The atmosphere at Gerry Finnegan’s Pub in the Nana region of the city was simply magnificent.

“A great night entirely,” was the verdict of Mal Courell, a Ballina woman who was part of the entourage. And Mal knows her stuff: her dad Gerald played on the Mayo team in 1936 (the county’s first All-Ireland senior title), and was the trainer when they completed their collection of All-Irelands with two more titles in 1950 and 1951. The Courell name is revered in Mayo GAA circles.

Mine host was Gerry Finnegan, a native of Dundalk living in Bangkok for the past year. We had been in touch with Gerry by email over the past few weeks. He couldn’t have been more hospitable, and extends a Cead Mile Failte to anyone interested in watching Limerick and Kilkenny in next Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final.

He will be putting up some food for us as well. Fair play all round. If next Sunday is anywhere near as good as last night, it will be a memorable night.

Commiserations to the many Dublin fans who were in Finnegan’s last night, including some of our entourage. Particularly heartfelt apologies for the Dublin guy who wore the Retro 1976 jersey – it was absolutely beautiful. But it wasn’t all bad news for him – he’s in Thailand on his honeymoon with his wife from Co. Down. I think they will be there next Sunday, too.

Oh, yes, next Sunday. The sap is rising, as sap tends to do.

Of course, we have Kilkenny woman Emma Walsh on this trip (and, by the way, as I type I am getting unconfirmed reports that Emma has just won a medal; more anon.) Limerick is represented by athlete John Loftus, his wife Trish, and their teenage daughter Tara, who has been one of the real stars of the trip with her unrelenting good humour.

It’s John’s voice that opens the enclosed report from Finnegan’s last night. John is a hurling fanatic, and trained Ballybrown to reach the All-Ireland club final over 25 years ago.

By the way, the Fearless Finnegans’ Expedition consisted of:

John, Trish, and Tara Loftus (by the way, John, any word on the tip for the horse you were throwing out freely on Saturday night?)

Murt Murphy and his daughter Annette, who flew in from London at the weekend
Tony Gavigan
Daniel McCarthy (like Murt and Annette, looking forward to putting one over the Kingdom in the final)
Tony Gartland
Martin Hannon
Mal Courell
Karen from Dublin (she has a surname, just can’t recall it! She took defeat well though, and I was happy to relieve her of €20 in a no-holds-barred bet on the outcome.)
And me.

Did I forget anyone?

While we were there we picked up a copy of Saturday’s Irish Independent and found that we got a good mention there.

And, best of all, yesterday’s big match commentator gave us a special mention just before the throw-in, with particular reference to Tony Gartland’s medal yesterday morning.

Then we stood up and sang The National Anthem as if our lives depended on it.

Now, here’s the audio from Gerry Finnegan’s. You’ll hear Murt Murphy’s half-time analysis, too.