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music · Thursday 2 July 2026 · Gates TBC 
Glen Hansard at Trinity College Dublin
At Trinity College Dublin · Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2
At Trinity College Dublin · Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2
Glen Hansard coming home to play Trinity College Dublin is the kind of night that gets talked about for years afterwards. The Oscar-winning songwriter - frontman of The Frames, co-writer of the Once soundtrack - brings his full band to one of the city’s most atmospheric outdoor settings on 2 July 2026, as part of the Trinity Summer Series. It is a standing concert on grass inside the historic College Park, surrounded by eighteenth-century stone buildings, open to the summer sky. If you have been meaning to see Hansard live, this is the one.
The show draws on three decades of material. Expect solo records, songs from the Once film that won Hansard and Markéta Irglová their Academy Award, and catalogue from The Frames - a band that built a devoted following in Ireland long before the wider world caught up. This 2026 run of dates is in support of a new project, so there is a reasonable chance of hearing something fresh alongside the songs people know by heart.
The Trinity Summer Series runs from 29 June to 5 July with seven consecutive nights of concerts - Wet Leg the night before Hansard, The Kooks the Sunday after. The format is the same each night: outdoor, standing, on the grass. Gates open at 7 pm and the show starts at 7:30 pm. Last entry is 9:30 pm.
One practical note: the usual College Green and Nassau Street entrances to Trinity are closed on concert nights. All entry is via Lincoln Place, beside The Lincoln Inn pub on Pearse Street.
Trinity is about as central as Dublin gets. On the DART, Pearse Station and Tara Street Station are both a few minutes’ walk from Lincoln Place. The Luas Green Line stops at Dawson Street and at Westmoreland Street, both within easy reach. Dublin Bus runs frequent services along Nassau Street, Pearse Street and Dame Street - a large number of routes pass within a short walk of the gate. Cycling in is straightforward; bike parking is available around the perimeter of the campus.
Driving is not recommended. City-centre parking is expensive on a weeknight and Lincoln Place is not an area where you want to be circling for a space. If you are coming from outside Dublin, the commuter rail and bus connections into Pearse or Connolly are reliable.
An evening at Trinity sits neatly alongside a meal or a drink in the area - Pearse Street and the streets around Merrion Square have good options for both. The National Gallery and the Natural History Museum are within a short walk if you are making a day of it. There is more to see in Dublin and across Co. Dublin.
Heading to Trinity College Dublin in Dublin? Dublin has plenty more to see. Read the Dublin area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.