Sinéad O'Connor's four ex-husbands, and why the Irish singer vowed to never remarry again
Though Sinéad O'Connor's life may have been cut short at the age of 56, the Irish-born singer was never in short supply of love.
From her four marriages and dedication to her beloved four children, the Nothing Compares 2 U hitmaker was surrounded by those she adored for most of her life.
O'Connor had a long history of relationships and short-lived romances, though her four marriages to ex-husbands coloured her love life the most.
The late music legend once said she married so many times in a bid to "feel normal". However, as her fans will know, O'Connor's remarkable talent and the tragedies that marred her life left her feeling anything but.
READ MORE: How losing custody of her son broke Sinéad O'Connor's heart
Sinéad O'Connor was married four times in her life. Michel Linssen/Redferns
Here, we take a look back at the four great loves of the late singer's life.
How many times did Sinéad O'Connor get married, and how many kids did she have?
Sinead O'Connor tied the knot four times and divorced four times, however she welcomed three of her four children with men she did not marry.
Her first child Jake, born in 1987, was with her first husband John Reynolds.
O'Connor's second child was her only daughter, Roisin, who was fathered by journalist John Waters, in 1995.
She welcomed her third child, Shane Lunny, in 2004. His father was Irish singer Donal Lunny.
READ MORE: Music superstar Sinéad O'Connor dies aged 56
Sinead O'Connor and her late son Shane. Twitter
Shane died by suicide at age 17 in 2022, a tragic blow O'Connor never truly recovered from.
O'Connor's fourth child Yeshua Bonadio was born in 2006. She shares him with ex Frank Bonadio.
READ MORE: Why Sinéad O'Connor ripped up a photo of the Pope live on television
John Reynolds
O'Connor's first husband was writer and musician John Reynolds, whom she was married to from 1987 until 1991.
The singer was 21 when they tied the knot after meeting Reynolds during her travels to London with her band TonTon Macoute.
O'Connor and Reynolds welcomed a child, Jake, in 1987 before their wedding.
During her documentary Nothing Compares, O'Connor recalled a doctor telling her she couldn't take a baby on her tour and reportedly encouraged her to terminate the pregnancy.
The couple ended their marriage in 1991 and continued to co-parent their son.
Their relationship was quite acrimonious and Reynolds would go on to produce five more of O'Connor's albums and even acted as her drummer in her 2013 tour.
John Reynolds drummer in Sinead O'Connor's band performs on stage in 2013. Redferns via Getty Images
Nick Sommerland
O'Connor's second marriage was to a distant relative of Queen Silvia of Sweden, a journalist named Nick Sommerland.
Sommerland had been working for the Press Association in Dublin when he first crossed paths with the singer in 2001.
"A journalist friend of mine and hers introduced us. We have been going out since February," he told the Irish Sun at the time. "I am delighted and so is she."
Their courtship was brief and Sommerland proposed in June 2001 after just a few months. They married in a secret ceremony in August when O'Connor was 35 and Sommerland was 27.
"We fell for each other very quickly. Both of us have been out with various people in the past, but we are both very happy now," PA reported Sommerland as saying in 2001.
O'Connor and Sommerland split after just 11 months of marriage but, like their wedding, the pair kept their divorce secret for some time.
This split proved to be a tough one for the Irish musician, who reportedly vowed to "never get married again", as per the Irish Independent.
Steve Cooney
They say the third time's a charm. For O'Connor, this didn't ring quite true.
Her third marriage was to Australian-Irish musician Steve Cooney, who hails from Melbourne.
They met after Cooney moved to Ireland and he was hired to play guitar in her backing band, which is how they met for the first time.
O'Connor's held to her vow to never marry again for nearly a decade, however she felt a kinship with Cooney. They married while on tour in July 2010, the news of their nuptials shared on O'Connor's official website.
However, their marriage was short-lived. The couple split and divorced less than a year later in April 2011.
O'Connor shouldered the blame for their relationship ending, claiming it was her "fault".
"Steve is lovely so it's not his fault but mine," she told the Irish Examiner. "It was an extremely happy marriage. I'm heartbroken about it breaking up."
inead O'Connor performing with Steve Cooney in 2008. Getty
Barry Herridge
O'Connor's fourth and final marriage was also her shortest.
The singer wed Barry Herridge, an Irish-born psychotherapist the same year she split from her third ex-husband.
The couple spontaneously tied the knot in Las Vegas on O'Connor's 45th birthday in 2011, but their union lasted 16 days.
O'Connor once again shared the news on her website in a cryptic message which claimed pressures from "certain people in his life" resulted in the end.
Though, in the months after their separation, the couple were spotted together in a friendly interaction. O'Connor also revealed they were trying to make things work in a message on Twitter.
"Spent beautiful evening of love making … Yay!!! we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend again an stay married but we did rush so we gonna return to b friend g friend," she wrote.
However, after 2012, the couple split for good and never got back together.
O'Connor once vowed she'd never marry again. Getty
Did Sinead O'Connor ever remarry again?
O'Connor never married again after splitting from her fourth husband in 2012.
In 2021, she said in an interview with People she was single and didn't intend to become romantically involved with anyone ever again.
After her fourth divorce, the singer also told the Irish Sun she regretted ever getting married in the first place.
"I think I was trying to be normal," she revealed. "Kind of like a gay person trying to insist on being straight."
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