"Country roads, take me home/ To the place I belong." The voice may have been John Denver's but the sentiment was surely felt by all of the 2,000 or so proud Kerry men and women who gathered in Rathmore yesterday afternoon to welcome Sam Maguire back to its spiritual home for the 37th time.
A glorious September sun beamed down on the Sliabh Luachra town just over the border from Co Cork as the crowds began gathering at the railway station just north of the town before 4pm to await the arrival of the victorious Kerry senior and minor teams.
Local man Dermie Moynihan explained that Rathmore has been the first stopping-off point for victorious Kerry teams since the Kingdom won its first All-Ireland back in 1903, with only the 2007 win – when the team opted to fly to Farranfore – marking a break with tradition.
Festooned in green and gold
Pensioner Sean O’Keeffe from
Lisheen
in Gneeveguilla was delivering his party piece of listing off every Kerry win since 1903 as the crowd, festooned in green and gold Kerry jerseys and headbands, gathered in front of the articulated trailer that was serving as a stage.
And then, just after 5pm, 20 minutes later than scheduled, Corkman Dermot O'Regan guided Kerry's special train into Rathmore to whoops and hollers of delight from the crowd preparing to welcome not just Sam but also the Tom Markham Cup back to Kerry.
"It's 20 years since Kerry won the minor football and it's 34 years since they did the senior and minor in the one year so it's a bit special and it's great for Rathmore because we had Shane Ryan on the minor team and Aidan O'Mahony and Paul Murphy on the senior team," said Moynihan.
Stars of tomorrow
Local parish priest Fr Pat O’Donnell, a friend of Donegal manager Jim McGuinness, casually dressed in a white polo shirt, set the tone. “If you looked at the minor match, you saw the stars of tomorrow. In some places they called that a conveyor belt; here in Kerry, we call it tradition.”
The MC, Rathmore GAA club chairman Donal Murphy, introduced the local heroes including his own son, Paul, who became the fourth Rathmore man after DJ Crowley, Aidan O'Mahony and Tom O'Sullivan to win an All-Ireland Man of the Match Award.
But Kerry being Kerry, it isn’t just about tradition – it’s also about the future, as Paul Murphy reminded the youngsters in the crowd. “I remember standing where you are now, back in 2005 and 2009, but work hard and you too can end up here on the podium winning an All-Ireland with Kerry.”
Time too for some reflection from veteran Aidan O'Mahony, who remembered his late father, Thade, and the late Frank Buckley, two stalwarts of Rathmore GAA and regular attendees at Kerry homecomings in the town, who had passed away since Kerry's last All-Ireland victory in 2009.
And then, after the minor and senior teams filed back to the train, stopping to autograph jerseys for their young fans, the Iarnród Éireann special train pulled out of the station to head down the track to Killarney and Tralee to bring Sam Maguire home again to the Kingdom.
