{"id":584884,"date":"2026-08-06T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T11:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/584884\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T11:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T11:08:08","slug":"tom-dunne-patti-smith-voice-note-stopped-the-clocks-at-glen-hansards-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/584884\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Dunne: Patti Smith voice note stopped the clocks at Glen Hansard’s funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funny things funerals. Even funerals that are being televised to the whole nation. Cameras or no cameras, you are left alone with your thoughts. Was Glen Hansard<\/a> a protestant? Why are we in St Patrick\u2019s, a Church Of Ireland premises? I spot a line of ancient Union Jacks in the church. Funny old island this.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been inside St Patrick’s Cathedral before. I did play a gig outside it once in the early days of my band Something Happens. A guitar tech put two D strings on the same bass that day. Disaster.<\/p>\n

My family are from nearby in the Liberties. I wonder how they viewed this cathedral. I see it largely as a music venue.<\/p>\n

Two days earlier I had interviewed the comedian Aoife Dunne about her show Good Grief<\/a>. It\u2019s inspired by the traumatic death of her mother in 2010. She\u2019s harnessed that grief into an amazing, cathartic comedy show. At funerals you laugh and cry. Humour breaks the tension. Something has to.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here to give Glen a good send off<\/a>. So far I have hugged and cried with Steve Wall, Jerry Fish, Bronagh Gallagher, Hozier, Jack L, Mundy, Paddy Casey, The Cronins, and various others. I can see Josh Ritter, in from America, but I can\u2019t get over to him. They are like my music cousins.<\/p>\n

I meet filmmaker John Carney. He\u2019s telling the story that Glen had often told of how Glen and the Frames had bought him his first real camera when he left the band.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me that story too,\u201d I blurt out, \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure it was true!\u201d We laugh. \u201cThere is truth in it,\u201d he tells me, cryptically.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you in the choir?\u201d fiddler Colm Mac Con Iomaire asks me as I arrive near the front of the church. Stage left are the performers. I fear if I\u2019m asked to sing it will be a verse that I don\u2019t know. \u201cNo!\u201d I tell him. \u201cYou would be if Glen was here,\u201d he laughs. There is truth in this too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to see people and yes we laugh a lot. But not all the time. Glen\u2019s remains arrive and we crumble. We experience the other part of being at a funeral. The part where you stare at where Glen lies now and gently weep. How can this be? How have we come to this?<\/p>\n

We are a solemn congregation now. Here in our best suits to show support for Glen\u2019s family in their hour of need, pitifully aware of how seemingly weak but utterly necessary our words are. The mass and the readings start. No avoiding the substance of it all now.<\/p>\n

Then the music begins. The other reason we are here. Glen wasn\u2019t just our friend \u2014 everybody\u2019s friend, as Bono points out \u2014 but a fantastically gifted musician and artist, as are many in this room. The haunting Port na bP\u00faca\u00ed performed by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, S\u00e9amus Ong and Liam \u00d3 Maonla\u00ed drifts across the ancient pews and we are transported.<\/p>\n

I get a sudden feeling of enormous gratitude. These talents, these people, have illuminated our lives. That passion they all connected with in school and followed come hell or high water. I\u2019m proud to be part of this. These are special people. Glen would be blown away.<\/p>\n

Eddie Vedder\u2019s version of Song of Good Hope, from Glen\u2019s 2012 album Rhythm and Repose, is simply stunning. Eddie\u2019s voice is one of the great voices. To see the Pearl Jam man sing beside his friend\u2019s coffin in this ancient, venerated cathedral is moving and lifting and calming all at once.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Bono\u2019s playing of a voice note from Patti Smith that stops the clocks. I feel I need a bit of perspective on that. I am sent back to my thoughts. I think I know the identity of the man who imported the first copy of her album Horses into this country in 1974. He harangued Pat Egan to get it.<\/p>\n

That was Ireland then. One solitary copy of one of the most important albums ever for the entire country. And this is Ireland today. Patti Smith composing a song for Glen in a protestant church teeming with talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a beautiful day, across the valley, he came my way,\u201d she sings, \u201ca book in his hand and a melody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

People like Glen, Sinead, Christy and Shane have transformed this island. I slip away afterwards. Duty calls. I\u2019d have loved the pub, but I need some quiet time. I\u2019ll tell you one thing Glen, that was some send off. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Funny things funerals. Even funerals that are being televised to the whole nation. Cameras or no cameras, you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,109247,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-584884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-glen-hansard","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}