Singer Sinead O'Connor Defends Tweet Saying She'd Initiate a 'Bloodbath' if the Pope Visits Ireland

Twitter seems to be a tool that just isn't meant for singer Sinead O'Connor's usage.

Back in September, the performer ignited a somewhat underreported firestorm when she apparently tweeted that she would initiate a "bloodbath" if Pope Benedict XVI visited Ireland (according to Irish Central, the exact quote was: "There'd be a f**kin bloodbath. Me meet the f **ker off the plane myself.")

More than a month after that Tweet was sent, the songstress is claiming that she was merely joking. NewCore has more about the initial message she sent:

"'Young people of Ireland I love u' said Sinead as she pulled the [f**king] trigger," the artist tweeted, referencing the words of John Paul II, made famous during his 1979 pilgrimage to Ireland.

Of course, she's claiming that humor was behind it all. "That was just nonsense. Come on!," she explains. "See, that's the trouble with Twitter, you know, people take it too seriously and they say, 'Oh, you're looking for attention,' but it's them following you and you didn't ask them to follow you. So it just got to a joke between me and my mate ... I was joking about how I'd meet him at the airport with my AK but obviously I wouldn't or couldn't," she continued, in comments to FoxNews.com.

But -- as NewsCore notes -- O'Connor has a complicated history with the Pope. Back in 1992, she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on stage after performing on "Saturday Night Live." Then, she said, "Fight the real enemy!" Watch video of this odd behavior, below:

But the Pope controversy is only the latest in a string of oddball social media behavior. Just days before the Pope tweet was sent, O'Connor concerned fans when she started sending what some dubbed "suicidal tweets." One read, "Had to go psychiatrist for routine renew prescription etc. She says I'm a bad mum and mental for talking so openly about sex in public."

Then, she wrote, "So now I wish suicide wud kill me." Another message said, "Anyway.. If any1 knows how I can kill myself...Without my kids finding out I did it deliberately pls tell me asa f--kin p." E! has more of her alleged messages:

"All this s--t we're not supposed to say. Including suicidal feelings, sex, etc. U just get treated like a crazy person. I want to go...To heaven SO bad. Have for yrs...But I don't wanna abandon my kids. But if I cud die without them knowing I did it myself I wud. An I know every1 will say I'm a c--t for saying that.. But f--k all this s--t we're 'not supposed to say'. I'm so tired. 24 yrs...Of being treated like a crazy person. Can't manage any more. Badly wish cud die without it ruining my kids lives."

O'Connor has four children between the ages of four and 24. Authorities were apparently notified about her tweets and she later posted a message on her web site saying, "I am not at all sorry that I wrote what I did on twitter. It was a cry for help and help was received. So it was worth it."

Here's a screen shot of her blog, which has some very (and semi-graphic) interesting descriptions. Posts like these have added to the questions some have about the singer's mental state:

Recently, the O'Connor deleted her Twitter account. A decision many would deem wise at this juncture.