Crowds exceeded the 200,000 predicted for the 50th Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Listowel over the weekend. It was the north Kerry town's 13th time to host the fleadh and it was a case of 13th time lucky, with glorious sunshine, one of the biggest attendances and some of the best music and dancing ever.
Despite some 40,000 people gathering in town on Saturday night, and a much higher number on Sunday, there were only a handful of arrests.
Gardai say the extensive, almost year-long preparations involving more than 100 volunteers helped make the event so successful. Extra gardai had also been drafted in from Limerick and other areas.
Listowel, which received its designation as a heritage town this year, is better known for its literary endeavours than its music. But over the weekend it played host to more than 10,000 musicians.
There was unprecedented international interest as well as record attendances at the young musician schools.
The music in Listowel is set to continue well into the middle of this week with many musicians lengthening their stay on their annual get-together.
However, the Kerry town will face stiff competition to host the event next year from other towns, in particular from Warrenpoint, Co Down, which it narrowly beat last year.
Senator Labhras O'Murchu, director-general of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann said the fleadh had never been held north of the Border, but he fully expected to see it going north in the next couple of years as "part of the normalisation process".
Music had never been a divisive element in the North and if anything it was a unifying force, with people from both communities playing together, he said.
"I have no doubt that people from both communities could meet comfortably and celebrate their musical tradition in a northern venue and that the bodhran and the Lambeg drum would both be well represented at such a fleadh," he said at the weekend.
Comhaltas now has 400 branches worldwide, with the latest opened in Moscow. Senator O Murchu said Ireland's success in maintaining and enhancing its cultural identity had not only been impressive but had won the admiration of many other nationalities.