LOCAL RADIO played Tina Turner's Simply The Best. A local fife band struck up The Men Of The West. It was chaos and celebration in Castlebar last night as thousands of Mayo supporters paid homage to their team.
You could be forgiven for thinking the fans had gathered to welcome a victory. But, in a long tradition of glorious defeats, Sunday's All Ireland Football Final defeat became the most glorious of all.
The large crowd had waited patiently for the team to arrive by special train from Dublin. However, unscheduled stops at Ballyhaunis and Claremorris led to a one hour delay.
When the team finally reached Castlebar the crowd belted out Mayo's adaption of The Banana Boat Song with jungle fervour. "Maay-oh, Maay-ay-ay-oh, Sam Maguire's coming home to Mayo."
But the celebration threatened to become a farce as the stage power supply failed. The crowd continued singing for a while, but then they fell silent and some started to drift away.
Power was finally restored and a somewhat tired and emotional team manager, John Maughan, introduced midfielder Liam McHale to the crowd. Mr McHale, who was sent off near the start of the game and was nursing a suspected fractured jaw yesterday, got the biggest cheer of the night.
"I tell you what", Mr Maughan told the crowd, "if we had that man yesterday we would have Sam Maguire here with us tonight."
Earlier, in Michael Byrne's pub on Main Street, a group of supporters known as "Byrne's Babes" gathered to welcome the team. The group was formed in 1979 and has supported the team faithfully "in every county, bar Waterford", according to one of its members, Cathal Reynolds. He travelled up to Dublin for the match, as did fellow "Babes" Ronnie Dawson, Eamonn Clarke and Martin "Lofty" Walsh.
Although disappointed at the result, they were upbeat about the team's chances next year.
There was nothing but praise for Mayo's manager, despite the defeat. "Who would think last year that we would be in an All Ireland Final", said Mr Dawson.
Mr Maughan is now seen as the inevitable choice for Mayoman of the Year, at least in Byrne's pub.