Clare welcomes home All-Ireland champions

Gordon Deegan

An estimated 25,000 Clare fans greeted the All-Ireland Senior Hurling champions back to the Banner on Monday evening with a homecoming event at the Fairgreen in Ennis.

The team arrived in an open-top bus, presenting the Liam MacCarthy Cup to fans for just the fifth time.

Having visited Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street with the cup earlier on Monday, the team travelled westward to Clare, first stopping off at manager Brian Lohan's club, Wolfe Tones in Shannon.

The club's current county stars, Aaron Shanagher, Rory Hayes and Daragh Lohan, led the team onto the stage, with Lohan then welcomed with a rapturous cheer.

A sign at the back of the truck trailer, serving as a makeshift stage for the evening, read: 'Welcome to the Home of the Lohan'.

Following the stop off in Shannon, the All-Ireland champions continued on to Clarecastle, the club of double All-Ireland winning Clare captain Anthony Daly, before making their way to the main event in Ennis.

Thousands of fans had gathered in the town in the early evening, eagerly awaiting the team's arrival at Tim Smythe Park, where music and song had been in full flow all evening.