They glided across the finishing line with ease, so much so that there wasn’t a ripple of a surprise when it was announced that hero brothers Paul and Gary O’Donovan, who captured the hearts of the nation with their Olympic rowing silver medal triumph, had won the Cork Persons of the Year Award.

In the weeks and months leading up to their historic win yesterday, Paul and Gary O’Donovan would sit on a couch on either side of their grandmother Mary Doab, their laptops in front of them, showing her footage of their training from earlier that day.

It had a sheen of Rio, the carnival atmosphere that descended on the town of Skibbereen when its two Olympians, Paul and Gary O’Donovan, yesterday claimed a place in the men’s lightweight double sculls Olympic final.