Not since Jack Lynch, an all-Ireland winner in both hurling and gaelic football, was Taoiseach have Burnley won at Blackburn.
On St Patrick s Day, our long awaited victory was cruelly snatched away by a, somewhat oxymoronic, big-boned leprechaun.
On the feast day of the patron saint of Ireland, fans did their best to conform to Irish stereotype, the derby being typical of any St Patrick s Day celebration in any Dublin pub.
There were bare arses, choice language, aggression and plenty of broken glass and that was just on the buses.
Inside the ground, ridiculous Guinness hats obscured the view of some fans and there were a few drunken choruses of the Wild Rover, with different factions signing their own versions.
One Burnley fan was even waving a green, white and orange tricolour, albeit the flag of India.
The day was already going to be tense enough. The bus convoy made the tension even more exaggerated.
We were forced to accept that we would have to take busses, but the police-escorted convoy then crawled along the motorway at 20 miles per hour, for no apparent reason.
With 4,000 away fans arriving at Ewood Park at the same time, the concourse resembled a chicken farm. Actually, battery cages would probably be roomier.
There were queues in all directions for bookies, pies, drinks and toilets, with no one quite ready to take their seats. And why would they, with more than an hour to go before kick-off?
It was an uncomfortable and potentially hazardous crush.
Before the match, some foolishly predicted the hero on Paddy's Day would have to be Chris McCann. With Treacy not in the squad, and Long on the bench, McCann was the only real Irishman on the pitch.
In the end, it wasn't McCann nor was it any of the three Northern Irishmen who made an impact.
Instead we had to watch David Dunn taking the plaudits and parade around the ground having thwarted us again.
It s enough to make you green with envy.
* It has become accepted, although probably not by the Church, to be allowed to break Lent on St Patrick's Day. My attempt to go back on bread again for a day was hampered by the butty shop on Higgin Street running out of tea cakes. Perhaps it's a sign from above?