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Meet the lad bringing a touch of poetry to one League of Ireland club

When it comes to interesting activities off the pitch, League of Ireland Premier Division club Bo...



Meet the lad bringing a touch...
Soccer

Meet the lad bringing a touch of poetry to one League of Ireland club

When it comes to interesting activities off the pitch, League of Ireland Premier Division club Bohemians have been making a mark off the pitch.

Celebrating their 125th anniversary just under two weeks ago, the Phibsboro-based club were vocal in their support of a Yes vote in the Marriage Referendum, while they have announced a fundraising initiative with the Irish Refugee Council.

They have also dabbled with the arts, bringing in a poet in residence in the shape of Lewis Kenny. He was kind enough to drop into Team 33 this week to read us a poem to close the show instead of our usual Johann Cruyff tune.

Skip to the end of this week's podcast to listen to Lewis' delivering his poem:

Afterwards, I chatted to Lewis about his role as Bohs' poet in residence.

"You have strong connection with Bohs. Who first got you into the club?"

"My grandfather, he was a member of Bohs for 30 years. My family have a long line representing Bohs, going all the way back to the 1920s, so it was the last thing expected to be representing my club doing poetry for them. But it's an honour all the same and I'm happy to be doing it."

"Can you remember your first game watching Bohs at Dalymount?"

"The first game I can recall very well actually was a Bohs friendly against Tottenham and I remember Tottenham had a phenomenal team. They came over for a friendly but they brought over a lot of first team members and played them and Bohs were professional and we beat them 3-1. I remember that was amazing, absolutely amazing. We had pretty much beaten the Tottenham first team 3-1."

"Obviously we live in a country inspired by brilliant poets like Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavanagh and William Butler Yeats, but where did your interest in poetry come from?"

"My interest in poetry actually came, not from the famous poets, but actually going out to different poetry nights around town and just seeing the different talent, the arts and what's actually happening in Dublin and Ireland right now. Ireland, for such a small country, it just pumps out artist after artist after artist and we're quick to think of the famous people, but they all started here. So when you go out to these nights, you're going to see the next big thing."

"And you were doing poetry nights for Bohs and then you were asked to do something for the 125th anniversary?"

"Yeah, I used to put on spoken word and music nights in Dalymount. The leaders of Bohs are looking to do something more than just being a football club, so I used to put on spoken word and music nights for them and to celebrate the 125th year they asked me to write a poem and would I be the poet in residence for them."

"Bohs have been very active off the pitch with many initiatives and social causes, so it must be hugely important to some members of the fanbase that it is important to be more than just a club?" 

"Absolutely. I think Bohs just want to stamp the image that they are more than just a football club. They show support to the wider community and they're involved in the social issues that this country faces at the moment. Some people are afraid to take a stance, whereas Bohs aren't. They're not afraid to show their support."

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