Bono, Eddie Vedder among mourners at the funeral of Oscar-winning
songwriter Glen Hansard
[August 05, 2026]
DUBLIN (AP) — Hundreds of mourners including Irish musicians and
entertainers filled a Dublin cathedral on Tuesday for the funeral of
Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, who died in a
motorcycle crash last week at the age of 56.
Actors Steve Coogan and Chris O’Dowd and musicians including Bono,
Hozier, Declan O’Rourke and Imelda May were in the congregation
alongside friends, family and fans who had queued for hours outside St.
Patrick’s Cathedral.
A large crowd watched on big screens outside as pallbearers carried a
wicker coffin topped with flowers into the cathedral.
William Morton, the dean of the cathedral, said: “Glen’s remarkable
gifts and outstanding talent, which touched so many hearts, took him
from the streets of Dublin to audiences across the globe.”
The funeral service was interwoven with music, including a performance
by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who sang Hansard’s “The Song of Good Hope”
alongside Hansard’s longstanding musical partner Markéta Irglová.
U2's Bono said of Hansard: “Everyone who met him, they just remembered
the day they met him.”
Bono held up his phone to play a message he'd received from singer and
poet Patti Smith performing “a lullaby for Glen’s family and friends,”
before reciting lyrics to U2’s “Beautiful Day.”
Hansard was killed in a single-vehicle crash on the outskirts of Dublin
on July 29, hours after taking part in a trad music session at a pub.
His widow, Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, who thanked the police officers
who came to his aid, read a poem she had written for him early in their
relationship.
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The coffin of Glen Hansard is carried into St Patrick's Cathedral
for his funeral service, in Dublin, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (Damien
Eagers/PA via AP)
 She said the couple's 3-year-old son
was too young to attend or understand the funeral, but “the bright
spirit he inherited from his father is with us.”
Hansard was the longtime front man of Irish rock band The Frames and
played a member of a Dublin soul band in the hit 1991 movie “The
Commitments.” He won an Oscar in 2008 for the song “Falling Slowly”
from the movie “Once,” in which he co-starred with Irglová. A stage
adaptation won eight Tony Awards in 2012.
Hansard also was half of rock duo The Swell Season with Irglová and
released solo albums including “Didn’t He Ramble,” which was
nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2016.
For many years he led a Christmas Eve busk outside Dublin’s Gaiety
Theatre, where members of the public gathered to see famous Irish
musicians perform in aid of a homelessness charity.
Tributes have been paid by fellow musicians. Bruce Springsteen said
on Instagram he was “heartbroken” at the loss of “a great musician,
a good friend and a generous and gracious man.”
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