with honorary doctorates by University of Limerick (UL).
Guitarist and songwriter Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler were all presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.
Eileen O’Riordan, mother of lead singer Dolores O’Riordan, who tragically passed away this time last year, was presented with a posthumous Honorary Doctorate of Letters for Dolores O’Riordan.
"I know Dolores would be so proud to receive such an honour from her home town, it would mean so much to her," said Eileen.
No matter where she travelled or lived, her heart was always in Limerick and would take any opportunity to return and spend time here with her family, friends and band members.
The university initially planned to present the doctorates to the band two years ago.
"UL had initially planned to present these doctorates to The Cranberries in April 2017, however promotional and rehearsal commitments prevented the band from being available to accept the honour at that stage," said UL President Dr Des Fitzgerald.
It is with very sad regret that since that time the world and more importantly her family and band mates have lost Dolores O’Riordan and her incredible voice.
"We very much appreciate her family’s presence here today and particularly her mother Eileen who is accepting this Honorary Doctorate on Dolores’ behalf."
Dolores' bandmates said they are "humbled" by the honour and they are touched that the ceremony took place on the week of Dolores' anniversary.
The 46-year old singer was found dead in a bath in a London hotel room, on January 15, 2018. An inquest held into her death last September heard she had drowned while intoxicated with alcohol.
"We are saddened that Dolores is not with us on this very special day but garner some comfort that she was aware that the University was going to present the Cranberries with this honorary doctorate," said Dr Noel Hogan and Dr Mike Hogan.
It is poignant that the conferring is this week, a year since her passing.
Earlier this week, Noel, Fergal and Mike paid homage to their close friend and lead singer by sharing the music they had been working on prior to Dolores' unexpected death.
The forthcoming album ‘In the End’ is now set for release April 26, 2019.
