![\"tribute-in-temple-bar-dublin-to-oscar-winning-irish-musician-and-activist-glen-hansard-who-has-died-in-a-motorcycle-crash-on-lower-road-strawberry-beds-lucan-picture-date-wednesday-july-29-2026\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785358574_884_.jpeg\")
\n A tribute to Hansard in Dublin’s Temple Bar this evening. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
\n
LAST UPDATE
\n |
\n 1 hr ago\n <\/p>\n
\n A tribute to Hansard in Dublin’s Temple Bar this evening. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
GLEN HANSARD, WHO died this morning<\/a>, was a household name in Ireland for almost his entire adult life.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019d been a recognisable figure ever since the cinema release of The Commitments back in 1991, playing the young, pony-tailed guitarist Outspan Foster in the movie adaptation of Roddy Doyle\u2019s tale of an aspiring Dublin soul band.\u00a0<\/p>\n For some, it seems, he\u2019ll be forever associated with the role; in interviews earlier this year, he recounted how Dubliners were still taking a sneaky pride in greeting him with a hearty \u201calright Outspan\u201d as he walked around town.\u00a0<\/p>\n For a generation of Irish indie and alternative rock fans who were teenagers in the 1990s and early 2000s, Hansard will always be best known as the frontman and driving force behind The Frames. The band, which Hansard founded, became renowned for their freewheeling, barnstorming gigs and army of die-hard fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n For others still, he\u2019s known as the Oscar-winning songwriter, alongside his co-writer Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1, of the tender folk ballad Falling Slowly from their movie, Once.\u00a0<\/p>\n And for last-minute festive shoppers, he\u2019ll always been the guy standing alongside the likes of Bono and Imelda May, leading the sing-alongs at the annual Christmas Eve Grafton Street busk.<\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n Even if you had no particular interest in his musical projects Hansard\u2019s presence in Irish life was inescapable over the last three-and-a-half decades (sometimes literally \u2013 I was once stuck from getting to my car on a freezing winter day because he\u2019d shown up in an obscure Liberties car-park to record a charity fundraising video).<\/p>\n But for the many thousands around the world who counted themselves as fans and followers, there was plenty to take an interest in: there was almost always another tour or record around the corner.<\/p>\n Alongside solo albums and gigs, there were regular reunions with Irglov\u00e1 (the duo performed together under the name The Swell Season) and his old bandmates in The Frames.<\/p>\n Across his long musical career he also collaborated with or played alongside an astonishing array of musicians \u2013 including the likes of Christy Moore, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam\u2019s Eddie Vedder.<\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n Early days\u00a0<\/p>\n Long before all that, a teenage Glen Hansard would have been a familiar face to anyone walking the laneways around Grafton Street from the mid-1980s, where he plied his trade as a busker.\u00a0<\/p>\n From Ballymun in the north suburbs, Hansard famously left school at 13 to chase his dream. As he later recounted, that dream wasn\u2019t necessarily about emulating his early hero, Bob Dylan, by becoming an internationally-known star. It was simply to make a living by playing music.\u00a0<\/p>\n His mother, Catherine, had a stall on Moore Street in the north city centre. To escape the embarrassment of being spotted by his mam\u2019s friends, a young Hansard made one of his first trips south of the river to take his initial steps in the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n He earned a grand total of 20 pence on that first day, busking off Grafton Street \u2013 enough to buy himself a cup of tea.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the first cup of tea I\u2019d ever brought for myself out of playing music,\u201d he later recalled, \u201cand for me it was a very proud feeling\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n A nascent scene built up around the area, with buskers gathering to play late into the night. Amongst that group was a young violinist, Colm Mac Con Iomaire. The pair formed an almost instant musical connection, and The Frames were born.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the early 90s, Hansard and his bandmates dedicated all their energy to building up the group.\u00a0<\/p>\n Resources weren\u2019t exactly in ready supply. The band were often so broke,\u00a0he later told Hot Press<\/a>, he\u2019d have to look under bushes to find loose change \u201cbecause we literally had no bus fare and we would be able to get a bag of chips\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery penny of our dole went into band rehearsals.\u201d<\/p>\n In need of a music video for airtime on RT\u00c9\u2019s alternative music show No Disco, the group recorded a video for their song Revelate<\/a> via the CCTV system in a local post office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eventually, the Irish breakthrough came. Revelate and other songs from their 1995 album Fitzcarraldo became staples of late-night radio and the group built up a steady live following in the years that followed.\u00a0<\/p>\n For a period around the turn of the millennium, it seemed that every student bedsit or house-share had somehow been issued with a CD copy of Fitzcarraldo and its follow-up, Dance the Devil.\u00a0<\/p>\n The band were a constant presence at music festivals \u2013 and their frenetic live shows meant fans were happy to come back to see them playing in venues around the country year after year.\u00a0<\/p>\n OtherVoices<\/a> \/ YouTube<\/p>\n A career detour and Oscar success\u00a0<\/p>\n As they watched peers like Damien Rice go on to major international success, the big international breakthrough never quite happened for The Frames.\u00a0<\/p>\n But as the band wound down Hansard, somewhat inadvertently, ended up on the cinema screen once again, playing a down-on-his-luck musician in the 2007 film Once.\u00a0<\/p>\n His old bandmate from the Frames, John Carney, had built up a career as a successful TV and film director since he\u2019d left the music scene and had lined up Cillian Murphy to star in a low budget musical romance set in the world of Dublin buskers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Murphy, the story goes, pulled out at the last minute. Hansard, who had written most of the songs for the film and recommended Irglov\u00e1 for the female lead, was persuaded to step in.\u00a0<\/p>\n The movie, of course, went to become a huge international success, picking up multiple awards \u2013 including an Oscar for Hansard and Irglov\u00e1 the following year. At 19, Irglov\u00e1 became the youngest person to win an Oscar in a musical category.\u00a0<\/p>\n Oscars<\/a> \/ YouTube<\/p>\n In spite of the age gap, the pair had developed a real-life romantic partnership as they promoted the film. Despite breaking up in 2009, the pair have reunited intermittently in the intervening years to record and tour.<\/p>\n \u201cI had been falling in love with her for a long time, but I kept telling myself she\u2019s just a kid,\u201d Hansard later said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The success of Once (which was adapted into a Broadway musical) and his reputation as a live performer meant Hansard was guaranteed an audience whenever he toured in the years that followed, and could pick and choose his projects and collaborators.<\/p>\n One of his more unusual late career side hustles saw him take up the role of guitarist in The Earthlings<\/a>, a \u2018supergroup\u2019 put together to back Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder on tour, alongside members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane\u2019s Addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"glen-hansard-performing-live-at-festival-sudoeste-tmn-at-herdade-da-casa-branca-day-three-zambujeira-do-mar-portugal\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785358575_706_.jpeg\")
\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n![\"left-to-right-glen-hansard-bono-and-imelda-may-take-part-in-the-annual-christmas-eve-busk-on-grafton-street-dublin\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785358576_515_.jpeg\")
\n Hansard, Bono and Imelda May take part in the annual Christmas Eve busk on Grafton Street in 2018. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n