Thousands of fans line the streets as victorious Kerry team get heroes' welcome

Irish Daily Mirror

4 days ago

Tens of thousands of jubilant fans lined the streets of Tralee and Killarney on Monday evening as the Kerry Senior Football team returned home to a heroes' welcome following their stunning victory over Donegal in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park.
The Kingdom's 39th title — their first in several years — sparked celebrations across the county, with green and gold flags waving proudly and chants echoing through the town as the team paraded the Sam Maguire Cup through the streets on an open top bus.
The winning team and management travelled from Dublin to Tralee by train.
They then travelled on the open top bus via Boherbee with a Garda escort to a Welcome Home reception in Denny Street. Prior to their arrival, Dreams of Freedom and DJ Big Jim entertained the thousands of fans with live music. David Clifford and Paudie Clifford during the homecoming (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Mayor of Tralee, Councillor Terry O'Brien, told the crowd: 'It's a huge honour for me to welcome you all to the capital town of the county to welcome home the Sam Maguire. We want to extend a huge thanks to Jack O'Connor and his team.'
Manager Jack O'Connor, who has led Kerry to his fifth All Ireland title, told Master of Ceremonies Alan Cantwell: 'It's incredible, we were just talking about the size of the crowd. I think this tops it all. Thanks very much.
'This team at the moment is built for Croke Park, particularly with the new rules, with the way the pitch plays, it's a fast pitch and I think it suits us.
'We just wanted to get back to Croke Park. We knew as soon as we got back there we'd be okay. So that's the way it happened. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor during the homecoming (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
'It was a tough season; we lost a lot of good men along the way - some made it back, others didn't, unfortunately so will have to wait another year.
'We got tremendous support this year. And more than anything we have you, the supporters, because you backed the team like never before in the quarter-final and semi-final and that was huge. And we just had a great momentum going into the final," he said.
"It's hugely rewarding to keep your best players for the biggest day. For Gavin to play as well as he did and captain the team in an All-Ireland final, that's the stuff of dreams.
When asked if he will return for next year's season, Mr O'Connor replied: 'We will keep that for another day.'
Joe O'Connor - who scored a goal in the last minute - said: 'We got a good start and the crowd got behind us and the atmosphere was unbelievable in Croke Park. Kerry fans celebrate as the team returns to Tralee (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Speaking of his goal, assisted by Killian Spillane, he said: 'I missed plenty of them and had to practice a lot over the last few weeks. I just had a hit and hope and the scenes afterwards were class."
'It's a special feeling. It's the stuff of dreams to bring the Sam Maguire down Denny Street, it's something you dream of as a child. It's a great achievement to be able to represent our county and then obviously manage to bring some silverware back home,' Kerry player Dylan Casey told Radio Kerry's Terrace Talk prior to taking his position on the stage.
Their next stop was Killarney, where the victorious team took an open top bus from Fitzgerald Stadium to a reception in the Glebe Car park before travelling to the Gleneagle Hotel, where the celebrations continued with a victory Super Ceili for supporters and a disco.
It was a moment of pure joy for Kerry supporters, young and old, as they honoured their champions and the county's proud footballing tradition.
Earlier, a group of Kerry senior footballers swapped celebrations for something even more meaningful - a visit to Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Temple Street in Dublin on Monday morning.
Players Diarmuid O'Connor, Paul Murphy, Killian Spillane, Gavin White and Tadhg Morley turned up bright and early, proudly bringing the Sam Maguire Cup with them. A view of a Palestine flag at the homecoming (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Their appearance was part of a post-final tradition that sees All-Ireland champions visit young patients in hospital.
The players posed with the Sam Maguire along with staff and patient Chloe Garrell, 10, from Walkinstown in Dublin.
A thrilled Amy Lilly, 4, lifted the Sam Maguire Cup with Kerry player Paul Murphy, while Saoirse McDonagh, 10, from Liscannor, Co Clare was pictured with RTÉ Sports Commentator Marty Morrissey.
Cody Sheedy, 14, from Ballinahinch, Co Tipperary, was also pictured with Sam Maguire Cup and player Paul Murphy.
And in keeping with a long-standard tradition, the Kerry team visited The Boar's Head pub on Dublin's Capel Street on Monday morning after their All-Ireland win, carrying the Sam Maguire Cup and delighting fans.
In a tweet on X on Sunday after the All-Ireland final, Taoiseach Micheal Martin congratulated the winning side.
An Taoiseach tweeted: "Wonderful game of Gaelic football at Croke Park under the new rules. Scintillating display by Kerry against a very spirited Donegal team. Congratulations.'
Meanwhile, Kerry's win over Donegal in the All Ireland football final drew an average audience of 933,000 viewers to RTÉ One's coverage on The Sunday Game Live, with 79 per cent of the available audience tuning in as Joanne Cantwell presented live coverage of the Kingdom's record-extending 39th All Ireland title.
Viewership peaked at 1,033,000 towards the end of the game.
The Sunday Game Live (including Sunday Game Beo) had 378,000 streams on RTÉ Player yesterday. Sunday Game Beo on RTÉ News channel and RTÉ Player, presented by Gráinne McElwain, had Irish language commentary of the final, while Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 brought listeners all the action from the final, as did Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an Lae.
On Sunday night, Jacqui Hurley and pundits picked the Football team of the year, while Kerry captain Gavin White was named Man of the Match on The Sunday Game on RTÉ2, which was watched by an average of 175,000 with a share of 22 per cent, while there were 34,400 streams on RTÉ Player.
The craic began on Saturday night on RTÉ One as an average audience of 309,000 watched Up For The Match on RTÉ One as Jacqui Hurley and Des Cahill were joined live in studio by GAA legends and fans and Marty Morrissey was joined by Hollywood star Matthew Broderick live in Kilcar, Donegal ahead of the All-Ireland final. Up For The Match had 44,000 streams on RTÉ Player.
Fans were heavily engaged with The Sunday Game across RTÉ's social media platforms, with video views reaching 6.73 million with over 705,000 engagements.
President Michael D Higgins' last men's All Ireland Final was the top-performing piece of content across all RTÉ social channels and platforms.
And in Donegal on Monday evening, there may have been no Sam Maguire but Donegal supporters gathered in their thousands in Donegal Town to acknowledge the championship achievements of the county's senior gaelic football team.
The Donegal Homecoming began at 6.30pm at the Pier car park in Donegal Town, where there was live music from Onoir, Darren Boots and others prior to the team's arrival.
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