Glen Hansard Dies: Spent His Final Hours Playing a Trad Session in a Dublin Pub

Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, frontman of The Frames, has died. According to a video shared on Instagram by The Ireland Podcast, Hansard spent his final hours — just before his death — taking part in a traditional Irish music session at The Wren's Nest, a pub in Dublin's Chapelizod neighborhood, with no stage, no spotlight.

A Last Night at The Wren's Nest

The footage shows no trappings of a formal performance: no sound system, no stage lighting, just a packed pub and a centuries-old tradition of Irish folk music. That Hansard chose to spend his last hours this way has been read by many as a distillation of his lifelong musical convictions.

Hansard is internationally known for his role in the 2007 film Once, in which he wrote and performed the track "Falling Slowly," which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that same year. He worked with The Frames for more than three decades and was a longtime fixture of Dublin's live music scene, known for his deep commitment to traditional Irish music.

Tributes

In its post, The Ireland Podcast wrote that the video is a reminder that we often only realize, after the fact, that an ordinary moment has become eternal. Organizers and family have not yet released further details.