The Corrs have been honoured in their hometown of Dundalk at a civic reception celebrating their global music success.
Siblings Andrea, Jim, Sharon and Caroline Corr returned to the Co Louth town more than 30 years after the release of their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten.
Known for their Celtic-inspired pop-rock sound, The Corrs will be honoured at a civic reception hosted by Louth County Council at An Táin Arts Centre in Dundalk this evening.
Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council Seán Kelly said a civic reception is the "highest honour" a local authority can bestow for exceptional achievements or contributions to society.
"Who has done that more than the Corrs family?" he said.
While civic receptions are usually restricted to invited guests, a limited number of seats were made available to the public via a lottery event.
The reception will include a fireside chat with broadcaster Dave Fanning.
A new mural of the group was also unveiled in Dundalk town centre.
An initiative of the Dundalk BIDS and created by artist Mister Copy, the mural depicts the group from the cover of their 2017 album, Jupiter Calling.
Reacting to seeing the 18m by 8m mural for the first time, Andrea Corr remarked on its size and said overwhelming.
"It's fantastic. It's quite overwhelming to see ourselves so large," she said.
Caroline Corr said that the artist Mister Copy had done a great job.
"These things are really difficult to capture. It's enormous actually. I'd only seen it online, I was anticipating something a lot smaller. It's huge. It's up to the public to say what they think but we really like it".
Sharon Corr said getting the honour of a civic reception today was "really special".
"This is where we were born, where we grew up, where our music was nurtured with our mum and dad. We have so many memories here, so many lifetimes here, everything started out from here," she said.
"I think mum and dad would be really, really proud that we have been seen in this way and recognised in this way," she added.
Andrea Corr said their parents had encouraged them to follow their passion and dreams and "not get a real job".
"They just loved music and they loved what we did. They would just be so delighted, as mum used to say with this recognition today," she said.
It has been decades since the group performed together in Dundalk, and tonight they will give an acoustic performance at An Táin Arts Centre.
"Our last performance was in the Carrickdale many moons ago," said Jim Corr, adding that they hoped to "come back at some point in the future".
Locals and superfans gathered to see The Corrs visit the new mural, including Simon Ward, who travelled from Dublin.
He said he has followed the group for over 30 years and he took the opportunity to see them in person today.
Denise from Dundalk said she was in school with Andrea and always had an interest in the band.
"People are always so proud of The Corrs," she said, adding that "they've hardly aged a day".
A new exhibition about the quartet opens in the county museum tomorrow and runs until the end of June.
It features exhibits donated by the group, including a leather jacket worn in concert by Andrea Corr, handwritten lyrics, instruments played by the group, and an organ from their family home.
Other super fans who travelled for the event included Alan Richardson from Clare, who said they had provided "the soundtrack to my life".
Charlotte Leech from Norfolk in England did not get tickets to the reception in the lottery but managed to get a hold of some after travelling to Dundalk from the UK.
An exhibition titled All The Way Home: A Celebration Of The Corrs will also open in the County Museum Dundalk this weekend, to mark the group's achievements.
Since forming in the early 1990s, The Corrs have sold 40 million albums worldwide.
They have recorded seven studio albums, including their 1997 record Talk on Corners, which became their most successful album.
The group won Best International Group at the Brit Awards in 1999, and received two Grammy nominations in 2001, for Breathless and Rebel Heart.
The reception will be live-streamed on the Louth County Council Facebook page from 7pm.
