22 September 2016

Göran R Buckhorn writes:

HTBS’s Greg Denieffe is not the only one who has celebrated the Irish Olympic silver medallists O’Donovan brothers with a video on YouTube. Oarsman and poet Barry Currivan, of Neptune Rowing Club, Dublin, known on these pages as the author of the entertaining Inside Rowing The Outside Handbook, has also paid tribute to the O’Donovans. In the poem “What’s Seldom Is Wonderful”, Currivan pays homage to Paul and Gary O’Donovan, their family and their coach, Dominic Casey. In an e-mail, Currivan tells me that the poem is read by his son John. However, it was really a family effort as his daughter Amy pulled together most of the images for the video, his son Luke recorded the whistle piece and his youngest son Barry mixed the sound, while Barry (Snr) tweaked a little here and a little there of the video. Barry also write that the poem is read in the old Irish storytelling style of the Seanchaí (pronounced Shanachie) – I find it beautiful.

Enjoy!