Mayo uplifted by desire and destiny 

By John Harrington

When Jordan Flynn looked across at his brother Kobe McDonald as they prepared to lift the Sam Maguire Cup together, he felt the final piece of destiny’s jigsaw lock into place.

Mayo’s first All-Ireland title since 1951 was built on sedimented layers of blood, sweat, tears, and failure but in that moment it seemed a lot simpler to Flynn.

‘Kismet’ is defined as a divine force that controls what happens in the future, and lifting that Cup with Kobe was a moment of pure kismet for Flynn.

It felt so right he couldn’t help but help but believe it was always meant to happen.

“Some people don't think about it, but I do like to manifest and believe in destiny and fate and all that kind of stuff, and I do think it was written in the stars somewhere, like,” Flynn told GAA.ie

“To be honest, at the start of the year, I kind of was himming and hawing as to whether I'd commit again because there's a lot of stuff going on outside of football as well that people probably don't see.

“But when Kobe decided to commit, we said, obviously, he's going soon, so I was like, we'll give it one crack and see what happens. So the feeling of getting to go up and lift it with him, like, it's a feeling that we'll never forget anyways.

“It's something that we'll hold forever that'll never be taken away from us. We’ll have those memories for life now.”

It seems unlikely that Flynn’s Mayo team-mate, Ryan O’Donogue, is the type to believe too much in kismet himself.

He certainly doesn’t play like someone who thinks anything is preordained, he makes things happen with his relentless energy and will to win.

And yet, he too also believed it was his destiny to lift the Sam Maguire Cup.

“When I was made captain of the U20s in 2018 I came up to Croke Park to do one of the things (a media event) and I remember taking a Snapchat memory and saying that one day I’ll lift Sam,” O’Donoghue told GAA.ie.

“It means everything. I've sacrificed everything since 2020. Put my life into it, a lot of decisions being made for it, my fiancé, my mum and dad, what they've done for me since I was 11 years of age up and down the road to Castlebar. Boxing days, soccer days, this means absolutely everything.

“For my family, my club, this county and my teammates it just means everything. To be All-Ireland champions is just a dream come true.”

Maybe destiny is a combination of believing something is possible with the determination to turn that dream into reality.

Mayo as a county have never lacked for belief or determination. Losing 11 All-Ireland since 1951 before they finally won another this year was presented by most as a failure, but in its own way it was a triumph.

If you keep coming back for more despite being knocked down time and again, it’s probably inevitable that someday you’ll be rewarded for that perseverance.

The county’s stubborn refusal to be daunted by failure was apparent even during this year’s championship run.

“After the Roscommon game we could have went left or right and we decided we'd dig our heels in,” says Flynn.

“We felt like we could win it and we had the belief and the management had the belief. Rachel (Sheehan) our sports psych, she has been brilliant.

“We just said, 'what's there to lose?' Andy put it to the media the last day that no-one put us down to win it.

“We don't mind that, like, because we're after winning it, but we knew ourselves we could do it and to just to actually put it into fact and do it is outrageous to be fair."

Outrageous is as good a word as any to describe the manner in which Mayo’s 75 year famine was finally ended on Sunday.

Long after other memories of the game have dimmed from the mind’s eye, no-one who was there in Croke Park will ever forget the noise in that final minute.

There was a high-pitched nerve-shredding din as Kerry came looking for a late equaliser, a joyous sonic boom after Tommy Conroy’s point, and then an incredibly loud undulating explosion of emotion after the final whistle that went on and on.

Mayo should have won the game more comfortably than they did, but the way it came down to the very last play made it all the more special.

“What other way would we have won it? We never would have won it any other way,” Mayo defender Sam Callinan told GAA.ie

“I think that's the best way we could have done it, the most Mayo way. It's just brilliant.

“I grew up in the era watching Lee Keegan, Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle, Andy Moran. You couldn't have been prouder to come from Mayo. Now, they never got over the line, but every lad of my age wanted to be like these fellas.

“Over the last few years when we were falling short we knew as players that it wasn't good enough but we knew it was in us as a group. So, when we got together this year we said, look, we're going to put everything into this and we're going to be the best version of Mayo we can be and wherever that takes us, it takes us.

“It took us to the very top and it's the best feeling in the world.”

It’s very telling that in so many interviews since Sunday these victorious Mayo footballers have referenced those who went before them and were carried out of Croke Park on their shields.

In much the same as the blood sacrifice of 1916 begat victory in the War of Independence a few years later, the current team was inspired rather than daunted by the painful defeats of the past.

Andy Moran will always be remembered as the General who delivered the ultimate victory, but he too is very conscious that the men who went before him are a big part of this story.

“I stand on the shoulder of giants,” Moran told GAA.ie “I came in in 2003, but right back to Johnno (John O’Mahony) in '89, all the teams that got to finals, great mentors, great managers.

“I'm the lucky one that's gotten over the line but am I any better or worse than them? I don't know. I've learned from them, I've tried to do my best.

“James Horan is a great ally of mine, Rochy (Stephen Rochford), all these boys, great, great people. Pat (Holmes) and Noel (Connelly), Johnno and John Maughan, Mickey (Moran) and John (Morrisson), they were all brilliant to me growing up. I'm the one who got over the line but I'm standing on the shoulders of others.”

Whether it was destiny or just stubborn perseverance, it hardly matters now, Deliverance Day for Mayo football and its supporters has finally come.

For so long the county’s identity has been defined by its quest to win the Sam Maguire Cup so now that they’ve finally done it, what next?

Ryan O’Donoghue’s advice is simple but sage.

“Enjoy it. Just enjoy it. This has been a long, long time coming. A lot of heartbreak.

“Just enjoy it, because these days don't come around very often.”