Sunday's All-Ireland success may be celebrated by Kerry exiles the world over but not everyone in the Kingdom will toast Paidi O Se's achievement in returning the Sam Maguire Cup to its rightful home.
At least, not according to a fascinating study by UCC geographer Ms Liz Bauer who found that GAA matters impinged little on the lives of German residents in the county.
"Most of the German children would be interested in GAA but most of their parents would have little interest or involvement. They do become involved in sports. It's not GAA but tends to be golf clubs and shooting and fishing clubs," says Liz. Her interest in German "incomers" stems primarily from her own experience - she is one. She came to Glenbeigh in 1979, aged seven, when her late father, Rudolf, a retired GP, decided he wanted to leave Germany.
"He just didn't like the way German politics were developing. He had looked at Paraguay and Canada but when he and my mother came on holiday to Ireland, they saw a site advertised in Glenbeigh and they bought it," says Liz.
She had no English then, "not a sausage", and while her mother, Carla, had some, her father had just enough to get groceries at the local shop.
Although there are many German families along the Iveragh Peninsula and Killarney, Liz was the only German student at Killorglin Community College and it was only in her last few years there that she began to integrate.
The idea for the study came during a drive with a friend around Caragh Lake. They began discussing the German families living there. "I had been thinking of doing an MA in some environmental area but then this just appealed to me."
The picture Liz paints of first-generation Germans in the Iveragh and Killarney is one of poor integration. Aside from the GAA, most Germans also seem to miss out on the other two main areas of social interaction in rural Ireland - the pub and Sunday Mass.
"The German `incomers' are not part of the pub culture. By and large, they prefer to socialise at home or in each other's houses. Pubs are frequented for the occasional drink, for business lunches or else to listen to traditional music.
"In general, religion does not hold the same importance for incomers as it does for locals. Most of the incomers have lost their faith or else are unable to reconcile their beliefs with the practice of the church," she adds.
Liz looked at the type of Germans who came to Kerry and why they moved there. Although there are 430 Germans living in the county, many on the Dingle peninsula, she concentrated her study on Killarney and Iveragh.
Perhaps surprisingly, she found few Germans coming to south Kerry in search of an alternative lifestyle. Most had either come to Killarney to work with crane manufacturers Liebherr or were retired people living around Killorglin.
Most German incomers were either lower or upper-middle class and ranged from taxi drivers and chefs to dentists and engineers, with the majority falling into the 40-60 age bracket. Their children are far more integrated through schools, friends and sports.
Their reasons for leaving Germany are varied: aloofness of people in Germany, crime, pollution, industrialisation, hectic lifestyle, employment by multinational, desire to set up their own business, adventure, fear of communism and rigid state regulation.
Their reasons for choosing Ireland were equally diverse: quality of life, desire to raise children in a low crime rate society, better job opportunities and the friendliness of Irish people.
"There are a few paradoxes evident from the study," says Liz. "Many German incomers commented on the openness of the Irish people but some also found the Irish to be `dishonest' and `very difficult to get friendly with'.
"Similarly, even though most of them said they loved the slow pace of life here, many subsequently criticised the backward state of the country and people's inefficiency. They criticised the very thing that attracted them here in the first place."
Despite this paradox, Liz found a low rate of return migration to Germany, with alternative lifestyle seekers finding it most difficult to settle here. "They may have had a romanticised view. They don't have a car and the Irish winter often proves too much," she says. Liz also spoke to local Irish people and found differing perceptions of each group's attitudes towards work. "The Irish see the Germans as very determined and efficient: they live to work. While the Irish are perceived as more laid back: they work to live."
Apart from some resentment over Germans buying sites around Caragh Lake, Liz found few Germans had felt openly discriminated against or made unwelcome, though all had difficulties trying to settle in Kerry.
Problems ranged from difficulties in trying to set up a business and training the local workforce to understanding the Kerry accent, general mannerisms and habits and, of course, the Irish sense of humour.
Liz, who presented a paper on her study at last week's Scattering conference on Ireland and the Irish diaspora at UCC, believes the report throws light on a new area of study: immigration to Ireland.
"Irish history has focused so much on emigration that this is a new area and with all the attention on refugees, it's perhaps beneficial to learn how existing incomers have adapted and settled here," she said.
And what of herself? Does she feel Irish or German or both? "I'm a bit schizophrenic," she laughs. "I'm still German but I feel I've integrated well. I watched the All-Ireland on Sunday and I certainly have no problem with going to the pub."