Dermot Bolger

Dermot Bolger is an Irish novelist, poet, playwright, editor, and journalist born in Dublin in 1959. His work frequently returns to working-class life, migration, family relationships, and belonging. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1984, he worked in a factory, as a library assistant, and in publishing. Soccer appears in his fiction and drama as part of the lives and loyalties of people whose experiences extend beyond the game.

His soccer-related books include the novella In High Germany and the edited collection Glory Nights & Heartache: The Lives of Irish Soccer Supporters in Fifteen Matches. The first follows Irish emigrants around the 1988 European Championship; the second gathers different supporters’ experiences of clubs and national teams. These publications connect with his wider interest in how people understand home, community, and identity through shared memories.

Bolger established Raven Arts Press at eighteen. The press published early work by writers including Patrick McCabe, Eoin McNamee, Colm Tóibín, and Fintan O’Toole. He closed Raven in 1992 and helped found New Island Books. His editorial projects have included The Picador Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction and selections of Francis Ledwidge’s poetry. Publishing and editing form a substantial part of his career alongside his own writing.

His early novels Night Shift, The Woman’s Daughter, and The Journey Home are set in different decades in Finglas. His poetry bibliography includes The Venice Suite, concerned with loss, and Other People’s Lives, developed from walks through Dublin during lockdown. His theatrical work has reached audiences through the Gate, Abbey, and Axis theaters and through productions outside Ireland.

The original stage version of In High Germany appeared in 1990. Bolger later returned to its characters in The Parting Glass, first produced in 2010 and set on the night of Ireland’s controversial World Cup playoff exit in Paris. That continuation places an emigrant’s return to Ireland against the country’s economic boom and collapse. The soccer result supplies a shared public moment within a longer personal story.

Soccer Books

In High Germany: An Irish emigrant in Germany tells his son about soccer and home through memories of the 1988 European Championship. Eoin, Shane, and Mick have been working abroad when they come together to follow Ireland at the tournament. Their experiences on and off the field expose differences between them while showing how support for a team can preserve a connection with Ireland. This novella appeared in 1999.

The novella adapts Bolger’s stage play for New Island’s Open Door series, created to support adult literacy through original writing. The edition also includes a poet’s notebook containing short poems and explanations of their composition. Its central soccer story therefore sits alongside another accessible introduction to the author’s work.

Glory Nights & Heartache - The Lives of Irish Soccer Supporters in Fifteen Matches: Edited by Bolger, this collection gathers supporters’ accounts of fifteen matches and the lives surrounding them. Contributions cover League of Ireland clubs, the men’s national team abroad, and the women’s journey to the World Cup. The essays consider local rivalry, family, friendship, financial crises, and the experience of Black players, connecting individual recollections with the wider culture of Irish soccer. Published in 2026.

The contributors include Conor O’Callaghan on Dundalk, Eamonn Sweeney on Sligo Rovers, Samantha Libreri on Shamrock Rovers, and Emma Duffy on Ireland’s women’s national team. Bolger supplies the introduction and postscript. The structure gives the collection multiple voices and locations rather than presenting one supporter’s experience as representative of the entire game.