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| From Sinead's blogpost titled 'Coming Home'. |
- Brian Mendonca
Sinead loved 2023 too much. She passed on in Goa in the early hours of the last day of the year.
Her name, in Irish, meant 'God is gracious.' And so He was, giving her a beautiful life while here on earth.
Her vivacious face, from a photo of her younger days, stares out at you from the newspaper. This was not the way New Year was supposed to begin. In fact, her friends deferred the announcement till 2 January.
'The Sunshine In Our Lives' read the simple words above her photo in the obituary laced with blue. It signs off with, 'Forever in the hearts of her many, many friends.' The friends are unnamed. It was not necessary to put her surname. The assumption, it seems, was that it was unnecessary. She was that well-known to readers of Herald in Goa.
Her passing reminds us of the many people who are grieving during this season of celebration. My mum left on 20 December. It's a place you don't want to be.
We lost Irish singer Sinead O'Connor (57) in July last year. Her zest for life seemed to be shared by Sinead McManus. Her lilting, evocative rendition of Don't Cry For Me Argentina seems to be a requiem for the life of her namesake.
Sinead McManus (49) was a PR writer in Goa for food, lifestyle, real estate, and fashion. An expat, she took a keen interest in art and was a friend of the painter Shireen Mody who was based in Arpora, North Goa.
Her last blogpost in 2019 was about Studio Arpora started by Shireen and now run by her daughter Saffron. She also blogged about properties from Agonda to Siolim. She had a beautiful style of writing and posed for her own photos on her blog.
I am amazed at how people just leave everything behind and come to discover themselves in Goa. It also suggests that writing makes good PR (Public Relations). You could make a living perhaps.
Sinead was found dead in her hotel room in Agonda, when she did not come down for breakfast.
Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin (28) also ended up dead in Devbagh, Canacona in 2017.
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