{"id":606646,"date":"2026-07-27T15:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/606646\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T15:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:22:13","slug":"the-emotions-broke-the-mayo-bandit-on-his-viral-moment-after-sam-maguire-win-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/606646\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The emotions broke\u2019: \u2018The Mayo Bandit\u2019 on his viral moment after Sam Maguire win \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the hooter sounded at Croke Park in Dublin on Sunday, television cameras cut to scenes of incredulous joy. For the first time in 75 years, Mayo<\/a> became All-Ireland champions. <\/p>\n

Few knew how to react. <\/p>\n

One man that met the moment was Shane Fitzgerald. He was captured on camera blessing himself, bursting into tears and collapsing to his knees near the steps of the Hogan Stand.<\/p>\n

Clips of Fitzgerald then circulated widely among supporters on social media. . <\/p>\n

\u201cThe emotions broke,\u201d he tells The Irish Times. \u201cThe heavens opened and that was it. I was looking at the Sam Maguire and thinking: \u2018you\u2019re coming home\u2019. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mayo\u2019s All-Ireland victory: Celebrations stop traffic as Castlebar homecoming awaitsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThat 70th minute, I don\u2019t know how to describe it. It was just a weight off my shoulders. We just couldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Given his vantage point, Fitzgerald found himself rubbing shoulders with top political figures. He found himself speaking Irish with President Catherine Connolly, who came over to congratulate him, alongside Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin. <\/p>\n

Fitzgerald was particularly overcome watching GAA<\/a> president Jarlath Burns<\/a> introducing Mayo\u2019s captain Jack Coyne.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could not believe what he was looking at,\u201d he says of Burns. <\/p>\n

\u201cI could see it in his body language and his reaction. He was twistin\u2019. The legs were moving \u2013 he was nearly dancing. That just tells you the feeling and the power of Mayo breaking the curse and winning Sam Maguire.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Are you a Mayo person living abroad? How did you celebrate the All-Ireland win?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Raised in the village of Kilmaine between Shrule and Ballinrobe, Fitzgerald is a farmer and a qualified florist. He has spent the last 25 years providing flowers for weddings, perhaps informing his sense of occasion. <\/p>\n

Some people know Fitzgerald better as \u201cThe Mayo Bandit\u201d because of his alter-ego dressing up in a face mask in the county colours \u201cto try and egg on Mayo\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe do our best as Mayo people,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe always passionately follow, but I can\u2019t praise the players enough … My hat\u2019s off to all the players over the years that have given Mayo people so much joy. And a bit of heartbreak, but do you know what? We\u2019re just so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MayoMayo manager Andy Moran celebrates after his team beat Kerry in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Mayo manager Andy Moran<\/a> spoke post-match about recalling his mentor, the late John O\u2019Mahony, during the final seconds of Sunday\u2019s game. <\/p>\n

Fitzgerald says his emotion captured a similar feeling; it was a moment to think of people who weren\u2019t able to be there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in that situation,\u201d Fitzgerald says. \u201cThe jersey I was wearing yesterday… My father passed away, just gone three years. He was a quiet man, but he always followed the GAA like ordinary Mayo people. We just have a passion to follow the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said: \u2018Dad sign your name there [on the jersey].\u2019 I said: \u2018The day will come when Mayo lift Sam Maguire, and you\u2019ll be there.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the hooter sounded at Croke Park in Dublin on Sunday, television cameras cut to scenes of incredulous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[167029,18,5286,19,17,223669,26710,132],"class_list":["post-606646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-andy-moran","tag-eire","tag-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jarlath-burns","tag-mayo-gaa","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116992628981714926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}