Glen Hansard

[McQ1989]

I feel like this is a safe space for me to say that the funeral was a complete circus and most of the musicians were abysmal. Never heard The Auld Triangle butchered as badly. What is with RTE's obsession with this man also?

 

[dothprotesttoomuch]

I find this hard to take tbh, my husband is a musician, fairly well known in Ireland and there is 11 years between us, we met when I was in my teens and him in his 30s, I was a fan of his music before we got together. The thoughts of him dying and being vilified for the age difference between us knocks me sick. Would I like my children to do repeat the process? Probably not, but we're together decades and have multiple childer and a happy marriage, not everything has to be a controversy. If he was creeping around young girls then yes of course that's wrong but with Marketa, she was 19, and his wife was well of age. I just don't think every big age gap needs to be put down as being a PDF.

Well luckily enough this thread isn't about you and your husband. Or even age gap relationships. It's about a man who essentially groomed a 13 year old and that seems to be the tip of the iceberg.

 

[DaisyChain90]

I feel sad for his wife and son. He seems to have done alot of good and been a talented musician but the rumours seem to have been around for awhile.
Im also very confused by the overwhelming grief of so many people though....

I think the overwhelming grief is more understandable if you are a child of the 70s/80s... The Frames were a band that were not above the people. Glen Hansard took the time to not only talk to but befriend those that attended his gigs. He is the reason that artists like Josh Ritter became known to the world. I met him years ago after a gig in Whelans and he was the epitome of a gentleman. Every person I knew that met him (and nearly everyone had met him) had only good stories to tell of how he took time to talk to them and get to know them. He made people feel like they mattered.

In terms of his funeral I think his brother's performance blew every other star out of the water. The Frames music means a lot to so many and I know Once became a cult classic for a younger generation. I think Ireland lost something special last week and a kind of talent that doesn't come around often.

 

[Debra_Whinger]

It's not simple isn't it, people are not one-dimensional. It is entirely possible to only have positive experiences with him and on the other hand to see the worst of him on a bad day or at a certain setting. Even creeps take breaks from being sleazeballs.

If these rumours are completely unfounded, it's hard not to question some parts of his character though knowing that he most definitely had a type (young or adolescent-looking women) and all the people he mentored seemed to have been young women (often teens). I doubt he was the saint some want to see him as and I doubt all the things he did were out of the kindness of his heart.

Does this completely cancel his music career? Well, it doesn't stop people enjoying his music but in my case it makes me slightly uneasy or at least I view things more critically now. All these rumours, anecdotes etc. do not just start out of nowhere because of envy. They're way too detailed and specific IMO (the ones I've heard). But we won't know unless more evidence comes to light.

I have seen someone claiming his wife appears on some of his music videos already around 2010. It would mean he knew her five years before she moved to Dublin. I don't know what videos exactly so haven't checked, has anyone?

As for the accident, it does bother me that according to witnesses he left towards east from The Wren's Nest after 11:30 when the pub closed and it was briefly in the news that he then either "spent the night" or "several hours" (about four hours) at Castleknock hotel before heading home. It was expressed in a way that gave an impression he had either checked into a room or visited someone. He was found west from the pub. Why go to a hotel for hours after a gig before heading home to your wife and child?

In any case this is a tragedy to many people around him. They are of course entitled to reminisce him at his best, he just passed away. But when the dust has settled slightly it would be good to look into all these accusations before people start to build a cult around him.

P.S. His wife's eulogy at the funeral was beautiful as was her poem. It breaks my heart to think of her and the little boy trying to cope with everything.

 

[Ginnyjo]

Two things can be true, also we should know by now that some people hide in plain sight by being charmers to the people they need to be.
I would have know them socially, and various other Irish and international acts, drank with them etc... The stories were always there, passed along as people joined the circle, the scene itself could be incestuous, sleazy and insular at the best of times.
I've avoided their music for over a decade now.
Over the years there have been numerous online outlets with stories and first hand accounts that have been scrubbed, so these stories are not new.

I think the worst part of it is watching women I'd consider friends and copped on, who would be first to say believe women going to bat for a man who is dead, who there have been rumours about for years and who has his own public questionable quote about his relationship with a teenager.

Everyone's experience is not the same, and it's fine to remember your experience, but acknowledge it is not the only one. Seeing people post personal accounts and then been torn to shreds, asking for dates, specifics, calling them liars...... And then ask why they didn't say anything at the time....🫠🫠

 

[Carapop]

I think the overwhelming grief is more understandable if you are a child of the 70s/80s... The Frames were a band that were not above the people. Glen Hansard took the time to not only talk to but befriend those that attended his gigs. He is the reason that artists like Josh Ritter became known to the world. I met him years ago after a gig in Whelans and he was the epitome of a gentleman. Every person I knew that met him (and nearly everyone had met him) had only good stories to tell of how he took time to talk to them and get to know them. He made people feel like they mattered.

In terms of his funeral I think his brother's performance blew every other star out of the water. The Frames music means a lot to so many and I know Once became a cult classic for a younger generation. I think Ireland lost something special last week and a kind of talent that doesn't come around often.

He didn’t always use these powers for good. I’m surprised that you were only privy to the positive. I was a great fan of his and was heartbroken 20 years ago to learn of his less than gentlemanly ways.

