No doubt you’ve heard the story about the old Irish woman who, when asked whether she believed in fairies, said: “Ah, the Little People. I don’t believe in them – but it doesn’t mean they’re not there.”
That, clearly, is the view of Mayo’s All-Ireland senior footballers, who ended a 75-year famine for their county in glorious fashion last July to win the Sam Maguire. It followed 13 heartbreaking near misses [including two All-Ireland replays] since 1989. Lucky 14th, therefore.
The celebrations continue since, with those generous young men bringing Sam to every school and club in the county, Electric Picnic, the Ploughing, and – bravely – Corduff in west Dublin.
Yet, the infamous “curse” is not forgotten. You will recall how it was alleged that the last All-Ireland winning Mayo team, of 1951, was cursed by the parish priest in Foxford after it failed to pay due respects to a passing funeral. The priest – allegedly – pronounced that Mayo would never win another All-Ireland as long as any member of that 1951 team lived.
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In 2013, current Foxford parish priest Fr Padraig Costello, a fine footballer in his day who has always dismissed the “curse”, gave that year’s Mayo team an official blessing at the exact spot on the bridge over the river Moy in the town where it was – allegedly – imposed.
However, Mayo continued to lose All Irelands afterwards – six times, including a replay, up to now.
That included the All-Ireland final of September 11th, 2021. The last member of the 1951 Mayo All-Ireland team died two weeks later, on September 25th, 2021. This year’s All Ireland final was the first Mayo played in since 2021.
Curse, what curse?
Meanwhile, the current, successful, Mayo All-Ireland team are taking no chances. On Monday, July 27th, the day after their victory in Croke Park, they returned home to Castlebar by train, bypassing Foxford. Yes, they visited that town eventually, symbolically carrying Sam across the bridge there.
But when the team, on its county tour, met a funeral in the village of Balla, between Claremorris and Castlebar, the coach driver stopped suddenly, followed by a spontaneous silence on board, until the funeral passed.
[ UK prime minister to Taoiseach: Any chance of All-Ireland final tickets?Opens in new window ]
Of course there was no curse – but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Curse, from Old English curs for “prayer that evil should befall one”.
