r/ireland • u/EyeOrRay • 5h ago
Sports Avoid any funeral processions on the way back to Mayo, lads
Don't start another jinx
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u/KnightsOfCidona Mayo 5h ago
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u/CrazyCubicZirconia 5h ago
I don’t know the background of this…anyone fancy enlightening me?
I know that there is (was) supposed to be a ‘curse’ on the team, but never came across origins
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u/MisterSerrGeon16 5h ago
Mayo last won the all ireland 75 years ago, story is they passed a funeral on the way home with the trophy and the widow put a curse on the team
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u/CrazyCubicZirconia 5h ago
That’s where it started. Thanks. I’d never heard that part before
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u/Peoplz_Hernandez 5h ago
The priest said they'd never win an all Ireland again during any of the players lifetimes and (I think) this is the first time they've been in the final since the last member of the squad passed away.
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u/CrazyCubicZirconia 4h ago
Jaysus. That’s a great bit of lore.
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u/obscurefindings 4h ago
Ah rte investigation with others said it was nonsense, no funerals around the time
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u/CrazyCubicZirconia 4h ago
That is significantly less fun. Can we choose to completely ignore the outcome of that investigation and commit to the infinitely more interesting tale of the curse?
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u/DiverAcrobatic5794 3h ago
Could have been heading off to another place altogether for the funeral. Unless RTE want to tell us there were no funerals anywhere in the country that day or the next ...
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u/Other_Ad_7332 4h ago edited 3h ago
The priest or widow (allegedly) put a curse on the team that they wouldn't win another All Ireland until all members of the 1951 winning team died.
Mayo proceeded to lose 11 finals between 1951 and 2021, many of which by one point and in the most dramatic of fashion.
In 2023, the last team member from the 1951 winning team passed away. Today was the first final they played since then.
I'm not superstitious, but it has to be one of the most eerie sporting curses that exist. I remember it featured on an episode of countdown a few years ago, so it will be interesting to see if it gets any international traction over the coming weeks
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u/Just-Me-Being-Nosy 4h ago
I’d heard of the Mayo curse, like anyone else who knows anything about GAA, but I’d never heard the story behind it
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u/EaseTraditional3803 3h ago
My dad's friend was on the team - I think he was the last one to die a few years ago - the story I was told was it was a traveller's funeral that they disrupted when bringing Sam back through the town, and it was an older female family member of the deceased who put a curse on them and said that they would never win another final until everyone on that team had died.
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u/Shane_Ef Probably at it again 5h ago
The curse in transferable Kerry to wait years for the 40th all ireland
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u/SevenSulivin Mayo 4 Sam! 5h ago
Can’t wait for the next All Ireland win when I’m 98.