GLORY NIGHTS & HEARTACHE

Dermot Bolger is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. His fifteen novels include The Family on Paradise Pier, An Ark of Light and most recently Hide Away. He has been Writer Fellow in Trinity College, a Fellow at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy and, briefly, the fellow who was goalkeeping coach to the Shelbourne Under 11s. His twenty plays include Last Orders at the Dockside and an adaptation of Ulysses, both staged by the Abbey Theatre. His trilogy of plays, In High Germany (1990), The Parting Glass (2010) and Home, Boys, Home (2024), follows the lives of three Irish soccer supporters, in Ireland and abroad, as they reunite at Irish soccer matches across the decades. His most recent book, Imperfect Beings, was published in 2026.

• Introduction Dermot BolgerDundalk: We are the Muja, the Mujahedeen Conor O’CallaghanSligo Rovers: The Foreign Legion Eamonn SweeneyShamrock Rovers: Girl with a Green Ribbon, a story of Hoops, Heartache and Hope Samantha LibreriDerry City: Are You Going Over? Dave DugganFrom Amsterdam to Kazakhstan: Following the Irish Men’s National team abroad Tony ConsidineAthlone Town: The Nerazzurri v The Rossoneri Declan LynchCobh Ramblers: 2007: Miracle in the Midlands Kenneth Hickey Bohemians: Where were you in ’92? Gerry FarrellWaterford FC: What’s in a Kiss? Brian KennedyBeing Black and Irish in the Beautiful Game Ken Mc CueShelbourne: James CurryCOYGIG: The Irish Women’s National Team Emma DuffySt Patrick’s Athletic: Castle Island on the Banks of the Camac Donal FallonCork City: Bend it like Asha Cónal CreedonPostscript: Dermot Bolger