Tearful scenes as Sam Maguire is brought to Achill Island

The sight of hardened grown men crying told you just how much this meant to Achill people.

In the glorious twilight of Sunday evening, Sam Maguire was carried onto Achill Island by All-Ireland champions Jack Carney, Donnacha McHugh and Diarmuid O’Connor.

They were piped across the Michael Davitt Bridge onto Ireland’s largest island by members of local pipe bands in what was among the most joyous scenes in the four weeks since Jack Coyne lifted Sam.

Everywhere you looked, there were tears of joy with a crowd north of 2,000 present for the evocative and emotional occasion.

There was a particular resonance for Jack Carney and Donnacha McHugh who have strong ties to Achill. Carney’s father Peter is a native of Polranny while Denis McHugh, father of Donnacha, is from Crumpaun in Keel.

Peter Carney is a leading member of the Clew Bay Pipe Band in Westport and he joined Achill pipers in the crossing. Jack Carney even joined in for a while, playing the drums.

It was thought to be the first time Sam was brought onto the island by winning Mayo players and Achill has never witnessed anything quite like this.

The bridge has witnessed some harrowing occasions such as the return home of coffins after the Clew Bay Disaster in 1894 when 32 perished in a boating tragedy at Westport Quay and the arrival of the victims of the Kirkintilloch tragedy in 1937, when ten Achill seasonal workers were killed in a bothy fire in Scotland.

They were all emigrants seeking a better life and thousands more have followed that journey across the bridge.

It has also ferried some of Mayo’s most committed fans to games all over the country and beyond as well as footballers to every corner of Mayo for games. Distance has never been an obstacle for Achill folk but my how they rejoiced when Sam came to them.

Peter Carney and Denis McHugh were among those who departed, a story that, as CLG Acla chairperson Colm Cafferkey reflected, echoes the story of Achill. But they didn’t go too far - they stayed in the county and their sons became stars of the Mayo team that finally reached the promised land.

Peter Carney grew up at the garda station where his father Pat worked, right next door Achill GAA’s home ground, Michael Davitt Park. He had the magnificent pleasure of driving his son and Sam Maguire into the pitch in Polranny, just before the bridge, a little after 6pm.

The thousands gathered started to cheer wildly at the sight of Sam Maguire being held aloft through the sunroof of the car as they approached.

Could Peter Carney ever have dreamed of such a day when he grew up beside the football pitch and spent countless hours there playing ball? If you wanted a picture to personify pride, it was a tearful Peter Carney stepping out of that car with his son, the All-Ireland champion, and Sam Maguire.

Denis McHugh was beaming too and if the people of Achill were proud, what must it be like to be an Achill native and a father of one of the players on such a day?

Jack and Donnacha brought Sam out onto the balcony of the clubhouse to an adoring and jubilant crowd.

Colm Cafferkey asked Carney when, in the four weeks since the All-Ireland, had it sunk in?

“Now,” he said, simply and emphatically to a crescendo of cheers.

They went and stood in for a group photo with young Achill ladies footballers.

For well over two hours, fans queued patiently to be photographed with the players and Sam Maguire. The evening was basked in sunlight, enveloping Achill in its picture postcard best. Only for the presence of hungry midges, it would have been perfect.

Carney, McHugh and Diarmuid O’Connor, who joined them, were brilliant, smiling for every photograph and a word for everyone too.

Carney, in particular, deserves praise. He had already spent over three hours in Kilmeena. The previous night he had played in a heartbreaking club championship defeat, yet somehow still found the energy for another long shift celebrating with Mayo fans.

You could tell, though, the players got great energy from the atmosphere of the place and they were emotional too by the end of it.

After the queued dwindled, then it was off to join local pipe bands, of which there is a storied tradition in Achill – both the island and the mainland – and cross onto the island itself.

For generations, Achill watched its people cross that bridge in search of something better. On Sunday evening, the greatest prize of all came home.

Sam really is the gift that keeps on giving.