The first Irish team to conquer the South Pole received a rapturous reception when it touched down at Cork airport last night in a private jet.
The Beyond Endurance team, headed by explorer Pat Falvey, arrived at the airport shortly after 9pm, and was quickly surrounded by friends and relatives.
The group of supporters included pupils of Cloghroe National School, creators of the so-called fifth member of the exploration team, Frederick Bear, who accompanies the explorers on their travels.
The four-person team - Falvey, Dr Claire O'Leary (35), the first Irish woman to climb Mount Everest, Jonathon Bradshaw (36) and Shaun Menzies (42) - was greeted by two pipe bands when the members entered the arrivals area last night.
Falvey (50) said he was overwhelmed to receive such a warm response from friends, family and loyal supporters.
"This [the reception] is unbelievable. We can't believe how much the expedition gained the imagination of the people of Ireland.
"We are delighted to be back. We burned up 6,000 calories a day - it was the ultimate diet.
"We are joking about having a patent on it for weight loss. I lost three stone. I am a shadow of my former self but it was worth it.
"We have huge plans for the future. It is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things."
Falvey added that he was looking forward to heading back to his mountain lodge in Kerry for a couple of days' rest, clean sheets, a few pints and a good steak.
Meanwhile, Falvey's father Tim, a former lord mayor of Cork, paid tribute to his son and the team for their "grit and determination" .
He said Pat was a born adventurer who was never going to have a "desk-job life".
"Pat is unbelievable. If he wants to do something he will just do it. I remember saying to him about a statistic that one in six people are killed climbing Mount Everest, and he pointed to a story in the Examiner about a man who was killed after he was hit by a golf ball.
"That's Pat for you. I am as proud as anything of Pat and his team. They have so much determination."
The Beyond Endurance team left Ireland on November 1st and reached its destination on January 8th having battled temperatures as low as -27C.
The team's journey involved a 1,140 km trek through some of the harshest conditions known to man.
Bad weather at the pole forced the group to wait almost a week before flying off Antarctica. After the weather calmed the team was flown to an airfeld on the fringes of the Antarctic where a large Russian aircraft brought them to Puntas Arenas in Chile.
The team will be honoured with a presidential reception at Arás an Uachtarain today, and is to due to appear as guests on the Late Late Show this evening.
Pat Falvey, who is from from Cork, started out life in the construction industry, eventually swapping his concrete mixer for a set of crampons.