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

The Order of Service is held up ahead of the funeral of Glen Hansard at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. The Oscar-winning Irish musician and activist died in a motorcycle crash last week. Picture date: Tuesday August 4, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Damien Eagers/PA Wire

There is something about death that makes liars of us all. Not malicious liars, but human ones. Within hours of someone famous passing, the rough edges begin to disappear. 

The awkwardness is airbrushed away. The contradictions soften. The stories become cleaner than the lives they describe. Before long, the artist has become a cultural icon, the writer a literary giant, the musician a national treasure.