The Cranberries made a very special return to Limerick last Wednesday for the Special Olympics Ireland Opening Ceremony. As the band walked onto the Thomond Park stage situated less than a couple of minutes from the Hogan brothers original home in Moyross the band ended a 17 year wait to play for a Limerick audience.
As the opening chords of ‘Zombie’ were trashed out, the crowd roared their approval and the band looked confident and sounded great. Taking time out from their world tour to fly back from France to attend this special one-off performance the band continued with their biggest hit, ‘Linger’ followed by ‘Salvation” from their third album ‘To the Faithful Departed’.
The significance of the event for the band was obvious when singer Delores O’Riordan declared that the band were “proud to be from Limerick” and after introducing her mother from the stage sang an emotional rendition of ‘Ode to my Family’ . She also encourage the crowd to follow their dreams before playing out with their breakthrough hit ‘Dreams’. Though short, the gig hit the right notes and the crowd’s warm reaction should ensure another Limerick appearance for The Cranberries when they return with new material next year.
