HOLLYWOOD actor Russell Crowe has shared an emotional tribute to Sinead O'Connor – and told how she was a “hero”.

The iconic Irish singer, best known for her hit Nothing Compares 2 U, has passed away 18 months after the devastating loss of 17-year-old Shane O'Connor.

The Gladiator actor took to Twitter to share a memory with Sinead in Dublin and remembered her as an “amazing woman”.

He said: “Last year, working in Ireland, having a pint in the cold outside a Dalkey pub with some new friends, a woman with purpose strode past us.

“Puffy parker zipped to the nape and her bowed head covered in a scarf.

“One of my new friends muttered an exclamation, jumped up.

“She came with us back to the table and sat in the cold and ordered a hot tea.

“In a conversation without fences we roamed through the recent Dublin heatwave, local politics, American politics, the ongoing fight and pursued the woman.

“Thirty metres down the road the friend and the woman embraced and he waived me over.

“There under streetlights with mist on my breath, I met Sinéad.

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“She looked in my eyes, and uttered with disarming softness 'Oh, it’s you Russell'.

“When her second cup was taking on the night air, she rose, embraced us all and strode away into the fog-dimmed streetlights.

“We sat there the four of us and variously expressed the same thing.

"What an amazing woman.

“Peace be with your courageous heart Sinead.

“For indigenous recognition in many places, but particularly in Australia, her warm memory of  New Zealand, faith, music, movies and her brother the writer.

“I had the opportunity to tell her she was a hero of mine.”

Fans took to the comments to share their condolences remembering her as an “exquisite beauty” that “touched the world”.

One person said: “What a lovely memory of a chance meeting, written with such warmth and regard. May she RIP.”

Another said: “She left her mark – thank you for sharing such a personal memory – our amazing courageous sister.”

One user said: “Beautifully written. God bless Sinead.

“Dalkey, Dún Laoighre, Bré were her streets, but Sinead touched the world.

“An exquisite beauty, who suffered and lost so much. You will be remembered.

“Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.”

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While another added: “Every now and then, if we're lucky, life reminds us we can't buy its real treasures and privileges, it gifts them to us.

“Thanks for sharing the moment.”

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