 

[Thegoodlife]

I find this hard to take tbh, my husband is a musician, fairly well known in Ireland and there is 11 years between us, we met when I was in my teens and him in his 30s, I was a fan of his music before we got together. The thoughts of him dying and being vilified for the age difference between us knocks me sick. Would I like my children to do repeat the process? Probably not, but we're together decades and have multiple childer and a happy marriage, not everything has to be a controversy. If he was creeping around young girls then yes of course that's wrong but with Marketa, she was 19, and his wife was well of age. I just don't think every big age gap needs to be put down as being a PDF.

New member, as long as your husband acted appropriately and didn’t say he fell in love with a 13 year old I think you’ll be ok. For your case, you’ve said there is 11 years between you. He was in his ‘30s’?! So that would make you 19, 20, 21?? You’re an adult. Not the same thing at all.

 

[Jollyolly]

I feel like this is a safe space for me to say that the funeral was a complete circus and most of the musicians were abysmal. Never heard The Auld Triangle butchered as badly. What is with RTE's obsession with this man also?

Could none of them have put on a shirt and a decent pair of shoes. Pack of scruffs.

 

[DaisyChain90]

He didn’t always use these powers for good. I’m surprised that you were only privy to the positive. I was a great fan of his and was heartbroken 20 years ago to learn of his less than gentlemanly ways.

You are entitled to your own opinion. At this point in time I choose to remember the man that I met and the lived experience I had. I haven't heard any specifics of these rumours - only vague references on comment sections. Rumours remain rumours until there is evidence or proof and the dead cannot defend themselves.

 

[Ginnyjo]

The amount of stuff online that has been removed over the years, numerous accounts online detailing behaviour, and still women who didn't even know him will blindly defend him, while being on a website calling out influencers for day-to-day indiscretions.
Its sad watching people post their experiences and then being ripped to shreds by anon accounts asking, 'but what age were you', 'Did you tell anyone else' 'Marketa is still friends with him'.... and then having to delete them for their own safety.
It's so disheartening to see, and people ask why women don't speak out loud. If we've learnt anything, it should be to disagree with something if you want, but if people are posting their lived experiences, I'd rather give them the space and let the dust settle, rather than go to bat for a dead person I didn't know.

 

[Old Harold]

Marketa also got fame, an Oscar and lots of money from the connection so she's bound to see it differently than some poor "nobody" teenage girl who got used and discarded along the way.

 

[MavetheIrish]

I find this hard to take tbh, my husband is a musician, fairly well known in Ireland and there is 11 years between us, we met when I was in my teens and him in his 30s, I was a fan of his music before we got together. The thoughts of him dying and being vilified for the age difference between us knocks me sick. Would I like my children to do repeat the process? Probably not, but we're together decades and have multiple childer and a happy marriage, not everything has to be a controversy. If he was creeping around young girls then yes of course that's wrong but with Marketa, she was 19, and his wife was well of age. I just don't think every big age gap needs to be put down as being a PDF.

 

[MarthaFarkus]

Created this so people can pop their theories and stories. Also to stop clogging up the Rest in Peace thread.

 

[Tank Girl]

The actual trauma of a road accident death. wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. We had one in our family and it’s just heartbreaking, it never leaves you the details. She has all this on top.

 

[Tank Girl]

The thing is until victims come forward instead of staying in the shadows it’s all here say. I’m not saying it didnt happen btw I’m just saying it’s all friend of a friend stuff and survivors posting anonymously. Lots of “ it will all come out soon”. talk . So until it does everybody is repeating themselves.

 

[PaddyDomino]

Colin Sheridan: Death makes liars of us all — canonising Glen Hansard denies his humanity

Celebrity deaths expose our tendency to romanticise public figures while overlooking the complexity and contradictions that made them human

www.irishexaminer.com

 

[Carapop]

I find this hard to take tbh, my husband is a musician, fairly well known in Ireland and there is 11 years between us, we met when I was in my teens and him in his 30s, I was a fan of his music before we got together. The thoughts of him dying and being vilified for the age difference between us knocks me sick. Would I like my children to do repeat the process? Probably not, but we're together decades and have multiple childer and a happy marriage, not everything has to be a controversy. If he was creeping around young girls then yes of course that's wrong but with Marketa, she was 19, and his wife was well of age. I just don't think every big age gap needs to be put down as being a PDF.

Marketa was thirteen when they met and he later said he knew then he’d “one day marry her”

 

[Shutterbug99]

He didn’t always use these powers for good. I’m surprised that you were only privy to the positive. I was a great fan of his and was heartbroken 20 years ago to learn of his less than gentlemanly ways.

I had several interactions with him (20+ years ago). All positive. He was always friendly and engaging; no creepy vibes whatsoever.

Not to discount that others may have had different experiences, but that's my own first hand experience as someone who didn't know him well, but met him a bunch of times, mostly after gigs and/or through various mutual acquaintances.

Some of the stuff I've read since his death has been wild, but mostly seems to be second-hand 'heard it from a friend' news or just rumours. I don't really know what to think. At the moment I'm just going on what I personally remember of him. If more comes to light, that could change.

 

[Old Harold]

What's significant about him being in a hotel?.

He had a reputation for picking up women, even in recent years.

 

[Muses]

He had a reputation for picking up women, even in recent years.

His poor wife.