Ireland’s Busker 😢🎶

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back on a Friday evening, delivering news and views of the Irish wherever they may abide. The Craic is the weekly newsletter from Shift, our platform for the Irish and Irish-ish globally. If you haven’t got Shift yet, what are you waiting for? Download it here. And if you would like a friend, or even an enemy, to have The Craic every Friday, stick their email in here.

News from Home

Falling Slowly. Ireland is in deep shock over the past few days after the loss of Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard, who died in a motorcycling accident after performing at a south Dublin pub. The outpouring of grief has been overwhelming, with fans, politicians (including Barack Obama), friends and fellow musicians paying tribute to the 56-year-old. Hansard was indelibly Irish, but he was also global, leaving his mark on the Chicago music scene when living there in the late 90s and 2000s. Like the best Irish musicians, he was also a storyteller, weaving it into his songs. You’ll no doubt have seen lots of clips of Glen this past few days, but we were touched by this tribute from buskers on the streets of Dublin. It’s rather joyous and celebratory – an ode to Ireland’s most famous busker. And even in grief, it seems fitting.

The Wait Is Over. Can you believe it? The curse has been lifted. Mayo – 11 times the bridesmaid since 1951 – are finally All-Ireland football champions again. It was a stunning upset against mighty Kerry, but the Mayo men fully deserved it on the day. We find it difficult to recall a more electric atmosphere at Croker, and the scenes after were something else. We hear the celebrations are still going on almost a week later. 💚❤️ And if we can paraphrase a risqué little joke that was doing the rounds after Sunday’s final: The only Mayo man heading to work on Monday morning was Enoch Burke.

Fleadh Me to the Moon. Sunday is the big one in Belfast, the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026. The week-long celebration of Irish music, arts and culture will bring around 800,000 people to the city (that’s over twice Belfast’s population, so we’ve no idea where everyone is going to lay their heads at night). They’re stuffing music and festivities into every corner of the city, and we just know that Belfast will be a brilliant host. Did you know that a host city gets two consecutive turns with the Fleadh Cheoil?  So, if you haven’t made it this year, have a wee think about coming next summer.

Ma, Check the Altimeter. Lovely little story this: Two Aer Lingus pilots entered the history books this week, becoming the first commercial pilots to fly together for a major airline. Sonya Bissett – that’s Captain Sonya Bissett to you – and her daughter, First Officer Lara Danaher, piloted the flight from Dublin to Frankfurt. Class stuff. We don’t know about you, but we’d probably be a bit nervous landing a plane with the mother looking over the shoulder.

The Craic Recommends… Looking at Pictures of Wee Dogs. You’ve heard of the Rose of Tralee, but what about the Nose of Tralee? We will be covering the former when it gets underway in a couple of weeks, but we stumbled upon this cute competition designed to find Ireland’s most lovable pets. It’s been whittled down to 32 finalists – one pet from each country – and voting is now open. Doggos dominate the list, but we have a fondness for County Clare’s entry, aptly named Baaaarney McKenna 🐑. Also, Meath’s entry 🤣🐈 go on, lad! Check out the 32 finalists of the Nose of Tralee 2026 here. It’s like cheap therapy.

The Irish Influence

Chris Gallagher is probably better known under his social media alias, the Irish Baker Abroad. As the name suggests, Chris is Irish, a baker, and abroad (living in Denmark). He’s also a social media phenomenon, showcasing his baking skills to hundreds and thousands of followers. Baking isn’t always easy (believe us), but Chris has this knack of simplifying everything in his brilliant little tutorials – vids are about ten mins long on average. It’s really great stuff. He is probably most visible on Facebook, but we think his YouTube channel is the best for tutorials and Irish baking recipes. So, give him a wee follow, and then you’ll be able to impress your mammy with a scone, soda or something scrummy the next time she calls round for a cuppa.

Cúpla Focal

Meitheal {Meh-Hal} – Community Spirit, Neighborly Help, Reciprocity. We actually came across a reference to meitheal in a lovely wee Chicago Sun-Times story, covering Glen Hansard’s performance there in spring. It’s all about coming together, doing it for the community, a collective effort to help each other.

Blast from the Past

We are kind of going back to the future while staying in the present this week. Back in 1992, the Saw Doctors released The Green and Red of Mayo on the album All The Way from Tuam. The song, despite being performed by a Galway band, was soon adopted as the unofficial anthem of the Mayo football team. And guess what? Yep, it is back in the charts this week, hitting number one no less. It’s a lovely little song, though the Saw Doctors’ version is a little more reserved and in-tune than hearing it from a choir of hundreds of elated Mayo fans outside your Dublin hotel at one o’clock in the morning.

And One Last Thing….

Music is in the air this week with the Fleadh and, of course, the sad passing of Glen Hansard. It’s also in the air in Chicago with Lollapalooza 2026. Irish acts are turning heads at this year’s festival, with performances from Kingfishr, CMAT, Chalk, Kettama, Amble, and more. If you’re not at Lolla, don’t worry – we have got you covered and then some with this little Shift-curated playlist: https://gettheshift.app/spotify featuring the top Irish acts of the festival. Stick her on, relax, and enjoy the weekend. And we’ll see you next week for more craic!