Mageean's family over the moon with first gold

Portaferry's Ciara Mageean has credited her time playing camogie with the skills that let her overtake opponents and win 1500m gold for Ireland.

And as she surged across the finish line at the European Championships in Rome, her dad at home on the shores of Strangford Lough jumped with joy and ran out into the street.

The 32-year-old's first major title win has captured imaginations and hearts in Portaferry and across Northern Ireland, with well-wishers expecting her to follow up with more success at the Olympics in Paris this summer.

The athlete's father, Chris, told BBC News NI that there was “talent in the peninsula, there’s talent in every village".

"You just have to find it, and nurture it and bring it on,” he said.

“We have been travelling up and down the country with Ciara, and if you can inspire another young person to put the green jersey on her, win a gold, or represent Ireland in a final, at the end of the day that’s all you are looking for.”

He said when she turned the final corner and he saw "a wee smile come onto her face", he said to himself "'there’s maybe something going to happen here'".

"When she came between the two British girls, I said, 'yes, she has the finish, it’s in her legs' and she saw it out. She took it home for Ireland."

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Ciara's mother, Catherine, said she was "over the moon" with the win.

"We usually go to the European events, we are all heading to Paris for a longer time, but we opted out of this one. A part of me regrets that now," she said.

"We were rather nervous at home, pacing up and down the room, my husband, he was doing gymnastics, jumping up and down then he runs outside, 'yes, yes, yes', down the street."

Ciara, who won bronze and silver medals at previous European Championships, held her nerve in a tactical battle to find a small gap between Great Britain duo Georgia Bell and Jemma Reekie with 90 metres left.

She crossed the line in four minutes 4.66 seconds - 0.67 seconds clear of Great Britain's Bell.

Catherine said: "When you watch it back you can actually see when the gap opens, she breathes out and take a great big breath in and just goes for it. I just knew, there was a smile on her face, it was like the 100-yard dash right down the middle."

After the win, Ciara said: "When I was getting a bit boxed in there, I thought 'my god... I have all the legs left but nowhere to go'. I didn't grow up playing camogie to get boxed in though.

"Everybody back home knows how long I have been doing this, how hard I have been trying. I've had so many times when I've come off races and not felt the way I am today."

Across the Strangford Lough in Ciara’s coastal hometown of Portaferry, locals are buzzing at the news of her latest win.

James Murray runs the local newsagents Blaneys and is delighted for the town’s champion.

“Ciara Mageean is the best thing to ever hit Portaferry,” he told BBC News NI.

“Ciara is the nicest kid, her family are amazing people, down to earth and it couldn’t happen to a better person or family because not only has she done brilliant last night, she’s going to do very well in the Olympics.”

And the locals can’t wait to welcome her back.

“Everyone in the town is buzzing because of Ciara,” James added.

“Everybody’s delighted for her, delighted for the Mageean family and the whole town.”

A stone’s throw away from the town’s ferry dock at the Portaferry Hotel, reception staff are eager to share the good news from Rome with guests checking in.

“It’s fantastic,” Siobhan McGrattan said.

“We sat up and watched it. I actually let our children stay up late to watch it last night.”

Ciara's latest win will also inspire other athletes in the town, Siobhan added.

“She’s a great ambassador for young girls here in the town and she goes into all the primary schools and she takes the medals in. It’s just wonderful.

“I think it’s going to put us on the map, I think people are going to remember Ciara from Portaferry.”

Paul Gilchrist, principal of Ciara's former primary school, St Mary’s in Portaferry said there has been "a lot of excitement and buzz about the school" following her victory.

"When I came in this morning, lots of children were chatting away," he said.

"I’m sure you could hear the cheer right across the whole of Portaferry yesterday."

Although from Portaferry, Ciara went to Assumption Grammar School in Ballynahinch.

Helen McCambridge, head of PE at the school, said she noticed her pupil was "very special" when she competed in the district cross country competition in Year 10.

"That day she was absolutely fantastic. That would have been on pure natural ability – it wasn’t my doing, it wasn’t that I had trained her."

She said the school community is "delighted" after Ciara's success.

“She didn’t start out as an athlete – she was a camogie player and we didn’t know where that would go, but she’s coachable," she added.

"She has had this great success that everybody can see and that will inspire lots and lots of, not only runners, but people in other sports."