Leaving with a song, Kellie Harrington bows out at the top of the mountain

As Kellie Harrington seemingly brought the curtain down on a glittering career in the middle of Roland Garros in Paris, she sang.

With the local fans long gone and security guards rattling through the French version of "are you right there now folks, please?" Harrington led the Irish Olympic staff, the media and the hundreds of Irish fans who weren't going before she was, through a moving rendition of Grace.

'Grace’ is a beautiful ballad by the Dubliners, the song of a sombre farewell between Grace Gifford and Joseph Plunkett who were married in the chapel at Kilmainham Gaol just hours before he was executed by a firing squad in 1916.

Harrington led us through a far more joyous goodbye in Paris but one no less deserving of commemoration in song, as she bowed out of amateur boxing at the absolute pinnacle of the sport.

She did leave the door just cracked open on the chance of a return, saying after the medal ceremony that she’s "98% sure she will retire" but regardless of when she goes, Harrington will leave an unmatched legacy.

Double Olympic champion.

No other Irish boxer has done what she’s done. No other Irish woman has down what she’s done. In beating China's Wenlu Yang to defend her Olympic lightweight title, Harrington has chiselled her name into the history books.

It’s been a long journey. Harrington’s road to Olympic glory started while she was still a child.

Corinthians boxing club coach Joey O’Brien tells of an "eight or nine-year knocking on my door and hounding me, and I mean ‘hounding’ me, to get her into the boxing club and let her train."

Boxing clubs were very much the preserve of men and boys back then and Harrington had to wait until she was 15 until she wore down the Corinthians coaches with her persistence.