Mayo win first All-Ireland title in 75 years as 'curse lifted' — SkimNews
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- Mayo beat defending champions Kerry 1-20 to 1-17 in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final at Croke Park, claiming their first title in 75 years
- Mayo had lost 11 consecutive finals since 1951 — two of which went to a replay — before breaking the drought on Sunday
- Andy Moran guided Mayo to the title in his first season as manager; he personally lost six finals in a row during his playing career with the county
- Tommy Conroy struck the decisive late point that ended Kerry's push for an equalizer, sealing the win in what captain Jack Coyne called 'the stuff of dreams'
- Kerry were denied a record-extending 39th All-Ireland championship after beating Donegal in last year's final
- Folklore links the drought to a curse allegedly placed by a priest after Mayo's 1951 homecoming celebrations disrupted a funeral; the last surviving member of that 1951 side, Dr Mick Loftus, died in 2023
Why it matters: Mayo's breakthrough ends the most painful drought in Gaelic football — 11 lost finals over 75 years — and the personal stakes for Andy Moran are striking: he lost six finals as a Mayo player before winning it as manager in year one. For Kerry, the defeat denies them a record-extending 39th title and ends their reign as defending champions.
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