04/08/2026
Remembering Glen on this sad day for his family, friends & fans.
Ballymun Local Heroes - Glen Hansard
Meet Glen – he's 51, an accomplished songwriter, musician and Oscar winner. Glen has most recently appeared in RTÉ's documentary 'Back to Barrytown' talking about his experiences of making the iconic film 'The Commitments'. Like Jamie Harrington, he’s a proud Ballymunner who grew up in The Towers during the seventies and eighties. Glen has made significant contributions towards raising awareness of issues like homelessness and domestic violence. He also advocates using your local library and absolutely deserves his place as one of Ballymun's Local Heroes.
Glen attended both Holy Spirit and Ballymun Comprehensive schools in Ballymun. At the young age of 13, Glen quit school and began busking on the streets of Dublin. His headmaster is said to have encouraged him to leave. Glen explains ‘’He told me to go and busk’’ adding that while he might not become a rock star, if he stuck at music, he would likely make a living from it. What an understatement!
Glen spent 5 years busking on the streets and working on songwriting. In his late teens, his parents helped finance the recording of a demo of his original material. This was a successful venture. In 1990, he needed to form a backing band. He gathered a handful of local buskers and rock musicians and the band ‘The Frames’ was born. They have been extremely influential in the Dublin Rock Music scene and celebrated 30 years in the music business last June - an impressive feat!!
In RTÉ's 'Back to Barrytown', Glen recounted his experiences of making the film 'The Commitments' which was based on Roddy Doyle's book of the same title. It was set in Dublin's northside and filmed in our own . Whilst the film enjoyed critical acclaim and financial success, at times Glen struggled to juggle his gigging schedule with his film commitments. He even clashed with renowned director Alan Parker stating that it 'soured his experience' of making the film. What's more, it seems that his own musical talents outshone those of the character he was playing, Outspan Foster - particularly his knowledge of guitar chords!! It's not really surprising that whilst 'The Commitments' turned his profile into that of a celebrity, he opted to focus on art and music.
In 2006, Glen starred in another Irish film 'Once' which earned Glen and his co-writer and co-star Markéta Irglova an Academy Award for Best Original Song 'Falling Slowly'. He has met and performed with many of his musical influences including Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan. He describes Dylan as his 'absolute hero' and was delighted to support him in his 2007 tour of New Zealand and Australia with 'The Frames'. His interviews on these encounters are available on YouTube and are truly fascinating and entertaining to watch!
Glen contributed to the documentary 'Ballymun Lullaby'. Produced in 2011, the film includes music teacher Ron Cooney and performances from the Ballymun Youth Choir and Orchestra. It documents music is used as a way of improving Ballymun’s image. Hansard discusses his own Ballymun identity stating ‘’ I think being from Ballymun gave me more fire in my belly, gave me more reason to prove myself.’’.
Since 2010, Glen has organised an annual ‘Christmas Eve Busk’ on Grafton Street, one of Dublin's busiest shopping areas, to raise money for Ireland’s homeless community. The Busk is a very inclusive musical venture comprising Glen's friends as well as the best of Ireland’s musical talent. In December 2020, The Busk was moved from Grafton Street to RTE’s The Late Late Show where viewers could watch from the safety of their own homes. The show raised more than €1.5M for charity.
Last year, Glen also took part in Other Voices’ Courage - a series of online concerts filmed in The National Gallery. He used his contribution as a way to raise funds for Safe Ireland (www.safeireland.ie) – an organisation that helps victims of domestic violence.
During his performance (about 12 minutes in), he speaks fondly of his memories of visiting Ballymun Library. He describes it as 'a place of learning' where 'education, knowledge and wisdom is free to anybody'. He urges viewers to support their local library which is free to join and its resources and services are also free to members of the public. For information about joining your local library, please click on this link https://www.librariesireland.ie/join-your-library.
Thanks for your kind words, Glen. Whenever you'd like to renew your membership, we would be delighted to welcome you back!
Music by Glen and ‘The Frames’ is available through Dublin City Libraries’ eResource – Freegal: https://dcpl.freegalmusic.com/
To see Glen's performance on , please click on this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AT6qiEE2CM&t=1828s
