Sinéad O’Connor to close out The Woman in the Wall finale with posthumous track

The late singer gave the song to the BBC series about cruelty in the Irish Catholic church system.

September 25, 2023
Sinéad O’Connor to close out <i>The Woman in the Wall</i> finale with posthumous track Sinéad O'Connor. Photo by Andrew Chin/Getty Images  

The Woman in the Wall, a BBC program about abuse in the Catholic churches of Ireland, will close out with unreleased Sinéad O'Connor, The Guardian reports. "The Magdalene Song" was given to the showrunners by the late singer. In it, she sings about a mother's grief after losing her child, but still finds the will to live. The song is one of O'Connor's final recordings.

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“The first half of the track is completely heartbreaking, and the second half is pure defiance,” David Holmes, Sinéad's producer, told The Guardian. "I stripped the song away to just Sinéad’s voice and then let the full power come in for the second half. It’s incredible how the meaning of the song came together with this story It was just meant to be. There’s a certain magic when you bring music to an emotive story.”

Holmes continued: “Sinéad sanctioned the track for use before they had even started shooting, and when the producers heard it they were amazed to have something so strong. We all felt the only place this can go is at the end."

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Last July, Sinéad O'Connor died at age 56. The cause of death has yet to be revealed.

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Sinéad O’Connor to close out The Woman in the Wall finale with posthumous track