About 10,000 people thronged the streets of Naas last night for the return of the Kildare senior football team which won the Leinster Championship by defeating Meath on Sunday.
Even though the town, the largest in the county, cannot claim a single member of the panel, local people turned out in droves to welcome the victorious side.
There was standing room only when the team arrived aboard an open-top bus to an earth-shattering roar.
On Sunday they ended a long barren spell to take the Leinster title after more than four decades. Despite their lack of success Kildare remained one of the best supported teams in the country. And so it was that the main thoroughfare of the county town was sealed off for the homecoming.
It was hardly a surprise that the team manager, Mick O'Dwyer, was afforded pride of place. The former Kerry footballer has become Kildare's favourite son since he became the team manager eight years ago. O'Dwyer came to Kildare with an impeccable pedigree. He won four All-Ireland senior football championship medals as well as eight National Football League medals with Kerry. He later managed Kerry teams which won an unprecedented eight All-Ireland titles between 1975 and 1986. Two years later he took charge of the Kildare team and soon found that success would be more difficult outside Munster. O'Dwyer brought Kildare to successive Leinster finals against Dublin in 1992 and 1993 but both ended in defeat.
A first-round defeat by Dublin followed in 1994 and O'Dwyer departed the scene for two years. On his return, Kildare failed narrowly at the end of three games against Meath last year.
Success finally arrived on Sunday at Croke Park when they won their first Leinster title since 1956.