Catherine Connolly's win was a landslide built on months of hard work

Catherine Connolly's campaign was a movement that united the left, brought in 15,000 volunteers and saw over 914,000 people make her the most popular Irish politician of all time, writes Paul Hosford

Catherine Connolly casts her vote in the election on Friday.

Catherine Connolly says that her decision to run for president was "torturous".

In her third term as an independent TD for Galway West, Ms Connolly had just finished a four-year stint as the first-ever female Leas Ceann Comhairle and had been appointed chair of the Oireachtas committee on the Irish language, a subject she is passionate about.