Faithful depart all areas for homecoming

Offaly people threw open their back doors, side doors and every door in the house last night to join in the amazing celebrations…

Offaly people threw open their back doors, side doors and every door in the house last night to join in the amazing celebrations which marked the return of their hurling champions.

The faithful seemed to have departed every other part of the country, and indeed the globe, to be in the county last night for what was merely a continuation of what has gone on here since Sunday evening.

Revellers were still dancing in the main street of Tullamore at 3 a.m. yesterday, and had to be cajoled by the authorities to go home and get some sleep.

But even before the doors of the pubs opened officially at 10.30 a.m., the flag and portrait sellers were on the streets of the villages and towns selling the emblems of triumph.

READ MORE

Throughout the county the video of the stunning victory over Kilkenny was being played and replayed in pubs and shops. Fans applauded every stroke as if they were witnessing the match for the first time.

The team left Dublin last evening shortly after 6 p.m. for a huge reception in Tullamore. But long before they reached there they could get some idea of the celebrations.

The train was delayed in Portarlington where hundreds of fans crowed onto the platform to greet the players, who briefly left the coaches to shake their hands.

Iarnrod Eireann officials prudently limited the number of fans they would allow onto the platform to 150.

Just as well, because most of the 25,000 or so fans who had arrived in the town would have liked to have been there.

As the team climbed onto the open-topped bus to be driven through the town, Johnny Dooley proclaimed he had never seen anything like the size of the welcome.

He made that statement before he witnessed the huge crush in the town's Market Square, where local bands had been playing to the gathering crowds since 6 p.m.

Led by local bands, it took the coach over an hour to make its way to the Market Square where joy overflowed. The square was a riot of colour and alive with excitement.

John Hogan, local country and western singer, entertained the crowds and appealed to parents to keep their children out of the trees, which were over-ripe with young people seeking a view.

In the Market Square was one man, Joe Walsh, a native of Clara, who used the occasion to make his first trip home from the United States in 37 years.

"I had no way of getting a ticket but I have been here since Friday and I don't ever want to go back to the States again, ever," he said as tears streamed down his face.

"There are some changes in this place since I left. I can't believe it. I can't believe the crowds and the fun. I can't go home."

However, he joined the happy band of the faithful as they departed for Birr via Kilcormac, the home of Offaly hurling, for an official banquet given by the county board.

Long after this paper was put to bed the celebrations were continuing, as no doubt they will for days to come.