Singer found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames

Glen Hansard won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly. Photograph: Mikolaj Rotkowski

Oscar winner Glen Hansard, who found fame after starring in The Commitments and with his band The Frames, has been killed in a motorcycle crash in Co Dublin.

Hansard (56) died following a single-vehicle crash at the Strawberry Beds, Lucan, just before 4.30am.

According to a brief Garda statement, which did not name Hansard, the incident took place on a stretch of Lower Road, between Tinkers Hill and Rugged Lane.

“The motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, was treated at the scene but was pronounced deceased a short time later,” the Garda said.

“The scene has been preserved for examination by Garda forensic collision investigators. Local traffic diversions are currently in place.”

Gardaí at the scene of the crash at Lower Road, Strawberry Beds, Lucan, Co Dublin. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Photos

Hansard’s management issued a statement on Wednesday confirming his death.

“With broken hearts we announce the passing of Glen Hansard who passed away, in the early hours of this morning, following a road traffic accident in Dublin.

“Glen’s family is deeply shocked and heartbroken by this tragic loss and respectfully requests privacy at this extremely difficult time,” the statement said.

“The family is grateful for the support they have received and wishes to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.

“As this matter remains the subject of an active Garda investigation, no further comment will be made at this time.”

The musician and actor, a married father of one, split his time between his home in Kildare and Helsinki, where his wife, poet Maire Saaritsa, is from. The couple have a son.

Hansard played Outspan Foster in The Commitments, the 1991 Alan Parker film based on Roddy Doyle’s first novel, while pursuing a career in music, at first with The Frames, then as part of the duo Swell Season, and also as a solo artist.

He won an Oscar in 2008 for the song Falling Slowly, which he wrote with Markéta Irglová, his Swell Season partner. It featured in the movie Once.

Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard of Swell Season perform during the 2025 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Photograph: Douglas Mason/Getty Images

Hansard was from Ballymun, north Dublin and began performing with The Frames in his teenage years in the 1980s.

“Well, I grew up in Ballymun,” he told The Irish Times in an interview earlier this year. “I don’t make a big song and dance about it, but I grew up witnessing hardship among friends, family.

“Ballymun gets a bad rap, but it was an incredible community. There was a great sense of meitheal. My mother didn’t have any money, but she had a great sense of community.”

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