Ireland’s County Mayo breaks 75-year ‘curse’ in Gaelic football championship victory

In Dublin, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) All Ireland Football championship culminated this past weekend as County Mayo ended  a 75-year “famine” by winning the Sam Maguire Cup, defeating the favored team to win, County Kerry, and putting to rest the supposed “ curse ” cast upon the Mayo by a priest in 1951.

Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends elements of rugby, soccer, and basketball.

Legend has it that after winning their last All Ireland in 1951, the victorious Mayo  team disrupted a funeral procession during their open-top lorry celebrations. In response, according to lore, a furious priest “cursed” the team, declaring that Mayo would not win another All Ireland title until every member of the 1951 squad had passed away. The last two members, Paddy Prendergast and Mick Loftus, passed away in 2021 and 2023, and this year is the first final the county has played — and won — since.

The historic win also took place on Reek Sunday , a traditional day of pilgrimage in County Mayo when thousands of Catholics climb Croagh Patrick holy mountain — a site forever associated with Ireland’s patron saint. To mark a marvelous day for the Mayo faithful,…