Sinead O’Connor’s final song is a ‘haunting’ rendition of the Outlander theme – as producer says the late singer ‘resonated’ with the theme of being cast aside

• Sinead O’Connor’s final recorded song was The Skye Boat Song for Outlander
• Read more: Touching tribute to Sinead O’Connor unveiled close to her former family home in Ireland as details of late singer’s funeral are announced

The final song ever recorded by Sinead O’Connor is a ‘haunting’ rendition of The Skye Boat Song – the much-loved theme song of time travel drama Outlander.

The singer, who died last month at the age of 56, is said to have ‘really resonated’ with the main character of the series, Claire, who travels from the 20th century to 18th century Scotland.     

The Skye Boat Song has been updated for each season of Outlander, but had typically featured the vocals of Raya Yarbrough.

For the final instalment of the popular series, executive producer Maril Davis wanted to try something brand new, and was shocked when O’Connor accepted the invitation.

And she told Metro the late singer had ‘really resonated’ with Claire’s plotline, in which the character’s ideas are often considered ‘crazy’. 

Sinead O’Connor, who died at the end of July at the age of 56, recorded her final song for the new series of Outlander, which has echoes of the 1980s when the Irish singer’s career was at its peak

As the new series partly follows Claire’s daughter Brianna during the 1980s, Davis explained the executives on the show wanted to ‘infuse’ the opening credits with a nod to that decade. 

They made use of their composer Bear McCreary’s link to O’Connor, and asked if she would like to be a part of the final Outlander episodes.  

Much to Ms Davis’ surprise, the songstress was excited by the prospect.

‘I’d heard that she really resonated with Claire’s story. Obviously, we knew she was struggling with the death of her son, and certainly wasn’t prepared necessarily to come out and do a lot of press. But we were so excited, and we just went down that road,’ she said.

The mother-of-one died 18 months after her son Shane, 17, took his own life when he escaped from hospital where he was on suicide watch

The ‘haunting’ rendition of The Skye Boat Song was recorded over two days at Grouse Lodge in Ireland, and at the time her producers had no idea it would be her final song. 

Outlander follows Claire Beauchamp’s relationship with highlander Jamie Fraser after travelling from the period directly after World War Two to 18th century Scotland.

The English woman struggles to adapt to life in the past, and it is this feeling of not quite fitting in that Ms Davis believes O’Connor may have resonated with. 

Ms Davis said: ‘I feel like her story is very similar Claire’s, they’ve been kind of at the forefront of things, maybe they have not been always embraced by [sic] everything they’ve done, and people have kind of pushed back and their ideas have maybe been “crazy” and received a lot of backlash.’

She added that she thought Sinead and the character of Claire shared ‘a lot of similarities’, and that she felt ‘honoured’ the singer wanted to be involved in the project. 

The new series of Outlander will feature the same track in its opening sequence, but O’Connor’s vocals will feature

O’Connor – who was also known as Shuhada Sadaqat – was buried as a Muslim in a Catholic cemetery following her funeral on August 8.

After nearly 5,000 people had lined the route to pay their respects to the late Irish singer, her family, Bob Geldof and an Islamic cleric were among the few invited as her body was lowered to the ground at Deansgrange Cemetery in Bray, Co Wicklow.

Traditionally, people in Muslim burials are laid on their right hand side. Sinead’s head may also be facing Qibla – the direction towards the Sacred Mosque in Mecca – as is Islamic custom after she chose Islam over Catholicism.

The star, who died on July 26, described becoming a Muslim as a ‘re-version rather than conversion’ after she finally turned her back on the Catholic church following years of attacking it which saw her rip up a picture of the Pope on TV.

Her final resting place was marked with blooms removed from the top of her casket and those thrown onto her hearse by well-wishers. A brass plaque on a wooden plinth read: ‘Sinead O’Connor. Born 8th December 1966. Died 26th July 2023.’

Her grave at the cemetery near Dublin, opened in 1865, lies along a wall close to the entrance in an area called ‘The Garden’ and is surrounded by Catholic graves.

Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, an Islamic scholar and Chief Imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland, who met the star in 2018, officiated at the ceremony and offered prayers. The imam was a friend of the singer and described himself as her ‘spiritual guide’. 

Fans of singer Sinead O’Connor lined the streets for a ‘last goodbye’ in Bray on August 8

Thousands lined the streets of Bray to pay tribute to Irish singer Sinead O’Connor 

On Twitter, Dr Umar Al-Qadri posted a photograph of himself at her grave and a message from the Irish Muslim Council at the scene, which said: ‘The Muslim World mourns the loss of the Daughter of Ireland Sister Sinéad O’Connor (Shuhada). May she rest in peace.’

Pale roses adorned her grave, accompanied by blue hydrangeas that had surrounded her coffin as it was driven through the coastal town of Bray yesterday.

Hundreds of locals and fans of the singer gathered outside her former house, Montebello, where she had lived for 15 years, after her family asked that people stand along the Strand Road for ‘a last goodbye’.

The singer’s former home, sold in 2021 and now lying empty, was turned into a make-shift shrine since her death in London in July.

The wall outside the property has been covered with flowers, photos and candles, as well as handwritten notes addressed to the singer to thank her for her voice, her music and her bravery.

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