An estimated 25,000 Clare fans greeted their hurling heroes at Ennis’s Fairgreen just before 9pm on Monday as the Liam MacCarthy cup was returned to Clare for only the fifth time.
The All-Ireland winners arrived in an open-top bus in Ennis for what was the hurlers’ last big stop of the day since entering the county in late afternoon.
The Wolfe Tones na Sionna grounds was the first stop, with thousands of fans descending on the Shannon club to welcome the squad home.
As the three Wolfe Tones club men, Aron Shanagher, Rory Hayes and Darragh Lohan led their team-mates into the makeshift stage holding aloft the Liam MacCarthy, the DJ queued up the fan anthem Gala’s Freed from Desire and the car park was bouncing.
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The biggest cheer was reserved for long-time Wolfe Tones club man and Clare’s All-Ireland-winning manager Brian Lohan – an uncle of Darragh – who held up the Liam MacCarthy and told the crowd: “We are glad to have our first stop here. We went up to Dublin yesterday morning to collect that cup.”
A sign at the back of the truck trailer and makeshift stage read: “Welcome to the Home of the Lohan”.
Lohan won two All-Irelands as a player in 1995 and 1995 and Wolfe Tones underage coach Kieran McCarthy said Monday evening’s scenes would inspire a future generation of hurlers.
“I’m with my kids this evening but I remember being a bit older than they are now down cheering Brian Lohan and Frank Lohan in the Wolfe Tones car park in the 1990s and telling my kids stories about the car park in Wolfe Tones and the homecoming and then to have them up in Croke Park yesterday and here today is amazing,” said McCarthy.
“Of course, we don’t know it yet but there are three or four future All-Stars in this crowd inspired by these players and these moments are what will drive them on.
“The players now are immortal – when you win an All-Ireland, that’s it. You are Messi. You are Ronaldo. If Tony Kelly and Messi walk into a room in Clare today, it is Tony Kelly who is getting the applause.”
In his own words to the crowd, captain Tony Kelly said: “For every boy and girl in Wolfe Tones, you have something to aspire to with the three boys, Rory, Shan and Darragh.
He said: “The boys won’t be around forever and they need boys and girls hurling so hopefully this will inspire the next generation.”
Meanwhile, an estimated 8,000 fans turned up at Páirc Uí Chaoimh to welcome home the defeated Cork team with lord mayor of Cork Cllr Dan Boyle saying how proud everyone in Leeside was of them before he expressed confidence that they would bring home the Liam MacCarthy cup next year.
The loudest cheer of the night went up for veteran forward Pat Horgan from Glen Rovers, who shot himself to the top of the all-time scoring charts with 12 points to bring his tally to 716 points. He paid tribute to the Cork fans for their support throughout this year’s campaign.
“We’re very lucky, the Cork hurlers, we have the best support you could possibly have, and it kicked off even before the Limerick game and since then it’s been snowballing and we really appreciate it.”
Cork manager Pat Ryan took to the stage to echo the sentiment as he said how proud he was of everyone on the panel for the season they had.
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