Fireworks, beer and toilet roll hurtled skywards following Saturday's spirited performance at Slane Castle.
Bono later thanked the Irish soccer team for being "the greatest support act we could have had".
The Ireland v Holland match was screened during the event, which featured Moby, Ash, Nelly Furtado, The Walls and Dara.
When Jason McAteer's goal set chants of "Ole, ole, ole, ole" reverberating around the venue, you almost pitied the act due to follow. However, Bono later felt confident enough to twist the lyrics of the song Angel of Harlem to proclaim "tonight Slane Castle belongs to me".
The band drew extensively from their back catalogue but began and ended the set with tracks from the current album, All That You Can't Leave Behind.
Bono's mood seemed to swing from playful to serious during the concert. At one point, he kicked an inflatable football into the cheering crowd. Then, over the closing chords of Sunday Bloody Sunday, he spoke the names of those who died in the Omagh bombing.
A breathtaking fireworks display mopped up some of the fans' disappointment when U2 left the stage.
It also stopped some of those leaving early in their tracks. They may have regretted this later, as the volume of cars and buses leaving the venue meant many vehicles did not reach Dublin city centre until the early hours.
Eithne Donnellan writes: The senior Garda officer in charge of the security operation in Slane praised the 80,000 fans. Chief Supt Michael Finnegan said there were nine arrests, seven for breaches of public order and two for drug-related offences.
He said there were 32 seizures of drugs, including cannabis, ecstasy and amphetamines, but no seizures of forged tickets.
