The Cranberries in “Ode to My Family” (1994) poignantly share snapshots of their early lives in Limerick, Ireland. The song is about O’Riordan’s decision to leave home and choose a career in singing, which her family did not approve of initially. The refrain “Does anyone care?” refers to whether her past could be acknowledged as she rose to fame.
When O’Riordan, along with guitar players Noel and Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler were children in Limerick throughout the 1970s and 80s, Ireland was in the midst of the Troubles. The Troubles lasted from 1968 to 1998 in Northern Ireland, where the loyalists to the United Kingdom, who were mainly Protestant, experienced conflict with Roman Catholic nationalists. (Britannica).
Limerick, located in mid-west Ireland, was mostly made up of Roman Catholic nationalists, so the violence of the north had not been present.
Wallenfeldt, Jeff. “The Troubles.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2020, www.britannica.com/event/The-Troubles-Northern-Ireland-history.