GLOBAL SUPERSTAR DOLLY Parton said that she “always felt connected” to Sinead O’Connor, one of Ireland’s most well-known and beloved musicians who died earlier this year. 

“She was very, very sweet. And I hated to hear she was gone. And I know she had a very hard life but in her music you could tell she went through, and sometimes that’s what makes the best singers – people that lived what they’re singing about,” Parton said. 

The veteran country music star said that Sinead O’Connor’s version of Nothing Compares 2 U was one of her “favourite songs”. 

“I just loved that version of it,” she added. 

Parton also told RTÉ’s Katie Hannon that she was surprised when Sinead O’Connor recorded a version of ‘Dagger Through My Heart’, a song that she wrote back in her teenage years. 

“When I heard she had recorded it, I was really impressed and delighted,” Parton said. 

She also reflected on a night she spent in Paidí Ó Sé’s pub in Ventry, Co Kerry, during a trip to Ireland in 1990. 

Paidi and Dolly back in 1990.

That night she famously sang her hit song Coat of Many Colours with the musicians Steve Cooney and the late Séamus Begley accompanying her. 

“I remember that very well. I was with my friend Walter Hagan, who was Irish. We had gone over on a trip and every corner had a pub and I said, ‘Well I’m going to go into this one.’

“We just had a ball that night and they asked me if I would sing, and of course I did!”

Parton said that she still has the Kerry GAA jersey that the late owner of the pub Páidi Ó Sé gave her, and that it is now framed and on display in her games room. 

“Everybody asks about that white and green jersey, so I’m very, very proud of that – I kept it. And when I brought it home I put it on the wall and it’s been there ever since,” Parton said. 

Parton also praised the people who took part in ‘Dollyday” in Kerry this summer.

“May I take a moment to say thank you to all the gals who dressed up as me, I’m proud of all of you – you made me proud,” she said. 

Parton was promoting her new book Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. 

She also spoke about her literacy programme The Imagination Library, which is currently available to children in Tallaght, Kildare and Cork. 

Through the programme, Dolly has provided books to over 215 million children, including 200,000 in Ireland. 

You can listen to the full interview here.