Glen Hansard’s wife breaks down in tears as she says son ‘too young to witness’ dad’s funeral in heartbreaking eulogy

GLEN Hansard’s wife Maire Saaritsa broke down into tears while reading out a touching eulogy for the music icon.

The Oscar-winner, 56, died after a motorcycle crash in Dublin’s Strawberry Beds last Wednesday – leaving his beloved wife Maire and their three-year-old son Christy heartbroken.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at the star-studded funeral service to say their final farewell to the Falling Slowly singer at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin today.

Maire bravely got up to speak during the ceremony and said: “I would like to begin by thanking Gardai Keith Cribbin, Lucy Byrne, Adam Heffernan, Jordan Walsh and Gareth McArdle for coming to Glynn’s aid after the accident.

“And for the humanity they showed me in my most desperate hour. I can find no adjective for the kind of support the family has been shown this past week. The word is hidden somewhere in the look in people’s eyes and in the depth of their good deeds.

“None of this could have been done without you, most of whom I’ve not even met yet. I owe my deepest gratitude to all our good friends who have spared no effort to guide me through this time.

“As Glen’s wife, I want to thank him for the life we shared, searching for truth and beauty side-by-side. We found it in our son, Christy, here today.”

Maire broke down into tears as she spoke about their three-year-old saying: “He is too young to witness or understand an event of such scale. The bright spirit he inherited from his father is with us.

“I end with an early poem I penned for Glen in return for the songs he wrote for me.

“Come to me with beauty. I require it to stay alive. I’m not talking of precious gifts, nor do I want a doled up, beautiful and well-assessed array of tender words. Hurl the clash of what you’ve pocketed from this day at my feet, and then be brave enough to look me in the eye.

“Push the boundary of two minds till it stretches, till there are two bodies in one embrace, and a moment of understanding or acceptance or blind faith, and a sense of the infinite jump and jive.

“Come to me with beauty. I require it to stay alive.”

Maire embraced Glen’s younger brother Richie as she left the alter to sit back down.

Richie also delivered an emotional eulogy saying he was the “glue to so many”.

He said: “Glen Hansard, the musician. Glen Hansard from the frames. From the swell season. The Bard, the Troubadour, the Friend. Glen Hansard, the boss.

“The glue to so many. He’s with us all, even now. And he has all these things. But before Glen was any of these, he was a son, a brother, and I promise you, a mad uncle.”

The Frames star was 16-years-old than Richie and his twin brother Dylan, which meant Glen was also a “father figure” to them.

Richie said: “One of the earliest memories, one of the earliest associations we have with our brother is the light of his scooter coming down the driveway. That light, that lighthouse, meant that the whole evening was about to change, and change for the good.

“You knew that the evening might be filled with songs, with stories, with tea, with chips and egg. And whatever happened, you knew that you were going to be completely felt, heard, understood, and filled with fresh excitement, and possibly hope. 

“And he had that unique ability to listen in, and to zero in, on someone, onto us, and to give them his full attention. And as a young man, the power of that could not be overstated.

“Glen wanted to know, to really know what was going on, deeply, not just on the surface, not just the day to day. He wanted to know everything, your weakness, your struggles, who you were. He wanted to know the mist and gist of all, of how he could help. And he had a way of making you feel like you mattered.

“And then when he would leave, I personally wouldn’t be able to sleep, because I’d be so lit up with possibility.”

Richie explained how Glen made him feel the world was “a far more magical place” and said how he instilled “morals” into his younger siblings.

He joked: “Sometimes that meant dragging us, kicking and screaming, and throwing us into the back of his Nissan Micra to drag us down to school when we refused to go. And on the way, he promised us that if our uniforms weren’t on by the time we got there, we were going in in our underwear. And he meant it.

“And he did this even after getting in at 5am from gigging the night before.”

Richie spoke about how Glen was also a younger brother to Gary and that they “had a whole life together before” himself and Dylan came along.

He said: “Gary used to be bribed by our mother that if he went into bed and got Glen to sleep, he could come back out and watch the late movie. So Gary sang and told stories to Glen until he fell asleep. And it was with Gary that Glen first picked up the guitar with our uncle Paul, Glen’s hero, who led the helm in teaching us guitar.

“Gary was the first to start playing guitar, but Glen soon followed and Glen very quickly surpassing him. He would always call his big brother, Gary, for his help. Even though Glen had everybody in the world on speed dial, he still called Gary when the chips were down and he needed somebody. I know that Glen made ripples.

“I know he made waves. He had an impact on so many. Look at this room. But those first ripples and waves began at kitchen tables in Ballymun and Killester.”

Richie finished off his emotional tribute saying: “Glen said once that when you lose someone, you don’t really lose them. You inherit the best parts of them.

“And if you have the strength and the will, you will gain them back and you inherit the best parts of them. And we have. We have inherited all the magical, colorful words, hugs, talks, madness, sadness, insightful, manic beauty that a brother, an uncle, a husband and a father could ever give. Thank you, Glen.

“Thank you, brother. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

The funeral cortege arrived shortly before 1:30pm this afternoon, with the horse driven hearse leading the procession and family members carrying Glen’s wicker coffin into St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

The service concluded with a rousing rendition of Forever Young, led by Pearl Jam star Eddie Vedder and Hothouse Flowers’ Liam O Maonlai.
Several stars joined the performance including U2’s Bono and Edge, Once co-star Marketa Irglova, Irish singer-songwriters Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Mundy, Paddy Casey, Declan O’Rourke.

Commitments co-stars Angeline Ball and Bronagh Gallagher, as well as singers Imelda May and Lisa O’Neill also joined the performance, featuring Hansard’s Frames bandmates, with Imelda embracing Liam O Maonlai as he finished playing.

Everyone then joined Paddy and Imelda to sing The Auld Triangle, which Hansard regularly performed, as mourners left the church.