Some 5,000 people came to the towns of Dingle and Ventry in Co Kerry for the Páidí Ó Sé football tournament at the weekend.
Canon Padraig Ó Fiannachta, former professor of Celtic Studies at NUI Maynooth and the parish priest of Dingle, told a reception held to celebrate the tournament on Saturday night that he hoped "people will have learned more about Hiberno-English and Kerry English" as a result of the controversy over Mr Ó Sé's description of Kerry football supporters as the roughest kind of animals.
"We have a richer font of metaphor and simile than in pseudo-refined parts," he said.
"Páidí is an inspirer. He can instill that devotion in others." He described Mr Ó Sé as "a horse of a man in many ways" - a reference to Mr Ó Sé's physical strength.
It was the 11th year of the tournament and teams had travelled from London, Offaly, Cork, Meath, Dublin, Cavan, Limerick and Cork as well as other parts of Kerry, Mr Ó Sé said.
Some 5,000 people came to the locality specifically for the tournament and it was worth a lot of money to the local economy, according to Mr Ó Sé, who is also a member of Bord Fáilte.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, was guest of honour on Saturday night at Mr Ó Sé's pub for the opening of the football tournament and a photographic exhibition by Valerie O'Sullivan.
Actor Niall Toibin, a regular visitor to Ventry since the making of the film Ryan's Daughter, was also at the opening, along with Mr Tom Fitzgerald, a former senator.
"I might not be a great selector or trainer but I knew in advance Valerie was going to win a prize," Mr Ó Sé said of Ms O Sullivan, who took first place in the features category of the Press Photographers' Association of Ireland awards on Friday night.