He must have Mayo blood in him.
There is no more high-profile hard luck story in the GAA than that of the Mayo footballers, who will once again try to end an All-Ireland famine that has lasted for 65 years when they face Dublin later this month.
Since last lifting Sam Maguire in 1951, Mayo have reached the final in seven different seasons and have lost every time and some people of a superstitious persuasion will convince you it has to do with a curse imposed on the county footballers after they last won the title over six decades ago.
There’s a good chance you’ve heard some version of the story about the curse at this stage, but if you haven’t, it is said that the victorious Mayo team of 1951 passed through the town of Foxford while a funeral was taking place and didn’t pay their proper respects.
A local priest subsequently put a curse on the team, saying that they wouldn’t win an All-Ireland again until all members of the 1951 team had passed away. Following the passing of the great Peter Quinn earlier this year, only two members are still alive, Paddy Prendergast and Padraig Carney.
It’s a tale well-known in Ireland, but it’s not something you’d expect to hear in Germany and Mayo man Michael Baynes was well impressed when a tour guide rattled off this version of the story in Bamberg earlier this week.
There are a few small details that might need revising here and there, but overall, it’s a pretty good summary of events.
Michael, a Castlebar man, says the tour guide spotted his Mayo jersey and thought it would be fun to tell his tour the story so he just stopped him in the middle of the street.
Afterwards, the guide told him that he studied in NUIG in 2013 when Mayo were last in final and was informed of the curse during his time there, when he embraced the hype that always accompanies a Mayo run to the All-Ireland Final.
Later in the day, there was an obligatory call of ‘Mayo for Sam’ with groups from Russia and Germany in a beer garden…
… and as the night wore on, ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’ came out and a pretty good version of it too; hardly a surprise when Michael was part of a travelling group containing two bands who performed at the Hochstadt Altstadtfest last week.
Could this FINALLY be their year?
Cheers to Michael Baynes for sending this our way. Got a story for JOE? Hit us up on Facebook or Twitter, send it to our WhatsApp number 087-4001102 or mail [email protected].
