They know where it is now. Belmullet, not merely an outpost clinging to the western edge of Ireland, it recently felt like the centre of the country. It was certainly the heartbeat of a county.
Three days after the All-Ireland final, Ryan O’Donoghue – along with teammate Seamus Howard and Mayo physio Martin McIntyre – carried Sam Maguire across the Bellacorick Bridge.
It was a profound moment. Local tradition dictates any cup won must enter the parish by getting walked across the bridge. They’d always hoped some day Sam would be welcomed to Belmullet in such a way.
Because for a place often mentioned as the last stop before New York, for some Belmullet was the most significant stop on Mayo’s glorious tour of the county. Perhaps it was only when they had the cup safely out there that Mayo truly felt nobody could take it off them.
“I shed a lot of tears coming in the road,” says O’Donoghue.
“Because I fully believed [we would win] when I was going to the bus in MacHale Park on the Friday. I was like, ‘The next time we’re coming in this road, me and Seamus are going to be in the front of the bus with Sam.’ That was literally a dream come true.
“It has been unbelievable. It has been very special to see everyone go home to their own place, to their own fans, to their own families.
“Every single place we went, there were thousands upon thousands. There were people coming from everywhere, from Waterford, Armagh – all probably just to see Kobe!”
On Thursday, O’Donoghue was named PwC Footballer of the Month for July and he is favourite to finish the season as Footballer of the Year.
A talented sportsman, the 28-year-old could have pursued any number of codes – he was an underage boxer for Ireland and played schoolboys international soccer. But ultimately Gaelic football tugged at his heartstrings.
“To walk up the steps of the Hogan and to lift that trophy, that is what I have dreamed of all my life,” he adds.
Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue was named player of the month for July. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
O’Donoghue started his soccer career with local club Erris United before a spell with Sligo Rovers. He won three caps with Ireland under-19s in 2016. But Belmullet never left him.
“I remember when I was up playing for the Irish schoolboys soccer team,” he recalls.
“We were on a training camp in Dublin and you introduced yourself, I said, ‘My name is Ryan O’Donoghue, I’m from Belmullet.’ And a few boys went laughing and said, ‘Where’s that?’
“And that stuck with me for a long, long, long time. And I think after last Sunday, a lot of people know where Belmullet is.”
The Belmullet homecoming has been referenced by several other members of the Mayo panel and backroom team in recent days.
“I think it is a bit different out in Belmullet. Like, it’s harder, it’s a lot longer for me to travel anywhere I go,” he says.
“We probably don’t have the resources. We more than likely have probably the worst weather in the country. All these things add up.”
And he wouldn’t swap it for anything. O’Donoghue has even changed profession to live there – leaving a career as an accountant behind to become a teacher in his local school.
Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue lifts the Sam Maguire. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
And only last Monday he lodged planning permission to build a home there. Not bad timing, to be fair. Because in a place where some folk would build a statue of O’Donoghue, they’ll hardly stop him from building a house.
“I went back and done teaching. Obviously, it helped with the intercounty career but I also wanted to give back, so I’m back in my home school.
“Belmullet also has one of the best golf courses in the world too, which helps. Courtney, my fiancée, is from Belmullet as well so that’s where my future is.”
But if the future is unwritten, O’Donoghue has already etched his name in the history books. Not only was he man of the match in the All-Ireland final, but his incredible run started the season-defining goal.
It started off with a one-two between himself and David McBrien on the Mayo 45-metre line. And then O’Donoghue – facing incoming Kerry tacklers – hit the throttle.
“I was like, ‘Well, I have to do something here.’ I went by one, went by two, then went by three. I think it was Thomas Niblock on commentary saying there was just a wave of white jerseys coming.
“McBrien, from turning it over in his own small D, he’s then the one who gives it to Darragh over the top, whatever the hell that was that McBrien done (first-time slap pass) because I’ve never seen him do that before! And then Darragh’s cool finish, it was just class.
“It was just all instinct, all off the cuff. That’s something Andy gives us the freedom to do, to express yourself and to just go for it. Yeah, that’s what happened.”
Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue scores against Louth despite goalkeeper Niall McDonnell. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
For O’Donoghue, playing in a full-forward line alongside Kobe McDonald (18) and Darragh Beirne (19) felt re-energising.
“They brought me back to my childhood and the reason why you play football. If you’re out in the garden as a 10 or 11-year-old and you scored a goal in the top bins, you’d go and do a knee slide, wouldn’t you?
“So, I’m not saying for lads next year or in the club championships to be doing that, but you have to go and enjoy yourself. And that’s what they did.”
The celebrations are certainly not finished but there might need to be some strategic pauses over the coming weeks as the Mayo club championship throws in. For O’Donoghue, it starts on Friday evening at 7pm.
“We’re playing Knockmore,” he says, before adding with a wry smile: “And I don’t think any of them were on the beer.”
*Ryan O’Donoghue was named PwC Footballer of the Month for July. Kerry’s Síofra O’Shea won the women’s award. Galway’s Ciara Hickey claimed the camogie accolade while the Hurler of the Month went to Limerick’s Gearóid Hegarty.