Ardent Donegal GAA supporters, not to mention several members of the winning team, were left scratching their heads last week when the All-Ireland champions brought the Sam Maguire to a local Cavan hotel, only for the trophy to quickly vanish.

In a scenario, which harks similarities to the disappearance of the FA Cup from a Birmingham shoe shop window in 1895 and the infamous discovery of the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy by Pickles the dog in a Norwood backyard, the Sam Maguire vanished from the Hotel Kilmore stop-off point much to confusion and consternation of those involved.

But the mystery of where the cup ended up has been solved. Pictures have appeared on social media websites of the coveted trophy about a mile away in the Imperial Bar in Cavan Town.

Among those present are Imperial owner and former Cavan manager, Donal Keogan; Sam of course; corner-forward Paddy McBrearty and wing-half-forward Mark McHugh. They happily posed for photographs alongside pleasantly surprised punters seemingly oblivious to the controversy unravelling around it.

Several hundred Gaelic football fans, from both Cavan and Donegal, attended the Hotel Kilmore on Monday of last week to greet the All-Ireland champions as they stopped off in the Breffni county and catch a glimpse of Sam.

Asked to comment on how Sam then ended up in the Imperial, Mr Keogan said:

"I've not idea how it got there, I won't be commenting any more on it."

He added however: "It was a nice surprise!"