Kilkenny captain Lester Ryan practising his All-Ireland speech aged ten
Lester Ryan’s brilliant speech after winning the All-Ireland on Saturday has been in the making since he was a young boy.
The Kilkenny captain lifted the Liam McCarthy trophy after their win over Tipperary and was widely praised for delivering a brilliant speech and doing the whole thing in Irish.
a little belated but… Well done Kilkenny on winning the Hurling and well done to Lester Ryan for doing his entire speech "as Gaeilge”!
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) September 28, 2014
Maith an fear Lester Ryan for giving the whole victory speech as Gaeilge. #Kilkenny #AllIreland
— Christopher Kissane (@ChrisKissane) September 27, 2014
Turns out it was perfect because he has been practicing it for 16 years.
His cousin, Kevin Bolger, posted this video on YouTube of the Kilkenny star, aged 10, making a rousing acceptance speech as gaeilge to an audience made up of his cousin Kevin and brothers Liam and Tom.
He was practicing the speech for his entry to the 1998 Feile na Gael in Kilkenny.
Hat tip: Kevin Bolger on YouTube
