JAMES MCCARTHY was handed a pint as he sat down for media duties after the 2023 All-Ireland final.
It only seemed right for those present, including yours truly, to applaud.
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The Ballymun man sipped the most earned pint of stout in the capital that day as he lifted Sam Maguire for the ninth time.
His retirement statement dropped on Monday, to bring the curtain down on a remarkable inter-county career.
But what he did to taste glory one more time last year was off the charts.
Back to back All-Ireland semi-final defeats to Mayo and Kerry looked like the end of the road for the all-conquering Sky Blues, who made the breakthrough in 2011 before romping to six crowns in a row.
But McCarthy took the lead for that sweetest last dance, which was driven by pain – and it all spawned at his wedding the previous December.
Stephen Cluxton, Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion were convinced to come back after stepping away in 2021.
McCarthy was made captain when Cluxton vanished, and refused to let the dynasty die on his watch.
The Dubs had been caned for covid training breaches in March 2021 and relegation to Division 2 followed. They were rattled.
McCarthy had been there and done it and owed them nothing. He was man of the match in the 2017 All-Ireland final and had eight All-Irelands and four All-Stars in his back pocket.
But he went to a whole new level last year to reach the summit once more.
He thundered between Dessie Farrell’s midfield and half-back line and left every opponent in his wake to taste his sweetest summer as old scores were settled once and for all.
His performance in their slick 2-17 to 0-11 quarter–final win over Mayo said it all. He had a bone to pick with the green and red, as he terrorised them and scored 0-2 from play.
Monaghan were brushed aside in the semis, and the Kerry defeat was avenged on the biggest stage of all.
The Kingdom crumbled and had no answers for a Dublin team who were simply ravenous with McCarthy leading the charge. The fifth All-Star was nailed on.
As Michael Darragh Macauley put it on ‘X’, no bulls**t. What you see is what you get. In fairness to James, he was the same with the media.
He didn’t bother with cliché’s or narrow, mindless answers. He talked with the raw honesty he played with, and the words always flowed like Anna Livia herself.
The conversation under the Hogan Stand as he drank that pint said it all.
It wasn’t all about the glory of winning that All-Ireland final as he hit back at the fire aimed at his manager over the previous two years, and hailed his team-mates for driving them back to glory. It was never about him, always about Dublin.
He said: “I just thought some of the shots at him the last two years were disgraceful to be honest. Like, it’s always on the players who cross the white line out there.
“We lost two All-Ireland semi-finals, one by a kick of a ball, one after extra time. The margins are tight. Very, very tight. We’ve come out the other side of them plenty of times as well.
“We were ferociously disappointed with the last two seasons. We were hurt. They really did hurt. But life goes on. We gathered at the start of the year.
“We had a bit of a chat at the wedding, try and get a few boys back. And they made a difference as well. not just them. It was a real team performance that got us over the line.”
Any county would have killed to have him, and the Dublin dressing room will be a much different place without him.
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Cluxton turns 43 next month and could well follow him out the door along with fellow nine-time All-Ireland champion Michael Fitzsimons, 35.
Dublin’s greatest ever? You can drink to that, James.
