Sinead Farrell reports from Skibereen

THE SIGNS OF what was to come were evident from early this morning.

The Olympic heroes make their way through Skibbereen.

As the sounds of mic checks filled the air at around 9.30am, vans were pulling up to prepare their stalls for the crowds that would be piling in later. The town was dressed for the occasion of the day. Tricolour streamers were stretched overhead. Flags bearing the Skibbereen Rowing Club crest were everywhere along the streets. Everything was in place for a day of celebration.

By 2pm, the people started arriving for their guests who were expected to arrive at 3pm. And they didn’t keep their public waiting. At around 10 past the hour, a steward advised us to move in from the edge of the curb as an open top bus carrying Olympic medalists came into view.

Back-to-back men’s lightweight double sculls Olympic champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy had arrived to share their success with the town that made them. 

“The best part is coming back here to Skibbereen and seeing friends and family, and the young kids in school,” O’Donovan said when he addressed the crowd.

“They’re out for a big party.”

The duo were travelling with Aoife Casey who achieved a fifth-place finish in the final of the women’s lightweight double sculls in Paris. Also in the vehicle was Emily Hegarty who was a member of the Irish team that won Women’s Four B final at the Olympics. And since she never had an official homecoming for the bronze medal she won at the Tokyo Olympics due to the Covid pandemic, the locals sought to rectify that today.

The great rowing coach Dominic Casey was also on board, as was Fintan’s twin brother Jake who was a reserve for the men’s lightweight double sculls team. 

They smiled and waved and held their medals out proudly as the bus nosed along through the streets, heading for the Fairfield car park where a stage and a party awaited them. Pipe bands and representatives of other local sports clubs were part of the parade, bringing a sense of community to the event.

This writer latched on to the coattails of local sportswriter Kieran McCarthy of the Southern Star, trying to slink our way through the heaving crowd to get to the car park ahead of the bus. We navigated the route — which was well marshalled by the 60-plus stewards ensuring everyone’s welfare — and found a place beside the stage.

An Tánaiste Micheál Martin was present, as was Richard Hosford, who was one of the founding members of the Skibbereen Rowing club. Rio silver medalist, and brother of Paul O’Donovan, Gary O’Donovan was in the crowd, along with Tim Harnedy and Eugene Coakley who have represented Skibereen at Olympic Games of the past. Music thumped from the stage as everyone waited for the Olympians to step into the spotlight.

Just over an hour later, RTÉ’s Jacqui Hurley introduced the rowers to the stage one by one along with Dominic Casey. It was time to hear from the local heroes.

“Absolutely insane,” Fintan McCarthy replied when Hurley asked him what the last few weeks have been like since defending their Olympic gold medal.

“You can tell from the crowd. It’s so nice to see everyone. Whether we won a gold medal or not, we’d still have the support of the whole town and community. We can really feel it.”

McCarthy was just a teenager when he attended the homecoming for Gary and Paul O’Donovan after the Rio Games in 2016. He said he doesn’t recall much of that time, but can say with absolute certainty that the O’Donovans cut the path for him to follow.

“It was probably the blueprint for all of us. It was the start of this whole thing and we wanted to emulate the success of the lads. It’s pretty surreal to be having one [homecoming] for ourselves. Hopefully we can inspire the next crop as well. There’s a few who have been to junior worlds and U23s, so hopefully in four years time or eight years time, they’ll be up here too.”

A massive crowd gathers for the Skibbereen rowers.

Aoife Casey, who is preparing to start a Masters soon, expressed her gratitude for the local support they have received and said that competing in Paris felt like a “Home Olympics” with all the Irish fans that were present.

Looking towards the future, there are decisions to make as lightweight rowing expires as an Olympic event. Jake McCarthy said he will aim to “put on some bulk” as he takes the time to make a call. O’Donovan has already made a start on the transition, and hopes to continue trending that way.

Fintan seems to be of a similar mindset.

“I’ve probably had enough of a rest now. I need to get back into some kind of shape. I’ll probably do a bit of training and see what happens. I think the main part is that we’re living our dream getting to row every day, and not take life too seriously. There’s are some of my best friends and getting to train with them every day is an honour and a privilege. We’ll keep doing that and see what happens.”

Fans peeled away from the stage as the formalities concluded. Rain threatened to fall throughout, and a few drops could be felt. But the clouds didn’t burst. A lovely rendition of ‘Dear Old Skibbereen’ helped everyone ease into the evening where the celebrations will surely continue well into the night.

The party is just beginning.