KILKENNY CAPTAIN LESTER Ryan gave a brilliant speech in Irish last Saturday as he accepted the Liam MacCarthy Cup on the steps of the Hogan Stand.
Ryan was widely praised for his speech but it’s clear that he has been practising for this day for a long time.
Lester’s cousin Kevin sent us in this clip of a 10 year-old Lester – along with his brothers Liam and Tom, and Kevin – giving this rousing speech back in 1998. The lads support the Clara youngster with cheers throughout.
Kevin has got in touch to explain to us how the video came about:
“The trophy that you see in the picture is just a random one from Johnny’s (Lester’s dad) collection. The Féile in question was not the hurling Féile, it was Feile Kilkenny. Féile is an Irish competition that used to run in Kilkenny for primary school students.
“Lester entered the competition at 10 years old which requires students to recite poems in Irish. However he decided to do an All Ireland speech himself and his teachers Richie Mulrooney and John Bolger helped him with it. They loved it and he won first prize.
“When he arrived home (you can see the medal around his neck), his Dad (Johnny) and Mam (Lilly) made him recite it for the camera again. I was there and found the video at home during the week.”
