{"id":611790,"date":"2026-07-30T14:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/611790\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:31:18","slug":"a-man-of-celtic-soul-tributes-and-grief-in-ireland-and-abroad-on-glen-hansards-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/611790\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A man of Celtic soul’: Tributes and grief in Ireland and abroad on Glen Hansard’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"antonia-briones-leaving-flowers-in-temple-bar-dublin-in-tribute-to-oscar-winning-irish-musician-and-activist-glen-hansard-who-has-died-in-a-motorcycle-crash-on-lower-road-strawberry-beds-lucan-pic\"
\n A fan leaves flowers at a memorial to Hansard in Temple Bar. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n

Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n

A BOOK OF Condolence has been opened by Dublin City Council amid the outpouring of grief and tributes that have followed the death of Glen Hansard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 56-year-old singer-songwriter and activist died yesterday in a motorcycle crash<\/a> at the Strawberry Beds near Lucan in west Dublin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Book of\u00a0Condolence is open in the Mansion House in Dublin from 10am\u20134pm each day but can also be signed online<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tributes to Hansard have come from beyond the music world and beyond Ireland\u2019s shores, demonstrating the lasting impact he life\u2019s work had on people both here and internationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Ireland, his contemporaries have spoken about the friendship and their shared influence on one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donaghmede native Damien Dempsey wrote<\/a> of his fellow northsider:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m writing this in tears thinking of our great times together, Glen, Ballymun Bard, one of the finest songwriters I ever heard, and the most powerful passionate performer I ever shared a stage with, your power was unfathomable, other worldly, when you ripped into a song you\u2019d rip the roof off the venue and rip your heart out of your chest and hand it to us, and shake us all awake right into the very moment, a monumental power and a monumental loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan said that she felt \u201cabsolutely bereft\u201d following his passing:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n

I will never forget the first time I saw Glen sing. I was 18 and went to Vicar st to see the Frames not knowing a single song. I was left in absolute awe at his gifts -the raging power and fragile beauty of his voice, his songwriting, his confidence, his humour.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"image\"
\n Hansard (centre) alongside Danny O’Reilly (left) and R\u00f3isin O at the Chrstimas Eve busk. RollingNews.ie<\/p>\n

RollingNews.ie\n<\/p>\n

Veteran music writer BP Fallon described Hansard as \u201ca man of Celtic soul\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all Glen ever did was organising the uplifting Christmas sing-songs in Grafton Street \u2013 drawing in the likes of Sinead, Imelda May and Bono \u2013 that alone flies the flag up the pole,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fallon is referencing the now Christmas Eve Grafton Street busk for charity that was spearheaded by Hansard and is now an annual event with some of the biggest names in Irish music.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PastedImage-20504\"
\n RollingNews.ie<\/p>\n

RollingNews.ie\n<\/p>\n

Musician Mundy, who has frequently performed with Hansard, posted online<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fkd. This guy was a trailblazer. He was such an influence on me. I met him when I was 16\/17. His energy was unmatched. His right hand was the most fkn magical thing to watch. He could whisper and roar the walls down. He pissed me off sometimes but that was a bit of jealousy and competition on my behalf. He was parallel to all the greats in my view and all the greats knew who he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mundy\u2019s referencing of the greats is a nod to the esteem musicians from across the world held Hansard in, with some global superstars posting about his death since it has become widely reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bruce\u00a0Springsteen said in a post on Instagram that he was \u201cheartbroken\u201d at the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met in Ireland many years ago and he was always nothing but a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\n

Always positive, smiling and ready to sing. God bless him and his loved ones.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Grammy award winner Finneas O\u2019Connell, who is brother to\u00a0Billie Eilish and collaborator on her work, wrote that Hansard\u2019s Oscar-winning Falling Slowly was the first song he ever himself performed on stage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis songs made me want to write songs and they also made me cry. When our family met him in Dublin in 2019, he greeted us like old friends even though we were just his fans. Today I am a heartbroken fan. Hope he knew how much he meant to so many, this is how much he meant to me,\u201d O\u2019Connell wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Billie Eilish herself posted a picture of herself and Hansard together, saying: \u201cDevastated, wouldn\u2019t be who I am today without Glen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comedian and actor O\u2019Dowd said he could not believe the singer \u201cleft the world so terribly early\u201d.<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cHis energising melodies and soulful, searching voice made the tough times more manageable, the stagnant times more beautiful, and the joyful times even more memorable.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Dowd is currently performing in\u00a0The Brightening Air in Dublin\u2019s The Gate Theatre and delivered a tribute to Hansard after last night\u2019s performance in which he led a standing ovation with the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"tributes-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\"
\n Picture of Glen Hansard’s career in Dublin’s Temple Bar.\n<\/p>\n

Hansard was not an actor by trade but was famously part of two of Irish cinema\u2019s most successful films of the past 35 years, the first time as part of The Commitments ensemble cast and then as the lead in Once.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The aforementioned Bono also released a lengthy tribute to Hansard, calling him \u201cotherworldly\u201d and \u201ca smiling rascal if you needed him to be\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, Glen was the shining star of the Christmas Eve busk\u2026 sometimes the only one reminding the rest of us that Christmas began with a refugee born in a manger, which is hardly a step from living on the street,\u201d Bono wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He continued:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the crowds got bigger and for safety\u2019s sake Glen had to agree to move the busk to a stage kindly provided outside The Gaiety Theatre, he would say \u2018we\u2019ll give it our best but it\u2019s not a busk if we\u2019re not on the street!\u2019 \u2026because that\u2019s who he was \u2013 a performer at eye level in any situation. The stage was a separation he wouldn\u2019t recognise.<\/p>\n

\n

Of all the grand and gigantic venues he and The Frames played, you sensed the street was his most favoured place to perform. And street people, his favourite audience.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cVoice of the streets. A choir of angels in one man. The rest of us blessed to stand there beside our very own and very earthed Angel Gabriel\u2026 All of us welcome in his choir, whatever shape or form.\u201d<\/p>\n