Joy as Sam Maguire comes homes to Belmullet

Day three of the Mayo homecoming tour finished with an emotional trip to Belmullet, home club of All-Ireland final man of the match Ryan O’Donoghue and Séamus Howard.

A crowd of close to 5,000 people turned out to welcome the local heroes and the full Mayo squad to Tallagh, home of Belmullet GAA Club.

There were joyous scenes as O’Donoghue and Howard brought the cup on stage to adoring fans.

After leaving Crossmolina, the team stopped before Bellacorrick to cross the famous musical bridge and bring Sam into the Barony of Erris.

O’Donoghue, Howard and team physio and fellow Belmullet man Martin McIntyre walked Sam across the bridge.

They stopped in Glencastle too on the way before heading for Tallagh.

“You dream of days like this,” O’Donoghue said afterwards. “I can’t put into words how much it means to look out there in Tallagh and see the amount of people who came out, right from Bellacorrick, Bangor, Glencastle, into Belmullet and out here, it was absolutely unbelievable and I’ll never forget this day as long as I live,” he added.

Belmullet GAA Club chairman Willie Sullivan explained the magnitude of the event for the club.

“It is without a doubt the biggest night in the club’s history. We’ve had massive occasions here. The hosting of the Comortás in 2010 was certainly the high point of the club to date but tonight was special, it was different. It was 75 years of absolute hunger and starvation solved in one night. We had our own two men to the fore. Ryan O’Donoghue went into that All-Ireland and just decided it was going to be won and that was that. We are so proud to welcome back our own two men to the club here with Sam Maguire,” he said.