With horns hooting they streamed from pubs and tea rooms, jumping for joy on the streets. A radio blared The Gooch Shakalaka: There's only one Colm Cooper, a rousing anthem from the Kingdom's All-Ireland football campaign.
It was 5.11pm and Kerry had just beaten neighbours and rivals Cork in a memorable all-Munster, All-Ireland.
Outside St Mary's Cathedral the Killarney priests had already planted their allegiance firmly on the grass of the diocesan seat with pictures of key Killarney members of the Kerry effort. It stated boldly: "Killarney Parish 5 go for Sam 35" - the type of language normally reserved for scripture verse.
But it was the killer comment near the Speak Easy pub in High Street, Killarney, where there was no speaking easy which summed up over a century of intense rivalry : "We owed Cork big time. It would have been good to win, but it was great to annihilate them." That was from lifelong Kerry supporter Tony Lenihan who had earlier that morning returned from a week's break in New York where he and wife Joan celebrated their 25th anniversary. There was little mercy in Killarney for the defeated.
In O'Connor's newsagent a woman was buying bunting, streamers and flags after the match.
Was this not a bit after the event? No, "it's payback time. This is special," she said. She was returning to work in Cork and would be handing out the Kerry flags.
Killarney had never put on such a display of colour, with windows decorated and cars painted in green and gold and bunting over every street. It basked in the green and gold yesterday and the sun came out.
The tourist town had contributed five members including manager Pat O'Shea, Colm "the Gooch" Cooper, Eoin Brosnan and two subs to the team's remarkable 35th All-Ireland.
The white of the road markings towards the Kerry side of the N22 may have been painted in red by Cork supporters, but none of this mattered now with Sam back where he belonged. The tourists on College Square could hardly hear themselves with the singing and shouting. Back home in New York and South Carolina the Horans, Meghan, Courtney, and mother Suzanne, are strong supporters of the Buffalo Bills American football team.
"This is great . . . We wish we understood the game more," said Courtney . The family were on their first visit to Ireland.
Celebrations were set to carry on into the night last night. The team will return this evening when thousands are expected to gather at the first rail station Rathmore, metres inside the Kerry border with Cork at 5pm to welcome local heroes including Tom Sullivan , Pádraig Reidy and Aidan O'Mahony.
The team will arrive in Casement Station, Tralee, at around 6pm and there will be a parade and street celebrations in the Kerry capital. Then it will be on to Killarney where they are expected around 9.30pm.