One month on from the All-Ireland final, Rob catches up with friend of the podcast Cahair O’Kane of the Irish News and the Monday Club podcast to look back at the final and discuss the impact Mayo’s triumph has had on him and on the wider GAA community.
They chat about the day itself, including the emotional outpouring that followed Mayo’s win, and they consider what it means for the future of the game. Mayo’s playing style and their potential for more All-Ireland success in the future are mentioned and Rob asks Cahair to put Andy Moran’s achievement this year into context.
This podcast episode is now available exclusively to our MFT club members on Patreon. To access this and all our other great premium audio and written content on MFT, for just €5 per month (plus VAT) or a single annual payment of €52 (plus VAT), join the club HERE.
Inittillwewinit says:
August 27, 2026 at 10:23 am
I really like Cahir's insights into Mayo's victory and the GAA issues and challenges overall. He really gets our story and he really seems to understand the importance of and the threat to rural GAA Clubs Nationwide. I don't want to be negative but if our wait had gone on for 20 plus more years or however long i don't think winning it would have been the same or as exillarating because Ireland and the GAA and modern life is changing and the traditions and Communities are going to be different. So we have to enjoy now and the not too distant future before winning All Ireland for any team becomes diluted.
Blackrock Exile says:
August 27, 2026 at 7:29 pm
What a great photo that is. Wonderful
Observer2 says:
August 28, 2026 at 7:53 am
That is a powerful photo when you stand back and study it. There is even a certain poignancy attached to it if looked at in a certain light.
When you think of all the great Mayo players and teams, who had played for our county over the past 75 years, They all were thwarted in the hunt for Sam, by things like, a bad refereeing decision, or by several of them in the same match , or by the bounce of a ball, or by sheer bad luck, or in many many cases, by opponents who were just that bit too good for them on the day..
But this photo portrays something magical. Finally, Mayo reached a point on the journey not reached in 75 years. They had won Sam.
All that was required was for Mayo's leader of men, Jack Coyne, to scale the final part of the mountain, on behalf of every man, woman and child, and former player in Mayo to lay his hands on the Holy Grail.
There is only one player on the steps in that photo, and it had come down to that.
His eyes would have been drawn to his adoring Mayo supporters, the Taoiseach, the President of Ireland, the President of the Gaa, but he hadn't come up those steps to lift any of them high into the air.
Imagine his emotions when he finally reached out to touch Sam and realise that this was real, this was really happening.
Watching him lift Sam, one could imagine the dam that had held back 75 years of Mayo tears, finally bursting and releasing the tears and pure emotion witnessed in Croke Park on Sunday July 26, 2026.
A day never ever to be forgotten.
It Means Nothing to Me says:
August 28, 2026 at 8:26 am
Thought this was a good interview, O’Kane does an excellent podcast with the Irish News, which I would recommend. They were the only one I listened to that didn’t rule us out completely before the final, and I find the northern guys often look at things from a different angle.
His thoughts on depopulation in rural Ireland and the likes of Ahoghill trying to keep their club alive were quite insightful, in my view.
2 hops says:
August 28, 2026 at 11:04 am
Good post Observer 2. I agree a powerful image.
Even to study the faces of assembled fans,not all from Mayo of course but there's a story to be read from each face... the emotion of that moment recorded forever.
Windy City says:
August 30, 2026 at 12:34 am
Jealous of the view the presidents Aide de Camp had. A bit of an old drinking buddy back in the day, St Gerald’s class of 89 and a Ballintubber man.