No longer an ordinary girl just doing her job, she is a heroine and a queen for life

The travelling show moved on again yesterday. From the Bray seafront to the town centre and on the biggest day of all, it fittingly pitched up in the suburbs of Ballywaltrim.

The star remained the same though. Deep in the shadows of the Little Sugar Loaf, the old mountain that usually captures all the attention in these parts, but as it stared down on the crowds, it will have felt a little lonely for once. All eyes were fixated on the two big screens on the uneven football pitches near Katie Taylor’s house.

It’s not a place for boxing aficionados as the masses were forced to bob and weave to catch sight of the fight, between children raised high on shoulders and flags waved tall. But this has long become about far more than boxing and it’s why half of Dublin packed the Dart stations and trains on the way out, although that journey was more like Coppers at midnight than the Toyko Subway at midday. Yet no matter where they came from, her success so far meant there was an arrogant presumption among those looking in for the first time on her career that this would be easy. They were here for a celebration rather than a fight, but that soon changed. Within four minutes it was quiet as people went from baying for blood to praying for gold.