Celebrated Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan was married for 20 years to Duran Duran's former tour manager. The rock star married Don Burton in 1994 and the couple had three children together. They split in 2014. Tragically, O'Riordan passed away inside of a London hospital on January 15 at the age of 46. At the time of writing, her cause of death is unknown.
The man who married O'Riordan and Burton in Holycross Abbey in Tipperary, Canon Liam McNamara told the Limerick Leader, "My heart goes out to the family. Dolores was their pride and joy. We all loved her very, very much. She got on well all the way through her life. I was very disappointed to hear today that she has left us so early in life. Her family did so much for her and supported her all the way through."
Just before the couple split, O'Riordan was arrested for attacking cops at Shannon Airport
In November 2014, O'Riordan was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer and an Aer Lingus air hostess at Shannon Airport. The case came to trial in February 2016 with O'Riordan being forced to donate $6,600 to the court's "poor box." The People Magazine report on proceedings noted that O'Riordan had split from her husband just after her arrest and was battling "very serious mental illness." O'Riordan had told an arresting officer in Shannon Airport, "You can't arrest me. I'm an icon. I'm the queen of Limerick. You don't know who you are dealing with. I pay my taxes so I pay your wages and I am going to sue."
After the trial, O'Riordan told the media, "I don’t really have much to say. I’m glad it’s over and I want to thank the doctors who helped me to get back my health mentally. I’m feeling very good today, very positive about this upcoming year. I have a couple of albums coming out and I’m going to go back to work."
The singer's mother, Eileen O'Riordan, told the Irish Mirror after the arrest, "She is going through a marriage separation at the moment. That's hard for anyone." Eileen O'Riordan added that her daughter was in a fragile mental state and that no drugs or alcohol had been found in her system. When O'Riodan's mother went to visit her daughter at a Limerick police station, Eileen says, " Dolores was inside in a room, she was lying on the floor, curled up. She had her head covered and her face covered up. She was trying to protect herself. I gave her a hug. I tried to talk to her. She didn’t realise I was there at all. I put Lourdes water on her. She didn’t know who I was, she was trying to cover herself from me."
Read More: Dolores O’Riordan gives very vulnerable interview after air rage arrest
At the time of O'Riordan's death, their children were living with their father
The Daily Mirror reported in 2016 that Burton and O'Riordan's three children, Taylor, Molly and Dakota, were were living in Canada with their father. Burton has a son from a previous relationship named Donald Jr, who goes by Donny.
O'Riordan's mother told the Mirror that all the children knew was "mommy isn't well at the moment." For a time, Burton and O'Riordan divided their time between living in Howth, County Dublin, and in Canada. She told the Independent about this in 2009 saying, "I just wanted to stay at home, do the laundry, take my children to school. Just switch off and be a mother. I enjoyed living in Canada, where my husband comes from, because I was treated like any ordinary person. I became a volunteer at my children's school, I went into the classroom. It was very grounding. I got sick of being famous." The singer also said that while living in Canada, she had swapped running for country walks with Burton.
When the couple relocated to Canada, O'Riordan told the Peterborough Examiner that she wanted to hang an Irish flag outside their home. That's because Burton had done the same with a Canadian flag outside of their Irish home.
Burton once told a Vatican official that he would rather meet Santa Claus than the Pope
We are crushed to hear the news about the passing of Dolores O’Riordan. Our thoughts go out to her family at this terrible time. https://t.co/6p20QD2Ii5 pic.twitter.com/vXscj0VGHS
— Duran Duran (@duranduran) January 15, 2018
Burton and O'Riordan met while The Cranberries toured with Duran Duran in the early '90s. O'Riordan said in a December 2013 interview with the Irish Independent that, "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 in Don and we have the most amazing kids." She went to refer to her husband as "being as mad as herself" while adding, "He showed me that life is not about success but about having fun." During that interview, O'Riordan also said that Burton had once told a Vatican official that he would rather meet Santa Claus than the Pope.
Describing the couple's first encounter, O'Riordan said, "The Cranberries tour manager said to me: 'He really likes you.' I remember thinking he was very big -- he is 6ft four or five. I remember thinking, 'Jesus, he would be too big for me. I wouldn't be able for him!'" she says with a laugh. "I had a skinhead and Doc Martens and I didn't think he'd go for my kind of thing. I thought he'd go for mainstream and blonde. I think he liked me because I was weird and different." O'Riordan also discussed the couple's honeymoon in Dingle and the Aran Islands, saying one night they forgot to pitch a tent and wound up sleeping in a garden in front of a church.
Burton was accused of once holding a beer in one hand and his son in the other while on a jet ski
In 2004, Burton and O'Riordan were taken to a court by their former nanny, Joy Fahy. She accused them of falsely imprisoning her and stealing her passport. The Irish Times reported at the time that the nanny also said that Burton had once taken the couple's son, Taylor (above), on a jet ski while holding his young son. Burton denied the accusation saying, "You don't drive with a drink in one hand." He added that it would be "physically impossible" to have performed the action.
According to Taylor Burton's Facebook page, he lives in Buckhorn, Ontario, as does his sister, Dakota, an accomplished equestrian .
Read More: Cranberries front woman Dolores O’Riordan dies suddenly in London
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